When January rolled around this year, I was overtaken by the urge to learn to sew. I never took home economics in highschool, and while my Mom had a sewing machine in our house while I was growing up, she didn’t use it too much. The extent of my sewing experience was making hair scrunchies when I was about 9 or 10 years old. No joke. So I bought a sewing machine this year and took two sewing classes with three other women from church at Sewing Machines Etcetera. It was really fun and I learned the basics of how to operate my new machine and some techniques. While I haven’t actually made too many clothing items since January, I have been using it off and on for my craft projects.

Enter: my fabric flower addiction.

I have been reeled in hook, line and sinker by this new fad, and am loving every minute of it. It is especially fun since I can use my creations for my two daughters, and as photography props. The possibilities are endless! I don’t need a sewing machine for all of them, but it is handy to own one so I can incorporate it if need be.

So, on that note, I thought I would start a new series sharing some step by step tutorials on making some different kinds of fabric flowers. Today’s tutorial is a satin ribbon rose. Please note, these are point-and-shoot images, so please excuse the poor quality. It’s just so much easier than one-handing a dSLR!

What you need for this tutorial are:

Satin ribbon (I’m using a 1.5 inch width ribbon here, but 1 inch would also be fine)
Needle and thread, preferably in a colour that matches your ribbon
Scissors

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And we’re ready to begin!

1. Fold one end of the ribbon downward to make a triangle shape , leaving a little “tail” and sew along the fold. I used loop stitches, but you could also use straight stitches. It’s the bottom of the flower anyways, so don’t worry too much about what it looks like:) Side note: I would recommend waiting to cut your ribbon length until the flower is done as this will affect the size of your flower.

2. Fold the ribbon downward again to make another triangle next to the first one, and sew along the fold to secure.

3. Repeat again down the next side, folding inward, and sew along the fold to secure.

To give you a better view, this is what you’ll see under that last sewn edge.

4. Fold the last edge to complete a square shape and sew. I did a straight stitch on this one since I would be stitching the “tail” piece in with my folded edge. Once you finish sewing, prep your needle and thread now for step 9 – trust me:)
What you’ll see from the back:

5. Continue on with the same folding pattern and continue to fold (not sew) until you have seven layers.

6. You can now cut off the excess ribbon, leaving 2 or 3 inches to work with.
7. Twist the ribbon and start feeding it through the hole in the center of all your ribbon “squares” until you reach the other side. It might be easiest to feed it through 2 squares at a time.
8. Once you have the ribbon through, twist it from the bottom until you have your desired rose shape.
9. Flatten down the ribbon edge and sew around the center hole to secure the shape of your rose. My ribbon was thin enough that I could get the needle through several layers so I sewed a few sections to better fasten the “petals” down.
10. Trim off excess ribbon and you’re done! Now you can attach this rose to a hair clip, broach, headband, etc.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and I look forward to creating more in the future! Please leave any tips or suggestions in the comments so I can improve for next time:)

Let’s keep in touch:

                     

Live life, blessed & happy!
Amy

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