Fleece Sunflower Pillow Tutorial

I was inspired by the fleece pillow tutorial I posted about over the weekend, and I had this vision of a sunflower version I could not wait to try.  So, while Joann's was having their blizzard fleece solids super cheap, plus the extra 25% off your entire purchase ($3/yd!!), I ran up there 30 minutes before closing and got the supplies.  Then, it took me until today to complete my masterpiece because I've been awake for the last 3 days with my poor 2 year old and her nasty stomach bug.  Toddlers and puking do not go well with anything.    

I have to say, I love how this came out.  Even my almost 13 year old liked it, and that's saying something!  Woohoo!  The only thing I'd change was that I used a mustard yellow fleece and I'd probably do it in a brighter yellow if it was for a child's room.  This darker yellow just gives me harvest gold 1970s afghan on the back of the couch vibes.   It's perfect for a hipster's couch ;).

Below is the tutorial, I will make it into a printable PDF and put it on my website and Craftsy.com later today.  For the time being, you can download my petal template at the link under the materials list.  

Materials:     

1 yd of yellow fleece

1/8 yd of orange fleece

1/8 yd of brown fleece

¼ yd of black fleece

½ lb of Polyfil stuffing

Hot glue gun

Hot glue

Pinking shears

Thread

Sewing machine

Find the Petal Pattern here.

Instructions:

1.       Take a large dinner plate and trace it (roughly 14 inches in diameter).  Then, using the template cut out two circles of yellow fleece.

2.       With WRONG SIDES TOGETHER, using a ½ inch seam allowance, sew around the circles, leaving a 3-4 inch opening.  This could also be done with hot glue. 

3.       Stuff the pillow until satisfied with it’s shape, then sew the opening closed. 

4.       Pink the edges of the seam to get a uniform look.

5.       Cut 3 strips of the fleece 4 inches in length by the entire width of the fabric (usually about 60 inches).  Cut petals from the yellow fleece.  You need enough petals to make three rows.  The pattern piece is at the top of these instructions. 

6.       Using pinking shears, cut circles about 1.5 inches in diameter from the orange, brown, and black fleece.  You will need 3 or 4 times more black circles than orange and brown.  They do not need to be perfect circles. 

7.        Begin with the petals.  First, take a handful of petals and put a 1 inch line down the middle back and fold them in half as shown. 

8.        Then, when they have dried a little, I take one at time and add glue at the edge and a dot at the end of the line I previously made and glue them to the pillow.

 

9.       Place the glued edge of the petals about 1.5 inches above the pinked seam.  Begin overlapping the petals just slightly as shown in the picture. Complete an entire circle of petals.

 

10.    The second row will be placed about 1.5 inches above the glued edge of the first row as shown in the picture.  Then, the third row will be about 1 to 1.5 inches above the second row’s glued edge. 

 

11.    Take the orange circles, place some hot glue in the center and then pinch them into a trifold as shown.  Then, begin gluing them in place around the raw edge of the inner most petal circle until they are an entire circle around the petal edges as shown. 

12.    Next, make trifold circles from the brown and begin interspersing them between the orange circles as shown. 

13.    Then, begin the next inner circle with both black and brown trifold circles, as shown.

14.    Lastly, fill in the rest of the inner most part of the flower with black trifold circles until you cannot see anymore yellow underneath.

 

And you’re done!!

Upcycle T-Shirts into Rosette Embellishments

I know my family always has a bag of t shirts that are too small just waiting for the next yearly garage sale.  But...you can use up some of those t shirts in a new way.  Just cut strips of various lengths and make rosettes.

This is a super easy way to use up old t shirts and give your baby a chic look.  It's also a great way to hide stains on solid color onesies or t shirts, too.  This same technique can be done on any other fabric or clothing item as well.

If you would like the downloadable version of this tutorial to save for later.  Please click the picture:

Materials

·         Onesie or t shirt

·         0.5 inch and 1 inch strips of old t shirts

·         Coordinating  thread

**These were onesies I had previously tiedyed.  You do not need to tiedye yours for this tutorial.  I just like tiedyed onesies.  A lot.  And I picked up used ones at thrift stores for super cheap and dye them all the time.

1.       Cut strips of t shirt roughly ½ inch to 1 inch in with by various lengths.  I do this from the leftover sleeves from making upcycled pillowcase style dresses out of old men’s t shirts.  

2.        To form the rosette, roll up a strip of t shirt in kind of a smashed way, like the picture.  Make sure to keep the ends tucked into the back of it.  The longer the strip, the larger and thicker the rosette will be. 

3.        Once you are happy with the size of the rosette, pin it on the onesie.

4.        There are two options to sew the rosette. 

a.        Beginning at the outer edge, sew around and around in a spiral until you finish off in the middle of the rosette – make sure you backstitch at the beginning and end.  Try to get as much of the fabric into your stitches so that nothing is loose. 

b.      Another option is sewing a big zigzag back and forth through the rosette, just make sure nothing is left loose.  With the red rosette, the zigzag design can easily be seen.

5.        Once you are satisfied with your rosettes, you’re done!  You can add some extra embellishments such as hotfix crystals as shown in the second picture below.

©2012 Stephanie Pass Sewing Chick Studio / The TipToe Fairy

Ribbon Flower Baby Headband Tutorial

I created this little tutorial when I was making a ribbon pin/brooch to complete a little outfit for The TipToe Fairy.  This tutorial shows you how to attach it to a baby headband as well.  You can find the baby headbands at craft stores like Hobby Lobby super cheap.  These ribbon flowers are fun little accents to dress up anything from heads, bags, and clothing.  You can add them to headbands and clothing or even attach them directly to hair clips.  So cute!!

Materials: 

1-4 yds of 1 to 1.5 inch wide ribbon (I prefer grograin, but any will be fine)

needle and thread

sewing machine

small piece of felt

pin back, headband, alligator clip, etc. 

Tutorial:

** For this tutorial I used just 1 yd of ribbon. 

1.  First sew a gathering stitch along the entire length of ribbon, about 1/4 inch from the edge.

2.  Pull the threads to create a gathered ribbon.  It will flip all over it self until you start the flower. 

3.  Prepare your needle and thread. This is a little tricky...while holding the threads taut to keep the gather, fold the raw edge of the ribbon over two times then with a needle and thread sew together those edges near the gathering stitches.  Then, you will slowly wrap the gathered edge if the ribbon into a tight spiral.  Sewing the gathered edge together all around the flower as you go.  

4.   Just as you began folding the raw edge over twice, do the same with the end of the ribbon as well.  Then, when the ribbon is completely wrapped, sew back and forth around the gathered edges to make sure the ribbon flower stays nice and tight.

Here is the finished flower:

5.  Next, cut a circle of felt to cover the gathered edges and whipstitch around the edges.


6.  Optional:  To attach to a baby head band, cut two small slits and slide a length of 1/4 inch elastic through.  Then insert the elastic into the baby headband and tie off.  Cut the loose ends short.
 

And you're done!