Cloth flower making is fun and easy. These cloth flowers look so pretty and are great for adding to brooches, hair clips and necklaces. Use up your favorite scrap fabrics (I know you have lots and lots!) to make them in every color of the rainbow.
Cloth Flower Making: Supplies
- Cotton Fabric – I made my cloth flowers from quilting cotton which gives a nice stiffness to the petals. Cut 6 circles of fabric 4 inches (10cm) in diameter. Smaller flowers can be made with 3 inch (7.5cm) and even 2 inch (5cm) circles. When rummaging through your scrap fabric bins, keep in mind that small prints work the best.
- Hand needle and strong thread. I used upholstery thread as regular thread kept breaking. Embroidery floss works well too. Use a matching color for invisible stitching. I only used a contrast color so you could see what I was doing.
- Hot Glue Gun
- Buttons and beads to decorate. The best buttons to use are shank buttons as you can place the shank in the hole of the flower making it really secure.
- Scrap of felt or fabric for the back. Just cut a circle around 1 inch (2.5cm) in diameter. I prefer felt as it doesn’t fray and it is a little thicker making the finished product easier to attach to clips and brooch backs.
Cloth Flower Making: The Video
Relax, sit back for a few minutes and watch this video I made for you. Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more weekly sewing and crafting videos.
Cloth Flower Making: Instructions
Step 1: Press the circles in half with the wrong sides together to form a semi-circle. Press it in half again to form a quarter.
Step 2: Thread a sewing needle with a double thread and knot. Sew across the raw edges of the piece with an up and down running stitch. Try and make sure you get a stitch near the ends and make sure you go through all layers. Don’t pull the knotted end all the way through but leave at least a 4 inch (10cm) tail.
Step 3: Gently pull the thread to gather the petal into shape. Make sure you still have the tail at the end.
Step 4: Sew the next five petals the same way until you have a string of them.
Step 5: Using the ends of the thread, pull really tight and then tie a secure knot. I like to knot a couple of times so I know it won’t come undone. Cut the excess thread.
Step 6: Flip the flower to the back and glue on a circle of felt or fabric to hide the raw edges in the center. Glue or sew a bead or button to the top.
Cloth Flower Making – In Conclusion
Now you are all ready to attach your fabric flower to a brooch back or lined alligator clip.
Sheila says
Great instructions and video! Thank you so much!
Treasurie says
Hi Diane, Look after yourself and have fun with the flowers. Embroidery can be relaxing too. Thanks for reading.
Diane McKinney says
YOU MAKE IT LOOK SO SIMPLE. JUST WHAT I NEED AFTER HAVING BRAIN CANCER AND STILL LOVE TO SEW…..THANK YOU SO MUCH
Judy says
Love it