Tip of the
Month
Making Fabric Roses
Try a great decoration for your tables this Valentines Day. Beautiful fabric roses can be an attractive decoration for dresses, hats, hair pieces, pillows and more. To make them, start by cutting bias strips of fabric, twice as wide as you want your rose to be tall. Long strips will make wealthier roses.
Take the strips and fold them in half lengthwise --do not iron the fabric or else you'll get crispy-edge rosettes. We prefer soft edges for a more realistic looking rose.
Gather the strips along the long, cut edge. You can use a ruffling foot on our sewing machine or just sew by hand with wide stitches. Remember to use a big needle and strong thread.
When the strips are all gathered, start at one end and fold the raw edges down, then wrap the strip around the center. Using a needle and strong thread, tack the roll down every so often, close to the raw edge, keeping it secure. is gets harder to sew as the roll gets
thicker at the bottom. Keep rolling until your rosette is big and fluffy as you desire. Fold the final raw edge down, tack it, and knot the thread off. You can trim the bottom of the rose up a litte, being careful not to cut
through any of the stiches. To mount on objects: Use
small circle patches of left over material, glue the rose to the surface, feather the petals as desired. Mounting the rose keeps the petals in position and never distrubs the gathering threads. Have Fun!!
Lesson: From A featured article in Tystan's Closet 2007.