Ribbons and Much More: Tutorial ~ Ruffle Chiffon Flower

I make hair accessories for a local boutique and have been trying to make a chiffon flower that would be perfect for special occasions like weddings and such. I think I finally got it. Layers and layers of ruffles and just the right amount of pouf. I made some little tiny ones for newborns, and some mighty big ones for the big girls. I think the big ones would be perfect to clip on special occasion dresses too. I have a full tutorial with pictures and I found a simple way to get the ruffles without all the fray that comes with chiffon too – that little tip in itself is worth the jump!

Diy Ruffle Chiffon Flowers

Supplies:

chiffon fabric
all your sewing stuff
rotary cutter and mat (can use shears, but it will be a little harder)
button
hair clip (I used single prong, but any would work)
felt
needle and thread
hot glue

Instructions:

First decide how big you want your flower and how much pouf you are going for. For the big flowers I used one 2½ inch strip and one 1½ inch strip. You want the large strip to be at least 42 inches long, the longer the more pouff. For the smaller strip, you may need only a little bit, or non at all. Just play around and you will see.

Now here comes the trick I was telling you about. Fold your chiffon in half and line up under the presser foot right along the edge. In the ruffle cuff pants tutorial I talked about how you can adjust your tension to make ruffles on your machine. This works great but what if you need more ruffle? Well I was reading Kelly’s post on making petti skirts awhile back and I remembered a trick she used to gather the chiffon. Just hold your fingers on the thread spool to create your own tension, it works fabulously! I still lengthened my stitch length, so that if I wanted to adjust the ruffles I could. The more tension you put on the thread, the more ruffle. Just don’t get to carried away, or you’ll break a thread.

See, no fray! If I were to have gathered manually with my hands, it would have been a mess of strings. Trust me, I tried. So, thank you miss Kelly, best trick I have found in awhile.

Cut a circle from your felt that will be the base of your flower. I used a 2½ inch for my bigger ones. Take your hot glue and run a small strip along the outer edge. Fold the end of one end of the chiffon under and press onto the glue, then follow around the circle.

Now pull the corner of the end down and tack with a dab of glue onto the back like shown.

Continue around the felt circle, running the hot glue right along the raw edge like in the picture, until you reach the end.

On some of my big flowers I stopped when I was about 3/4 of the way finished and switch to the smaller ruffle to finish it off. Just tuck the end under like you did to begin with.

When you reach the last inch, just put a dab in the center and while tucking the end and twisting, press onto the glue.

You could be finished here. Or….

You can sew a button onto the center. Double up your thread on the needle and pull it through the underside and then put the button on, then take back down through the center and tie a good knot. You can glue the button on too, but it doesn’t give it that pucker.