Fabric Flower Shamrock

For St. Patrick's Day I decided to replace my fabric flower heart with a shamrock. It was pretty simple. This time I used a green satin (or was it taffeta? I don't remember.) that was 100% acetate. It was more difficult because I wanted smaller flowers (more nearly burned fingers this way), and the acetate didn't burn quite as well as my 100% polyester red satin. It didn't melt the same and caught fire easily. I think I will look for something else or stick with polyester for my next burnt-fabric flower craft. For instructions, reference my fabric flower heart post, but instead of doing a heart do a shamrock. I like to keep things simple. :)

Fabric Flower Heart

This is a simple project I came up with for Valentine's Day that I really like. All it took was fabric, candles, paper, and hot glue. And, I guess, a frame in which to display the finished product. I hope you like it!

First, make your flowers. I'd never done this before. I'm quite nervous around fire too, but it wasn't bad at all. If I can do it, you can do it.

a. Cut circles of various sizes out of your fabric. They don't need to be perfect circles. I free-handed mine. Be sure to use a fabric that melts (a synthetic fabric like polyster), not a fabric that burns (like cotton). I tried cotton and it just went ashy...and smelled bad. I used 100% polyester satin from my old high school choir dress--don't tell my mother. (It's not like I've worn it since high school and I've graduated from college now. It was just taking up space with lovely red fabric for my project!)

b. Melt the edges over a flame. I used birthday candles held up with a clothespin. (Breaking the bank, I know.) If the circle catches fire, just blow it out. It adds character to the flower and looks pretty, so don't despair.

c. Holding the circle over the flame about 1-2 inches, slightly pucker the centers of the circles if desired. Be careful, since this can cause the centers to melt into black goo or make melted holes if you hold it for too long. Trial and error. You'll get the hang of it quickly. I thought this made them look more like real flowers and less like, well, circles.

d. Form your flowers by placing your "petals" inside each other and hot gluing them together. Most of my flowers were three layers, but I made some with only two that looked pretty. You can also use thread to sew them together. I tried that, but it was taking longer than I had patience. Hot glue was faster and easier for me.

e. Optional: Glue beads or buttons in the center of your flowers. I originally planned on doing this...but decided I liked how it looked without them better.

Second, place a piece of paper in your frame on which to glue your flowers.

Third, place your flowers on the page in the form of a heart.

Fourth, hot glue the flowers in place. Realize that as you glue your flowers in place, the shape may shift. I ended up altering my design and fiddling with it a bit after I'd glued several flowers in place. The other flowers had shifted, and it didn't look the way I wanted anymore. So make sure you have some extra flowers to help you rearrange the unglued portion if necessary.

Fifth, admire your handiwork. :) This is my favorite step.

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