Sew Your Own: Twist Fabric Flowers

These fabric flowers are an easy way to use up fabric scraps and add to clothing and accessories. Start by cutting as many squares of fabric as you want flowers. The flowers shown here are 6" x 6" and 4" x 4", but any measurement would work.

Next fold three pleats into each square and iron into place. The size of the pleats will vary, but you want them evenly spaced with some unpleated material on each size. Don't worry too much about making them perfectly straight. They'll come out fine either way. Iron the pleats in. Then sew along each end to keep them in place.

Now fold three more pleats along the other axis. Iron in and sew again.

Now you'll have pleats in both directions and the square will have stitching all the way around. Now it's time to ruin the pleats. Push the pleats out from the middle. It will look like you have a little box/puff. The right side of the fabric should be on the outside of the "puff".

There's no photo for this part because it takes both hands. Pinch the center of the puffs and twist until you're happy with how tight the flower is. Push the bit you twisted down into the center. Turn under the sewn seams on the outside. Iron well into place. This part may take a few tries, but it's fine if it's messy and you can do quite a bit of reshaping when you sew it on.

Once you're happy with the position of your flowers, hand stitch around the edge, making sure the sewn seam and your stitches are hidden. Once it's sewn all the way around, make a few hidden stitches in the center. This will keep the flower twisted all together and shaped the way you like it. Alternately, sewing in a spiral on top of the flower with a machine could be cute, and definitely faster. Enjoy!