Wedding Wednesdays: DIY for the Flower Girls

I was inspired by Martha Stewart's DIY for a floral headpiece I saw in a magazine when I thought about starting this project. Although her project was much more simple (she just strung together fresh hyacinth), I do want to thank Martha for the inspiration!


I had a vision when I started the project, but had no idea on exactly what to do. I bought some supplies I thought I needed, and used some I had already. I used the basic sewing skills I already had and made the rules as I went along because some ideas worked while others didn't. After making several prototypes, I am now pretty happy with the results. Here are the steps:

Supplies

silk flowers (six bunches should do; make sure the petals are at most 1.5in wide)
stretch magic bead & jewelry cord (5 meters, 1 mm.)
beads & pearls (various sizes)
ribbon
crazy glue or glue gun
thread & needle
scissors


Steps

I brought home the silk flowers in bunches like below and plucked out the petals.






They were very one dimensional, so I sewed each petal to make it less flat. Working on the petal's back, I pinched the petal in the middle and sew one spot together.





Pull the thread tight and tie a knot in the back to make the shape stay. Below is what it should look like after. You may need to repeat the steps on the same petal; it depends on if you did it right on the first try. Using the same thread (without cutting it, so they're all sewed together), repeat the same steps with the next 3-4 petals.




After 3-4 petals, this is what you should end up with. Cut off the thread after the last knot (double knot to be safe) and you're done with one flower.



I made a whole bunch of these enough for a headpiece and 2 bracelets.

Then comes the easy part. All you have to do now is figure out a design you like with the beads and pearls, string them on, and sew the petal onto the cord. Tie a knot where it ends, and crazy glue them to secure them.