Fabric Flowers

I saw a photo of a bride on the internet holding a bunch of fabric flowers.  I can't remember where I saw them but the photo struck a cord with me.   I have a Sizzix die cut of a tattered rose and thought it could be reproduced in fabric.  It is basically a long strip of fabric with one edge scalloped and the other side gathered up.  It is then rolled round to form the rose.  I left a small piece at one end to glue it to a stick.  I saw some dogwood whilst out walking the dog and thought the red colour would go well with the fabric.   I used left over jelly roll pieces to make the roses.   I used the scallop stitch on my machine sewn with stitch size 4 and length 9mm.   I then used the largest stitch possible and sewed along the bottom of the pieces and gathered the stitching very carefully. 

With the short piece of fabric I'd trimmed I formed a centre bud and glued it to the stem.   Next came the careful rolling of the fabric to make the actual rose.  It is possible to sew each layer to the next but remember you need to sew on top of the fabric, not round the stem otherwise you will end up with a stick wrapped with fabric.   I cheated and glued my rose together as I was too impatient to see if it would work.  Well here's the results.

As you can see I sewed slightly away from the edge as I wanted my roses to be a bit tatty but you could always sew the strips together and turn them so the edges were smooth.

And here they are in a bunch, I got a bit carried away.

I'm going to make a much smaller rose to take to my Aunty Joan who has just been diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer.  She is Mum's youngest sister and my last aunt.  Keith is going to make a very small bud vase from wood to put the rose in.