Craft-along: Flower tutorial 4

For other blossom tutorials and the more info about this craft-along please click here.

I'm sure this will come as a huge shocker, but sometimes I start making something and it ends up being something else entirely. That's what happened with today's flower.  I set out making a flat-ish bloom and ended up with a fabulously frilly carnationesque number.  And I love it!

I like it so much, in fact, that I'm changing my whole flower wreath blossom scheme. Do you want a ruffly carnation for your wreath? Well let's go, then!


Supplies:
Fabric
Circle to trace*
Scissors
Fray-stopping Liquid or lighter*
Needle and thread
Hot glue or fabric glue*
*Button

*As usual, the starred items are optional. 

Step 1:
Cut out eight to ten circles as follows:
Four 3" circles
Four 2.5" circles
One to two 2" circles

I have a very technical way of cutting out circles.  It is called trace circles onto fabric and cut with scissors. I actually bought a nifty little rotary cutter a few weeks ago, but, alas, I have not been able to find the correct size blade. Maybe you are lucky enough to have blades for your cool cutting tools or even a Go! Cutter, but if not, good old fashioned trace and cut still works just fine.

Trace circle onto square, fold twice.

Cut off the top three corners using your traced circle as a cutting guide.

Unfold your practically perfect circle.

*If you are using a satin or acetate now it the time to heat-seal your raw edges with your lighter.  For other fabrics, apply your no-fray liquid and let dry.  In the first photo it is pretty clear that I didn't treat my raw edges. I know I usually like that slightly shabby look, but I think I prefer pristine edges for this particular flower. Go figure.


Step 2:
Fold each of your four 3" circles twice. Basically, you are going backward a step.

Now place them on one of your 2" circles in a circle pattern. You can place and sew them onto the circle one at a time, but I pinned them so you could see what I mean without having to stare at my thumb again.

Front (top)

Backside (bottom)

On a side note, I made sure all my petals are facing the same direction.  That is, the fold is on the left so the circles open to the right.  I'm not sure what kind of difference it makes, but I like the effect. Feel free to play around with your petal orientation.

Sew only the four corners in place.

 Step 3:
Repeat Step 2 with your 2.5" circles, pinning them so they overlap two of the previous petals.

  
For this layer my petals have the fold on the right and open to the left. Again, I only note this because I like how my flower turned out, but you can definitely change things up. If you do, let me know what you did differently and how it turned out!

Sew the inner corners just as before.

Step 4:
Here's where things took a different turn.  When I removed my pins the petals popped open and looked like this:

   
Oh how fun! But, don't worry, I took a photo of the flower I originally intended to create.  Look what happens when I add a button:

Cute, right?  The larger your centerpiece the flatter your petals will lay. I may use this for a few of my flowers - I haven't decided. If this is the track you take, simply glue your button into the center, hiding your earlier stitches.

I opted for the fluffier blossom. To finish it off and hide my stitches I took the remaining 2" circle and glued it in the center of my flower, center to center.  Then, I added a dot of glue to the top center and pinched the circle up around it. Perfection!

Well, perfection except for the frayed edges.

Which flowers are you opting to use on your wreath?  Any photo for me yet?