Tutorial: Shabby Fabric Roses

You can use these beautiful fabric flowers just about anywhere.

In your hair.......

A really old pillow in desperate need of help........

Put them in your bathroom......

The possibilities are endless.

I have a few favorite tutorials from others, for the rolled fabric roses like these and these.  While I was playing around with some of those techniques, I kind of ending up creating my own unique rose.

Materials:
Scrap pieces of fabric with a length that runs a least 22 inches
Fabric Glue
Needle/Thread

Start by cutting a little notch out of your fabric so it is approx 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide, and then rip it down the length so you have frayed edges.  You can embellish just about anything with roses by using one or two strips of fabric.  The more strips you add to it, the bigger the rose.  For this tutorial we are going to use two strips of fabric that measure 22 inches long.

Lay your fabric strips so that wrong sides are facing up.  Taking the bottom corner, just started folding it over to roll it into a long tube.

When you start to get a good roll going, place a very small drop of fabric glue to hold it in place.  This will keep it from unraveling.

When you get to the end of the roll, place a small drop of glue to secure it.

Repeat for the second fabric strip.  1 fabric roll will make a nice sized rose approx 2- 2 1/2 in. wide.  That's a really nice size if your making hair accessories.

Get your needle and thread ready.  You can also make these roses with just fabric glue, but I'm really messy, and I can personally manipulate better with the needle and thread.  Fold the end of one of your fabric rolls like the letter "z"

Determine what is going to be the top side and the underside of your rose.  Wherever you decide the underside is, place a stitch very close to the edge of the fabric, to hold your folds together.

The next step is to wrap your fabric around the "z" 2 times, and then stitch it towards the bottoms to hold it in place.

When you turn it over to look at the topside or right side, it's going to start to look like this.

The next step is to start forming the petals of your flower.  In one hand, hold the rose so that you are looking at the right/topside.  In the other hand, grab the fabric and twist it so that the bottom of your roll is now at the top.

Holding onto the twist, place a few stitches close to the edge of the fabric on the underside to hold it into place.

Twist it again in the opposite direction, now what was the top edge, has been twisted to be on the underside.

Continue in this manner until you reach the end of your fabric roll.  The twists don't have to alternate in opposite directions all the time.  Sometimes it looked better if I twisted them outward two times in a row.

When you reach the end of your fabric roll you should end up with something like this.  You can stop here if this is a good size for you.

If you want to go with a bigger rose, just add the second piece where you left off, using the same technique as you did with the first one.  You will notice that you will have to make your twists looser, the bigger it gets, to make realistic petals.