As promised, here is the flower tutorial! Feel free to ignore my ugly table... I know it is ugly, but it is flat and solid so it makes a great stamping surface. Oh, and as I was making the flower for my friend, I forgot to take pictures at the end, so I made another one with different fabric and added in the photos. I also wanted to mention that I didn't come up with this flower, I have seen it a few places but I haven't heard of anyone cutting the circles with the big shot... seriously people, stop cutting flowers and circles by hand - it takes too much time and you don't have a perfect finished product!
Ok here we go! 1. Start with 6 circles. I cut these with the Clear circle big shot die. They are just shy of 4 inches in diameter.
2. fold each circle in half, and then in half again so you have a pie shape like these. Since my fabric was random colors, I wanted to lay it out to make sure I had a good mixture of colors, but you could just fold up each one as you go if you want. My well used big shot cutting plates worked great to keep them folded until I needed them.
3. You will need a needle and thread. You will want to double up the thread and tie a knot in the end.
4. ok grab your first circle, and accordian fold the open end. You will fold it just like you made paper fans as a kid. The more folds, the wider the flower. I like to fold mine 5 times. (remember there are 4 layers of fabric)
5. Stick your needle through all the layers of fabric. I like to sew each petal 2 times, so after you stick it through the first time, slide it down to the bottom of the thread and stick your needle through it again going the same direction.
6. Repeat with all 6 petals. You should then have a chain of them looking like this. Remember to keep them very close together.
7. Bring the ends together to create the flower shape. Just stick your needle into the petal on the other end and tie a couple of knots.
8. (sorry no picture) Now you want to close the gap in the middle. This part gets a little messy but don't worry, you will hide it. Just stitch opposite sides of the circle together and make sure you do this to every petal. I do this on the top and when I am done, I stick the needle down the center so the thread is now on the other side, and sew it together again on the bottom.
9. When you are finished, it should look something like this. Just tie off the end of the thread and snip off the excess.
10. Pick your favorite flower topper. It will need to be wide enough to cover the center. Buttons or brads work great. I glue mine in with hot glue. I actually stick my glue gun in the center of the flower (on the top and the bottom) to help keep the flower together. Then quickly stick the brad into the middle of the flower or the button on top and admire your work!
You can then glue a hair clip, pin. or felt circles on the back.
Here is a smaller flower I made. I cut these out with the largest circle in the circles #2 die. I added this one to a scrapbook page. Here is another one I put on a neclace.
I used the felt circles method to glue this on. I had 2 felt circles the same size. Glue one onto the flower, lay the chain down, (or ribbon, or headband, etc.) and glue the other circle on.
I hope this tutorial helps, these flowers are super fun and not as hard as it looks, so if you want, go make some! If you have any questions, leave a comment and I will answer them.