stitched flower tutorial

Not only is it my sister's birthday today, happy birthday Mel!

It is also a day to share a TUTORIAL! Yes!

Today, I'm going to show you how to make these flowers pictured below.

In the midst of my Christmas product making time, I thought it would be good (especially since I promised forever ago) to take a few pictures on how I make these certain flowers. They are super easy and super gorgeous.

Materials needed:

-fabric or ribbon

-needle and thread

-scissors

That's all!

Secret:

I really like to use quilting thread whenever I'm making something that needs to stay put. It's much more sturdy than other types of thread.

First, with a threaded needle, I start on the left side of the ribbon or fabric (today it's ribbon) and just evenly stitch down the entire left side. I like to stay a decent distance away from the edge.

Keep stitching.

Pull the thread through, then stitch some more until you reach the end or you feel is enough to make a full circle.

Its a little hard to see the stitches in this picture but they aren't completely equal and they aren't perfect. That's the best thing about this type of flower!

Then gather all of the ribbon or fabric until it makes a complete circle, with a little overlap.

If it does not, stitch a few more stitches.

Generally, I don't cut my ribbon off until I know that I have enough to make the whole flower, but in this case, it was the last of this particular ribbon on the roll, so I had no choice.

hint: If your material does make a full circle but is kind of making a strange pull on the outside edge, stitch a few more stitches. More is always better for this.

Then, find both ends of the thread, like above, and tie them TIGHTLY in a few knots.

Your ribbon should make a full circle with ease and a little overlapping.

Then closely cut off the excess thread.

(you should see me taking these pictures. I needed three hands but only had two)

And there it is! Gor-geous.

Here is a side view to show you how the ribbon edges overlap one another. This is good because it camouflages any frays and edges.

see?

There are other ways to fix this, if you don't feel comfortable leaving them wide open. You can always stitch them together down their edges.

It just takes too long for me to make such an effort :)

Back view. Still pretty.

Here is it on a Holiday inspired onesie.

And on this.

And this.

And this.

Oh and this.

You can do so much with these flowers. I have another flower tutorial for later. I hope this was something you enjoyed! I enjoy sharing them! Now I cannot take credit for this flower, because I've seen it all over the blogs for the past year so. Wear I first saw it, I cannot remember, but it didn't originate from me!

Love ya!