Strip Fabric Flower

When spring and summer pass and the pretty, colorful flowers wither away, you can make your own Strip Fabric Flower that will last all year long. Scrap fabric crafts help you save money on supplies - it's a great excuse to use what you have on hand.


 

Materials:

• Water
• Instant tea
• Measuring cup
• Mixing spoon
• Soup pot
• Stove
• Muslin (One yard of 45-inch-wide muslin will produce approximately 10 flowers.)
• Measuring tape
• Scissors
• Crochet thread
• Sewing machine
• White or off white canvas scrap
• Compass
• Hot glue gun
• Bit of lace, button and/or charm

Instructions:

1. Mix 2 quarts of water and 1 1/2 cups of instant tea in a soup pot. Place on the stove and bring to a boil. Add your muslin to the pot. Continue to boil, stirring constantly for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow the tea mixture to cool. As soon as you are able to handle the fabric, remove it from the pot and wring out the excess moisture. Hang the fabric to dry. Outside is best to avoid a mess from drips. Note: This project uses a small amount of fabric, but while you are in the process, you may want to stain a lot more to have on hand for other projects that use tea-stained muslin.
    
2. Rip or cut a 4-inch-wide by 36-inch-wide strip of the tea-stained muslin.
   
   
    
3. Fold the strip in half, matching the two long edges. Place the edges under your sewing machine's presser foot on one end of the strip. Tie a knot in one end of crochet thread. Slip the thread under the presser foot, on the edge of the fabric, with the knot behind the presser foot. Set the machine on a wide zigzag stitch. Zigzag over the crochet thread along the length of the raw edge to the opposite end. The zigzag creates a casing over the crochet thread. Cut the thread and tie a knot in the end.
   
   
    
4. Lay the strip on your work surface. Cut 1/2-inch-wide strips from the folded edge to the zigzag stitch line.
   
   
    
5. Grasp the knot on one end of the crochet thread. Pull the thread to gather the edge. Gather until the edge measures 18 inches long.
   
   
    
6. Use a compass to trace a 2-inch circle on a scrap of white or off white canvas. Cut out the circle.
    
7. Lay the circle on your work surface. Apply a line of hot glue a couple of inches long on the edge of the circle. Starting on one end of the gathered strip, place the gathered edge on the glue line. Continue to add the hot glue in a line around the circle, a couple of inches at a time. Lay the edge of the strip in the glue. Continue to add glue and the strip in a spiral to the center of the circle. Trim off excess fabric if necessary.
   
   
    
8. Decorate the center of the flower using lace, buttons and/or charms.