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How to Make Fringe Flower Greeting Cards

September 26th, 2008 in gifts, paper crafts, memory making

Diane Gilleland, contributor

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These cards are lovely for thank-you notes, or give a set as a gift.

A trip to your local fabric store will yield lots of interesting fringes. Each card only requires 6 inches, so a yard of fringe goes a long way.

The contrast between the shaggy fringe and crisp paper really makes these cards sing.

These cards are lovely for thank-you notes, or give a set as a gift.

Photo: Diane Gilleland

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Here's a way to use up your leftover fringe by making some beautiful greeting cards. You can experiment with lots of different fringes for this project, but for best results, they should be no more than 1-1/2 inches wide. Oh—you can certainly make this project with other laces and trims!

What you'll need:

Blank greeting cards
Assorted fringe scraps
Scissors
Fray Check (optional)
Hand-sewing needle and coordinating thread
Scraps of decorative paper
Circle craft punches (optional)
Glue stick
White craft glue

Apply Fray Check to the cut edges of the fringe if they have a tendency to unravel.

To make a fringe flower, cut a 6-inch length of fringe. Thread a needle with single thread and tie a knot. Apply a little Fray Check to the cut ends of your fringe if it has a tendency to unravel.

Fold the fringe in half and sew the ends together.

Fold the fringe strip in half as shown. Use tiny hand-stitches to sew the ends of the fringe together so it will form a circle. You'll be sewing only through the strip that carries the fringe, not the fringe itself. If this strip is narrow, which it often is, then sew back and forth over it a couple times for security. Knot the thread well.

(A note on thread here: I'm using a contrasting color thread for visibility. You'll want to use a thread that matches your fringe.)

Sew a gathering stitch around the top edge of the fringe.

Now, thread the needle with a long strand of doubled thread and tie a knot. Beginning on one side of the seam you just sewed, sew a gathering stitch along the strip. Sew all the way around to the other side of the seam. Do not knot the thread or cut it yet.

Pull the gathering thread to gather the fringe into a circle. Secure it with tack stitches.

Pull on the thread to gather the fringe into a flower shape. Adjust the gathers. When you have it looking the way you like, take a couple of tack stitches over the seam to lock the gathers in place. Knot the thread securely and cut it.

Flatten the flower under a stack of books.

I recommend placing the flowers under a stack of heavy books for a few hours at this point to help flatten them out.

Glue on a paper center.

Use scissors or a craft punch to cut circles from decorative paper. These will be the centers of your flowers. If you have some decorative edging scissors, you might want to use these, too. Mix and match and stack them up. When you have a configuration you like, glue them together using a glue stick.

Ideally, the finished center should be fairly stiff. If you need to, you can glue a circle of cardstock to the back to add body.

Use a liberal amount of craft glue to adhere the center to the fringe flower.

Make sure the center is lying flat on top of the flower.

Make sure that the center is lying flat on top of the flower. Since the surface of the fringe may be uneven, take a moment to adjust the center while the glue is still wet.

Incidentally, I don't recommend placing the cards under books once the flower centers are glued on. Again, since the surface of the fringe is rather uneven, adding weight will only serve to bend and warp the center.

Allow the flower to dry thoroughly before assembling the card.

Glue the finished flower to the card.

To assemble the card, use a liberal amount of white craft glue to affix the fringe flower to the cardstock. Let the glue dry thoroughly. I've decorated my card with a background of scrapbook paper here. You can do this, or leave your card blank.

If you mail your fringe flower card, be sure to use a padded mailer to protect the flower. And make lots more flowers to use as scrapbooking embellishments, pins, and hair accessories!

posted in: gifts, paper crafts, memory making, paper, scrapbook, other fiber, card

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Comments (8)

Behappy writes: Thank you for sharing your idea, it is so neat and I love the multicolor one you used for a demonstration. Posted: 9:57 pm on September 30th

digibudi writes: This was just what I needed for my invitations to my birthday party next month! I have so much fringe and ribbons.. super! Posted: 4:23 pm on September 30th

stamperkay writes: Looks like a great idea! Can't wait to try it, now the grandchildren will love this one. Wonder how buttons will work as the center instead of paper circles? Posted: 9:23 am on September 28th

MegaJoy writes: Good Idea I will take to the Sr Center.
Thanks very much. Posted: 6:51 pm on September 27th

Sweet_Dee writes: WOW! Great idea...love it! Posted: 1:42 am on September 27th

ElainePDX writes: Perfection, as usual, Diane! Posted: 11:24 pm on September 26th

Semo12 writes: This is such a cute idea and looks wonderful on your cards! Thanks so much for sharing, the gals at the cutting tables probably won't be thrilled cutting 1/8 of yards off many bolts for this project. lol Posted: 2:01 pm on September 26th