Crafting: Fabric Rosettes

I've been doing a lot of cooking and not as much Crafting here lately, but I'm back on track and have a fun little project for you that satisfies my love of both accessories and fabric. It's also perfect for making Valentine's Day gifts for your friends and family or just for yourself! Today's tutorial shows you how to make fabric rosettes which can be used on brooches, hair clips, necklaces, home decor projects and more.

What you'll need:

fabric

felt

cardstock

pins

scissors

iron

craft glue (I use E9000)

pin backs, hair clips, bobby pins etc

buttons, beads, misc embellishments (optional)

Start with a strip of fabric 1" by about 20" - 25". (I cut a 1" strip the height of my fabric, then cut it in half. Many fabrics are 44" so you end up with a 22" strip, but some do vary which is ok.) You'll need one strip of fabric per rosette.

Fold the strip in half and press with an iron.

Cut a piece of cardstock (or cardboard) 1/2" x 11" (or the height of your stock). Pin the folded fabric strip to the cardstock and begin wrapping it around on an angle, not too tight. Secure the other end with a pin and press with the iron.

Once completely cooled, slide the cardstock out, keeping the wrapping as is. Fix any spots as necessary and press again with the iron.

To form the rosette, roll the strip around a pencil starting at one end. Once rolled, slide the pencil out and begin to shape the rosette by spreading it out a bit and twisting the center with your fingers if needed. Secure the loose end on the back with a pin and lightly press again with the iron to flatten it a bit.

Depending on what you will be doing with your rosette, you can either stitch it together or you can glue it to a piece of felt (remove the pin before glueing). Ideally you'll want to use a piece of felt that is close in color to your fabric but I just used what I had on hand.

You can then glue or stitch a pinback, bobby pin or hair clip to your rosette or sew it onto a shirt, bag, etc!

While I love the look of the simple rosettes by themselves, you can also embellish the center with buttons or beads which can be glued or stitched into place.

You can create rosettes in different sizes by using a longer or shorter piece of fabric or wrapping them tighter or more loosely. You will also find the type of fabric you use will affect the size of the finished rosette. Above can see how different embellishments really change the look of the finished piece.

If using more than one rosette on a hair clip, brooch or necklace, glue them to a piece of felt and trim the excess felt once dry (shown a few photos up). You can then embellish and glue to a hair clip or add ribbon or chain for a necklace.

These would also be darling stitched right onto a tank top strap, across the top of a tshirt or onto one side of a cardigan. Oh, the possibilities!

A variety of materials, colors and textures creates a nice grouping and you can also add other elements, such as buttons or charms, to create a unique cluster or fill any gaps between rosettes with beads, pearls or scraps of trim and lace. Just have fun and experiment! And if you do, I'd love to hear about it. Happy crafting!