Jewelry Party Prep - Project #1 Fabric Flower Pins

So its that time of year again.  We just get through all the distractions of the Holidays and then there is one more big event for our house, my daughter's birthday.  This year she asked for a jewelry making party and although there are many local bead places that we could go, I can never get over how cheap the projects are.  So the do-it-yourselfer in me always rears its ugly head and away I go.  

The party penguin collection I created for her party last year got a great response at Surtex last spring so I decided to do another collection based on her party theme.  Lots of pink, ribbon, and pearls will work nicely for a juvenile or teen market.  I'm also in the process of creating a complete party printable package which will be available for download soon.  

Tonight's project was to make gum ball necklaces for the girls goodie bags.  I loved these the moment I saw them and they have that elegant semi vintage feel I've been going for.  I say project but it actually is made up of two mini project.  These fabric flower pins will be attached to the gum ball necklaces later and will be something that can be used again after the gum balls are gone.

Supplies:

Synthetic Satin, Shaffon, or tulle

Needle and Thread

Scissors

Candle

Assorted Plastic Jems

Hot Glue

Pin backs

Start by cutting fabric into a variety of circles, they don't need to be accurate by any means, in fact the irregular circles will add to the natural flower look.  You can do these all in one color or mix and match fabrics.

After you have a good pile of different sized circles going you can start melting the edges.  How many you will need depends on how many flowers you are doing but I used 7-10 layers per bloom when I made mine.  Light your candle and hold your fabric above the flame a few inches.  You will see the edges start to curl and melt.  You don't need a lot of heat.  Some fabrics will burn easier than others so try a few out to see what works.  I then held the whole circle above the heat so that the center would start to melt and wrinkle making the shapes even more irregular.  Depending on the fabrics and techniques you use there are a wide range off effects you can create.  

Once you have your pile of petals nicely melted, its time to stack the layers.  The more layers you use the fuller the flower.  When I made mine I alternated pink chaffon with white tulle.  The tulle didn't melt as nicely but it was alot stiffer which helped fill out the chaffon.  I just held the stack in my hand, but if you are having trouble keeping it together, you can throw a few small stitches in as you go.  Stack your petals from large to small and then sew threw the middle of the layers.  It didn't matter too much where I stitches since a jewel would be covering them but you can also make these flowers with beads or pearls in the center.  This is the stage that you would string those.  Instead of stitches you would come up through the petals from the back string your bead and go back down, repeat until you have your desired effect.

Once all the petals were sewn I added the pin back and plastic jewel with hot glue.