Layered Fabric Flowers

I was seeing photos of layered fabric flowers in all sorts of publications and on all sorts of web sites, and I knew I wanted to try making some.  When I ultimately saw a piece about them as a kids' craft in Disney's Family Fun magazine, I knew it was time to sit down and see just how easy they are to make!

I have a stash of my children's outgrown clothing--pieces that I've held back from the Goodwill donations pile because something about the color or pattern makes me want to save it for a fabric project.  My two big fabric bins also hold several pairs of old jeans and some of my own old sweaters.  I used this supply to choose cloth for my layered flowers.

I separated the pieces I found pretty into "color families"--groupings that I thought looked nice together.  From there I used a circle template to draw with a fabric pen (the kind with ink that disappears within 24 hours), and then cut the circles freehand from there. 

Once I stacked the concentric circles one on top of another, I chose a button from my collection for the center.  I pulled out several of my favorites, and my daughters helped me to make my choices.  They loved playing with the buttons, and checking out different ones to see which looked best with the stacks of fabric circles.  I maintained veto power, and they took my rejections well as long as I let them play with the remaining buttons while I stitched the chosen one to the center of the fabric flower!

I use a small straight pin to attach them to my shirts (though perhaps a safety pin would be a better idea!), and have worn the flowers out to lunch and to two recent craft fairs.  I have always gotten positive, though not effusive, comments on them. 

I guess I can't blame the horribleness of this photo on the fact that my three-year-old took it.  She's not responsible for that terrible hair-do, after all.  But I DID want you to see the flowers on my sweater!

If you look closely, you can see a different two flowers pinned to my sweater for the firehouse craft show.

I tried doing some freehand stitching on one of the pins to see if it added anything to the look.  It was quite a challenge to stitch on such a small space with a button right smack in the middle of it all!  I didn't ultimately feel that it added anything, though I might try again prior to attaching the button.  Maybe it will add to the design rather than looking like an afterthought (which it was)!

And just in case you were hoping to see yet another photo of me behind my craft show table display, here is a picture of my spread at the Interboro High School Fall Craft Fair this past Saturday. 


You can see another layered fabric flower on my sweater here:  same sweater, different flower!

I was delighted to receive an entire cafeteria table for my goods; I was able to put out some things that I sometimes skip when space is tight.  For example, I offered my Colorful Journeys Stationery Sets for the first time in awhile, and sold three of them, which really pleased me. 

I don't make or sell anything that I don't like, but I do have special favorites, and take the greatest pleasure when people decide to take them home with them!

My last craft show of the year is on Saturday, at Haverford High School, where I spent 9 out of the 11 total years I worked in the field of education.  It will be fun to be in those halls again, this time selling my handmade art and crafts rather than teaching European History or World Cultures!