my take on: tulle flowers

in the spirit of, lets say "fall cleaning", i've been going through some of my less stumbled upon drawers and boxes and came across these little gems. i made these about a year ago with the intention of using them in my wedding bouquet (which never happened).

let me show you how i made them...

here's what you will need:

two tulle strips (roughly 10"x 2" but i rarely measure and it won't matter too much)

a needle and thread (i used embroidery thread and separated the 6 strands)

small pearl beads or other beads, sequins or similar...

separate the embroidery thread and use one strand to thread the needle

lay out one 10"x 2" strip of tule and roll up the second piece and place it on top then fold the first piece around the middle piece almost like a hot dog.

thread the needle through the folded corner, making sure to catch both pieces of tulle and tie a knot to anchor the thread.

now, using either a loose basting stitch or whip stitch, sew along the short edge and around the corner. basically you're sewing a tube of tulle around the other piece of tulle. bunch as you go and make sure the bunching goes in a spiral pattern. that's how the flower shape is formed.

once you reach the far corner of the long side, poke the needle up through the center of the flower to the top and string a bead onto the thread. bring your needle back down through the center of the flower to the bottom of the flower.

tie a series of two or three knots to finish it off and keep everything in pace.

you're pretty much done. you can either trim the loose thread or not, depending on what you're going to use the flowers for. if i were going to tie them onto something i would leave the thread for that.

try different variations. this one was made with a length of lace in place if the inner strip of tulle.

admire your work and decide how you will use these adorable little tulle flowers!

 

i strung mine up with some gold thread

for now they're stung inside an empty frame on the mantle above my wood stove.

although they never made it much farther than my dining room table (which is also my craft desk and sewing room) i still love how they turned out and wanted to share how i made them. i ended up getting my actual wedding flowers at Safeway the day before my wedding and wrapped the stems with ribbon, akin to how a real florist would. a bouquet for me and a slightly smaller one for each of my back-up-dancers. maybe i could be a florist.

xo, pearl