Tutorial Tuesday - Singed Edge Fabric Flower

One of the things that I really enjoy is making my own flowers for my cards. Today I would like to show you how to make your own fabric flowers using the singed edge technique.

Supplies:

Man-Made Fabric (here I've used satin but any fabric such as polyester, rayon, nylon, etc. will do)

Hole Punch

Scissors

Circle Templates or Dies

Candle

Lighter or Matches

Brads or Buttons

Small Hole Punch

Tweezers

Bowl of Water for accidents

STEP 1: First you will cut 3 fabric circles of each size. I am making two sizes of flowers here. You basically need a small circle and a larger circle. Here I’ve used 1 ½ inches & 2 ½ inches.

STEP 2:Cut slits in the edges of the circles going all the way around. I usually stack all three circles of the same size and cut all at once. These will be your petals

STEP 3: Carefully hold the circles next to the candle one at a time. You can use your fingers or the tweezers. The heat will melt the fabric on the edges. You are not trying to catch the fabric on fire, just melt the edges.  This is where your bowl of water comes in just in case the fabric catches on fire.

STEP 4: Using your hole punch, place a hole in the center of each fabric circle. I do this with all 3 circles of the same size stacked together.

STEP 5: Stack the 3 smaller circles on top of the 3 larger circles.

STEP 6: Put your brad through all 6 layers.

 

Additional Tips:

• You can adjust the sizes to fit your needs. The melting gets difficult when using sizes smaller than 1 inch.
• I often make small matching flowers using only one size of circles.
• The softer, more flexible fabric requires more layers. Stiffer fabric required fewer.
• Try alternating fabric colors for the layers to match your color scheme.
• These look great with a layer of tulle added in between. Be careful when singeing your tulle, it shrinks up quickly. You may want to make your tulle layers a little bigger to account for this.
• Buttons also make a great center. Simply skip the hole punching step and sew on the button.
• Use your ink or markers to color white fabric to match your design. Be sure to give the ink time to dry before you singe it though. Some inks (especially alcohol) are highly flammable when still wet.
• Try attaching your flowers to hair clips, headbands, barrettes and brooch pins (for clothing or handbags).