Make It: Quilted Flowers
September 18th, 2008 in sewing, patterns & designs, embroidery, quilting
Mary Ray, contributor
2 users recommend
Colorful quilted flowers add a bit of whimsy to a tote, or form them into a bouquet.
Photo: Mary Ray
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DIGGI just love to quilt fabric because it adds so much texture and dimension to a piece—whether it’s a bed quilt, a wall quilt, a garment, a purse, a bouquet of vibrant flowers, or a perfect, and everlasting, lapel posy.
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A bold flower dresses up a lapel. |
Let me show you how to make some nifty quilted flowers. They're really fast and easy. All you need are some fabric and batting scraps; thread; and some small, colorful buttons. And a sewing machine, of course.
1. Cut out some shapes that look like petals. You’ll need two for each petal. I like to use silk taffeta because it’s crisp and shiny and easy to handle. Use one color for the petal top and another for the bottom. Cut out a same-shape piece of batting for each petal. Use a needle-punch batting or a firm poly batting because it will be easier to shape the petal after stitching.
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Cut up a bunch of petal shapes from some fabric and batting. |
2. Sandwich the batting piece between two pieces of fabric and stitch some lines through the layers. You can use simple vertical lines or lines that look like veins of a leaf, or be more whimsical and fill your petals with circles, curlycues, zigzagging stitching, whatever. Be creative!
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Sandwich the batting between two pieces of fabric. |
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Machine-quilt through the layer. |
3. After quilting, trim up the edges of each petal and machine-satin stitch around the edges. (A satin stitch is a tight zigzag stitch that looks like a binding.)
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Trim each petal so the edges are even, and satin stitch all around to bind the layers together. |
4. Layer the petals at one end, then handstitch them together.
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Join the petals to form a flower and sew together by hand. |
5. Add a decorative bead or button to embellish the center.
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Add a great button to complete the center. |
6. For another look, find a printed fabric that has shapes that look like petals. Cut out the shapes and complete the flower as above.
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Cut out the individual motifs from a great printed fabric. |
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Some beads and metallic thread transform the cotton fabric that I used for the jacket's lining into a glitzy accessory for this fun jacket made with ribbon. |
After you make this project, show off your work to other members!
Post your project in the gallery
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Comments (10)
I'll give it a try sometime this grey winter for sure.
Need flowers!
thanks for sharing Posted: 10:54 am on December 1st
For sure you could sew the petals first and then cut them out. However, I cut out the shapes first so I can make the batting a little smaller. Then it won't show along the edges. On the other hand, the satin stitching binds the outer edges and -- if the batting is not too thick -- it will be covered with this step. How did I attach them? I just hand stitched them in place. But, gluing on or sewing on a pin back is also a good idea!
Posted: 8:42 am on September 25th
Thanks,
Jackie Posted: 8:48 am on September 20th
Question: Any reason why you don't/can't create the leaves and then cut them out?
Posted: 7:39 am on September 20th