Do It Yourself: Chiffon & Tulle Flowers

Inspired by yesterday's beautiful Romona Keveza organza gown with its full ballgown skirt covered with hand formed organza flowers, I thought today would be perfect to follow up with a DIY tutorial on how to create your very own fabric flowers! I adore the chiffon & tulle fabrics used in this how-to from Project Wedding and would love to try it mixing in some other fabrics as well... a light burlap perhaps? Total Rustic Chic fabric floral perfection.

What you'll need:
 Fabric  (chiffon & tulle used here) yardage needed will vary based on the number and size of flowers, as well as the fabric thickness. Paper, a pen, scissors, pins, needle & thread, and glass seed beads.

Step 1:

Create a stencil by drawing a single petal shape on the paper and cut out. (if you are not a good artist google online for petal patterns) Then retrace  five times on a new piece of paper to create a full flower shape.  Cut out the pattern.

Step 2:
Take your fabric and fold it into a square a little larger than the flower pattern. Pin the pattern to fabric and carefully cut out. Repeat this process until you have enough layers to make a full flower - the number of layers will vary depending on the weight of your fabrics and the size of your flower. (example shown here uses 26 layers.)

Step 3:
Stack flower cut outs, alternating fabric types and staggering petals. Use a needle and thread to secure them together at the center. Pinch together the center of the flower (from the bottom) and secure with stitches to create volume and give the flower and authentic shape.

Step 4: If desired, sew decorative seed beads in the inside center of the flower and sew the flower to a hair clip, comb, or piece of ribbon.

Soft, romantic, pretty, and oh-so-charming, these flowers could be used as a part of your decor (can you picture them stitched onto a burlap table runner on a dessert table covered with vintage silver platters of decedant treats?  I can!) or easily be made into an accessory for you or your bridesmaids... think ribbon necklace/bracelet, shoe clips, hair clips, or pinned to a cute clutch. Endless possibilities!

images & DIY via project wedding