Floral Pins

When Hero Arts makes new flowers, my mind instantly says, “which ones would make good fabric flowers?” About ten years ago, Hero made several large flower stamps that started my fabric flower frenzy. We made hundreds to hand out at tradeshows. So when I saw the Peonies set, I decided to try embossing it in Gold Glitter Embossing Powder on unbleached muslin. Neutral colors of flowers go with everything, right?

Here are my steps:

1. Emboss onto muslin.
2. Cut another piece of fabric and stitch through both layers around the edges.
3. Cut out close to the edge.
4. Turn over and make a small slit. Stuff with batting.
5. Add something to the flower center - a decorative button, etc. On this one I glued on tiny gold seed beads.
6. Attach small green felt leaves.
7. Add a pin backing to the back of the flower with fabric glue or hand stitch.

Voila, a wearable pin in minutes! You can also make a matching card for gift giving!

I have been out east visiting family for weeks, with nothing more than my watercolors. With flowers still on the brain, I had an A-HA moment thinking about our Fiesta Fringe Fancy Die. I could use that, too, to make fabric flowers. BUT WAIT, no die here…it’s 3000 miles away. So I hand cut what the die would do to make a new type of flower. My sister’s fabric stash was limited so I picked this very thin fabric and hand cut five pieces that I would normally die cut - die cutting would have been so much faster! I hand gathered and stitched them in a circular motion and stitched them all together. I found a button and stitched it to the middle. No green felt here, so I went outside and found a real leaf for the photo.

This turned out so fun, I'm going to have to try it again with the die once I'm home!

So, enjoy playing and thinking what ELSE you can do with your stamps and dies. Any other unique flower ideas out there? I'm always happy to try new flower techniques!