Tshirt Flower Tutorial

I first made these flowers when I was designing one of my recycled tshirt dresses. The dress needed a little something extra - but something that wouldn't detract from the dress.

I made several of these flowers but ended up only using one on the dress. So, I found other uses... my favorite being a hair clip... which I gave to UCU for their swag bags. This means I'll also have some of these available at the show.

But these are so simple, fun and versatile that I thought I'd do a quick tutorial. So here it is!

Materials:

• tshirt scraps
• buttons (I used one with shanks on the back)
• sewing machine & thread

1 - Cut two circles from the tshirt scraps - one about two inches and the other one slightly smaller. I cut them free form rather than using a pattern as I think that the slightly irregular shapes gives the flower a more natural look.

2 - Zig Zag stitch around the edge of each circle. I've used several different width and length settings and they all seem to work fine. I like the zig zag to be a bit closer (about 1.5) and the width to be a bit larger (about 2.5). You may want to experiment yourself to see what you like best. Stitching the edges will flare the edges slightly giving it a ruffled look.

3 - Stack the smaller circle on top of the larger circle and pick a button to sew into the middle. My first flowers were red and I chose a nice dark black button for the center. I've also experimented with other colors liking a beige flower with a white center too.

4 - Hand stitch the button into the center of the circles pulling the thread tightly around the shank causing the circles to bunch slightly around the button. Tie it off... and your flower is done!

Use the flower to make a brooch or hair clip, use it to make greeting cards, embellish scrapbook pages or to decorate the top of a present. The uses are endless!