To Sew or Not to Sew

Fabric flowers are a great way to use up those scraps of fabric. I on the other hand needed a way to use up all the two and three inch strips of tulle I have left over from making tutus. I figured that once I mastered that I could find a way to affix them to hats, hair ties, headbands, or even to pins. One thing I knew is that I didn’t want to have to be stuck at my sewing machine to make them. With that idea in mind I used the hour I was sitting at the pediatric walk-in clinic waiting for my youngest to be seen to brainstorm ideas on how I could accomplish this.

I came up with one idea and upon coming home and trying it, I was successful. I was quite happy with the results, although I still needed a needle and thread. I still wanted a new sew flower as well. I was sure that I could come up with something. After playing around with tulle for a bit I figured that one out as well. I’ve outlined the basic steps I took to create the two types of flowers.

To start on the no-sew flower you need at least one strip of tulle 2-3 inches wide by 48+inches long.

1. Wrap the tulle around your fingers in a figure eight by going between your second and third finger leaving about 2” of tail on each end. If using more than one color layer them and wrap them all at the same time.
2. Wrap the ends of the tulle around the center and tie in a knot
3. Wrap the ends through the center of the tulle and tie in a knot
4. Separate and spread out the tulle this will create the petals
5. Your no-sew tulle flower is now done

To make the second tulle flower you need 2 strips of tulle in different colors, a small button, and needle and thread.

1. Similar to the first flower you wrap the first color tulle around your fingers in a figure eight leaving 2 inches on each end.
2. Wrap the ends around the center of the tulle and tie in a knot.
3. Repeat above steps for second piece of tulle.
4. Spread and separate the tulle to create petals.
5. Flatten flowers so you can see the knot in the center
6. Put one tulle flower on top of the other and sew a couple of stitches to hold them together.
7. Place button over the knot and sew it down.
8. Your flower is done!

So now what should I do with these tulle flowers?