Fabric Flower wrist corsage.. SO CUTE! Tutorial

I found the the Instructions for making this beautiful corsage on elizabeth anne designs blog and thought I would share.

1. Cut a 4×18 inch strip of fabric - you may need to play with the width and length to get the look you are going for.

2. Fold the fabric hot dog style (so the long edges meet) with wrong sides together. Press with an iron.

3. Using a loose straight stitch sew the open long edges together (leaving about 1/4 inch)

4. Pull the bobbin thread to gather the material. The more you pull the more it gathers. You will have to kind of play with the fabric to make it gather evenly.

5. Once you are happy with the amount of gather begin rolling the strip up - so it looks like a spiral. So start at one end and just roll. The tighter you roll the more open your flower will be.

6. Once you are happy with your flower hand sew the bottom together (the bottom is the edge with the seam - the folded side should be the open part of the flower). Be sure you get through all the layers - don’t worry this part doesn’t have to be pretty.

7. Once your flower feels like it is secure and will not unravel use a hot glue gun to attach it to a piece of ribbon. Voila! You have a corsage.

Coastal City Bride - Charis xx

Bridesmaid Tote bags.. Instructions aye?

Right.
How to make bridesmaid tote bags. There are no pictures in this post as I have done the DIY tutorial after Ive actually made it. My apologies!!! If you have any queries, please post in comments section and I will do the best I can!

Equipment:
Colored ribbon
Paint
scissors
Canvas tote bag
Design printed on A4 sheets.
Sowing needle and thread.
Cigarette Lighter for your ribbon.

Step 1. Have several drinks to get you amped up. (CCB only promotes moderate drinking here *cough* just enough to improve your coordination and to be able to handle the task at hand. I know that I needed it since my love of painting was minimal, but you could use stencils or iron on to prevent thefrom having to paint!)

Step 2. Purchase canvas tote bag from local craft store. $4.99 per bag.

Step 3. Purchase paint. (preferably waterproof, so the bag can be washed). I purchased Jo Sonja's Artist Colors - Matte Fluid. Cadmium Orange Series 3, Burgundy Series 1. Juane Brilliant Series 1.

Step 4. Select your design. There are some interesting designs in google for bridesmaid tote bags. Lots of cute one liners and stuff. I decided to use their names instead of 'bridesmaid' so they can use it again.

Step 5. Print design. I printed my design on A4 paper and inserted this in between the canvas, I only decorated one side.

Step 6. Start Painting. I painted over my design, using a fine brush. The better quality brush the better the line i found.

Step 7. Have a drink. While waiting for paint to dry, as you don't want to lean on your bag while attaching ribbon.

Step 8. The ribbon. Measure your ribbon across the tote bag and leave a little bit more than the the length of your tote bag and cut.

Step 9. On the end of the ribbon which you about to start sowing on to the bag burn the end of your ribbon to stop the fraying.

Step 10. Hand stitch or machine stitch your ribbon to the tote bag on both sides of the ribbon. Cut off the excess ribbon and burn the end were you cut the excess to stop the fraying.

Step 11. Creating the bow. Cut 10Cm's of ribbon (or depending how big you want your bow.) simply fold ribbon inwards crossing the ribbon over one each other and sow the middle of the bow with a few stitches so it stays together by itself.

Step 12. Hand stitch the bow to the bag in whatever position.

You should by then, have yourself a bridesmaids tote bag.

Step 13. Have yourself a celebratory drink and a pat on the back.

Mission complete :D


Coastal City Bride - Charis xx

Crepe Paper Flowers - Part 2 - How 2!

So I had an inquisitive poster on Weddingbee.com asked if I could post instructions on how I did my crepe paper flowers.

I think alot of it once you have the basic concept, the possibilities are endless. Also I would like to say that I will be the first to admit I'm not the most fantastic at explaining how I do my DIY projects but I give them a shot. With this I tried to include a lot of visual. So excuse the picture heavy post!

(Tools needed; Scissors, wire cutter/pliers/, 28 gauge wire, PVA glue, Skewers, Floral Tape, Buttons and crepe paper)

My Crepe paper that I'm using is GALA brand which is 240cm long x 50cm wide. I find I can either make four big ones out of these or 17 small ones.

(slide your crepe paper out of the packet sleeve)

Place your template over the top. This can either be a circle, a heart shape, or leaf shape. Those are the three main ones that will get you variations.You can combine them all in one, or just use a particular shape for each flower.

Also, use a template in regards to how big you want your flowers. So i.e the bigger the flower, the bigger template you use when cutting your crepe paper, and in reverse. The smaller template the smaller the flower. Logic right?

Cut around your template.

Also some people at this step here "prepare the petals" Prepare means by either stretching them a little, cupping them or rolling the edges in with a pencil, so they take more of a curve. It's up to you tho what you would like to do. I don't usually do anything on my small flowers but on my big flowers cup them a little so they don't just lay flat.

Now would be the time to cut your flower tape into three 10cm pieces for later use, as your hands will probably be covered in glue.

I'm adding a button for the bud. (You can also use a different coloured crepe paper and cut a small section and glue it to the skewer then wrap it around so the top 2cm of the skewer is covered.)

To add the button I take about 15 cm of wire and thread the wire through like you were sowing on a button on a shirt. (you will need the pair of pliers as this can be a little fiddly).

Wrap the wire around the skewer so the button is attached.

Place your skewer like the picture below and add a small bit of glue.

Cinch it around the skewer

So it looks like this or something similar. :)

My original instructions that I gathered when I was doing the research for this was to glue all the petals to the skewer. Well this just ended up in a sticky and soggy situation and my flower looked a little sad! So this is the only part that you will use glue to secure the first petal. From now on in I reccommend using floral tape.

Start adding your petals around your bud.

Then secure it with your floral tape by wrapping it around the base. (Now you wont need glue with the floral tape, as floral tape stretches and secures it itself. I admit I sat there for about 30 seconds when I first started going.. Whattttt.... as I had never used floral tape before. I may be the only person ever in history to do this tho.)

Add more petals if you want to make it bigger, using the same process with the floral tape. I usually use three pieces of floral tape in my creations.

End Product :)

If you have any queries on the above, just leave me a comment and I will clarify or alter my instructions.

Coastal City Bride - Charis xx