Zipper Rose

I've really enjoyed seeing all the ways zippers have become an accessory.  You may have noticed that I like love flowers.  I whipped up these two roses and now I can't stop thinking about all the different ways I would like to use them: on a headband, on a purse, as a hair clip, as a brooch, etc.

Supplies/Materials

• 30 inch upholstery zipper (you can buy a 72" zipper and make two)
• Scissors
• Low-melt hot glue gun

Directions

1. Cut the ends off the zipper and remove the moving part (I don't know what that is called)
2. Begin by squeezing a small strip of glue on one end, and rolling the zipper two times.

3. Create petals by folding the zipper into a point and gluing petal in place.  Form petals continuously in a triangular pattern around the center.

4. I used two different zippers.  The darker zipper is only 1/2 inch wide, and the lighter zipper is 5/8 inch wide.  The extra 1/8 inch made it much easier to form the petals without the fabric coming loose or having gaps.

Daniel had some questions about glue, so here are the backs of each flowers.  I bumped up the contrast a little to help you see the lines.  I hope this helps!

Felt Roses Headband

I have had so many comments on both the fabric flowers headband, and the felt roses, that I thought I just had to write a tutorial showing how to make a headband with the felt roses.  While I do think this one turned out cute, I think in the future, I would change the angle of the roses, and maybe only use three of them.

Supplies/Materials

• About 2 feet 1/2 inch wide braided elastic
• Enough felt for 3-5 small felt roses (see my tutorial for felt roses)
• Sewing supplies
• Hot glue gun & glue sticks

Directions

1. This first thing you need to do, is measure your head.  You can do this with a measuring tape, or just wrap the elastic around your head like a headband (be sure not to stretch it).
2. Subtract 1 inch from that measurement, and cut your elastic.  (Mine measured at 21 inches, so I cut my elastic at 20 inches)
3. Sew your ends together leaving a .5 inch seam allowance.  Open your edges out, and use a zigzag seam to sew the edges flat.  When they are flat, trim any excess elastic.

4. Your headband is ready to adorn!
5. Cut the center circle for each of your felt roses, and form the centers.

6. Cut the outer circle for each rose, and begin sewing one petal from each rose to the headband.

7. Glue the center of each rose to the outer petals, one petal at a time, ending with the petal attached to the headband.

8. You are almost finished.  Squeeze a strip of glue along the inside of the headband.

9. Once the glue cools, it should be ready to wear.  The strip of glue, and the stretch of the elastic should help it to stay on your cute head!

Felt Roses

Flowers and felt—two of my favorite things.  I have been looking at lots of tutorials for making felt flowers, and trying lots of techniques, but I never really loved the way my flowers came out.  Often the flowers seemed really closed, or just didn’t really look like a rose to me (rose is the shape I was trying to replicate).  I stopped to think about how I wanted to create my rose so it looked just how I wanted it to look.  Here is what I came up with.
Supplies

• Felt
• Scissors
• Low-melt glue gun
• glue sticks

Directions

1. Plug in your glue gun.
2. Cut the felt into graduated circles.  I cut one 3 inch circle, one 3.5 inch circle, and one 4 inch circle (measurements do not have to be exact).

3. Cut from the edge to almost the center of one circle.  Move about 1/3 around the edge and repeat.  Make one more cut between the first two.  you should now have roughly 3 even petals attached to a very small center (these do NOT have to be exact).  Repeat for all three circles.

4. Use your scissors to round the sharp corners.

5. Begin with the smallest circle.  Spread glue on the bottom half of one petal.  Roll it into the center of your rose.

6. Put a line of glue on the bottom edges of another petal.  Glue the petal around the center covering the edges with the new petal.



I forgot to take a picture before the 2nd petal, so this is the third.


7. Put a line of glue on the bottom edges of your last petal.  Overlap the edges of the last petal you glued on, and glue in place.

8. Glue the next circle around the first by gluing the bottom edge of each petal to your rose.

9. Repeat with your last circle.

10. Look at how pretty your rose is.  Take a picture.  Make more!

For the small red roses, I used only two circles, one 2 inch circle, and one 2.5 inch circle.