More Fabric {Flowers}

 Day one of our paper chain activities was to make fabric flowers. My girls have been asking me to teach them for a while now, so it was fun to teach them how to do it. I recently posted a different kind of fabric flower {here} if you're interested. This isn't the best tutorial. I was trying to focus more on helping them figure it out than taking step by step pictures, but I did take a few and I'll try to explain it the best I can!

We cut 2 inch strips of fabric, folded it in half long ways, and stitched {using a long stitch. I used the longest stitch that my machine goes to. That way it's easier to bunch up the fabric} along the raw edge side leaving long "tails" of thread on either end. 

Taking one of the two threads on one end hold it tight while bunching up the fabric. Be really careful not to break the thread . . . if you do you'll have to re-stitch it and start again.

 My 9 year old wanted to make her friend a "bright pink" flower clip. She told my daughter that she's the nicest friend she's ever had today . . . made her day! I guess this is her "thank you." I didn't take pictures of the process, but once the fabric strip is bunched all the way, I started at one end and wound it around itself, hot gluing all along the way {wrap, hot glue, wrap, hot glue . . .}. Once we got it wrapped all the way around she cut out a felt circle and a clip and hot glued it to the underside. 

 Didn't it turn out super cute!?

 My 7 year old decided to also give something to her friend. She wanted to glue a flower onto a green pipe cleaner, but I ran out, so she decided it might be a cute idea to use a pencil for the stem. We just hot glued one end of the flower to the eraser side of the pencil, then wrapped around just like the first one {wrap, hot glue, wrap . . . you get the picture}

 After the whole thing was wrapped around the end of the pencil she cut a felt circle with a slit in it . . . 

 then I hot glued it to the bottom to hide all of the loose edges.

 My goofy daughter smelling her hot glue smelling flower. Fun little project . . . although I wouldn't let them hot glue. I've been burned one too many times and didn't want to deal with little burned fingers and tears. 

Fabric {Flower} Tutorial

I've been meaning to make a few more flower clips for my girls out of the extra t-shirt material I have left from my sisters shirts. I made a memory quilt for her little girl {HERE} right after she passed away and couldn't get rid of the rest of it. My girls love their "Charish flowers" so I wanted to make some more. I thought I'd share how I do it.

T-shirt material is great fabric to use because it doesn't fray. I love it, but it also works well with other fabrics also. Not to mention fraying is sometimes really cute!

I'm going to apologize right now for two things . . . my lame, half polished nails, and my not so perfect pictures. My good camera is dead and the baby is being good. Didn't want to waste the opportunity to get it done so I used my junk camera. :-/

Cut out a few circles. For this one I used 6. They don't have to be perfect. I used a soda can as a template. Dr. Pepper is never far from me . . . so that was the most convenient thing. Maybe I have a problem?? ha

Cut a small circle out of felt to glue the pieces to.

Oh this picture is awful! So sorry. Fold the circle in half, and then in half-ish again. It ends quartered, but it's good to not make it perfectly quartered. I like to do it off center.

Put a dab of hot glue on the tips and glue them down onto the felt piece.

I know . . . really?! These pictures . . . sigh. I'm just trying to show them glued onto the felt circle.

Put some hot glue on top of the four already glued down . . . just in the center . . .

. . . then for your last two circles try to fold them an extra time . . . more like in half, and then thirds . . . just to give some extra swirls. Glue them down on top . . .

. . . then while the glue is still soft pinch the whole flower so that it sticks up instead of lays flat. {Does that even make sense?? My tired, new baby brain is fried.}

Once your flower is glued together, cut another felt circle . . . a little bigger than the first one so that it covers it completely. Clip your hair clip directly onto the felt circle before gluing it down. The felt in between the clip will help keep the flower from slipping in your little girls hair.

Cover the felt circle with hot glue and then center it on the back of the flower.

We love them. They're very easy and if you're not into sewing this is a great little project for you! Happy spring!!