The "Vintage" Fabric Flower

My mom and I went hat shopping the other day. For her. Not for me, although I really want a fabulous hat. Thank you Royal Wedding for that itch. 

While we were out and about, I kept coming across those vintage fabric flowers. You know, the ones made with chiffon and tulle. They're beautiful and elegant and EXPENSIVE when store bought. So I came home and figured out how to make one for less than $4. And that's pretty awesome, if I do say so myself.

Here's what you will need:

• 1 yard of chiffon (a color of your choosing)
• 1 yard of tulle (in roughly the same shade as the chiffon)
• Needle and Thread
• Clasp of your choice (I sewed this one to a ponytail band for one of my daughters, but I'm also going to sew a few to pin backs)

A yard of each of these fabrics will make multiple flowers, depending on how big you want your flowers. For this one, I literally put a roll of masking tape down on the fabric, traced the inside circle with a pencil, and cut my flower "petals" out. This size is perfect children. I am also going to go bigger so I can create a hair clip for me. I'll try to remember to post an updated photo of that when I complete it.

First, you will need to cut your "petals" out. They do not have to be perfect circles, and they do not have to be all the same size.  The flower pictured above had 9 chiffon petals and 5 tulle petals.

Starting with a chiffon petal, fold your circle in half:

And then fold it in half again:

Then, with your needle and thread, sew through the tip of the triangle and back again:

From here on, you just add your petals one after another, sewing them together in a circular pattern that overlaps itself. Make sure you alternate between chiffon and tulle so your flower will have some sturdiness and poofiness to it. Once you have all of your petals sewn together, tie your thread off with a double knot. At this point, I also added a circular piece of tulle to the back of my flower, leaving it unfolded, so it could serve as a kind of backer. I found having it there made it easier to sew the ponytail holder to the flower because it kept the flower petals from getting in my way and blocking my view. 

My daughter loved it and had to have it put in her hair immediately.

So cute and cheap!