Merry [home] Making Series: Pleated Flower

Welcome to Day 2 of my Christmas Craft Series, Merry [home] Making!

Today, I'm very excited to introduce you to Whitney of Elm Street Life.  Whitney's blog is one of my favorite respites.  Whenever I need to just sit in front of the computer and be refreshed, I love clicking to her site to look at her beautiful pictures, read about her life with her husband Shawn, be inspired by her beautiful DIYs, and be continually reminded through her words about the love my Savior has for me.

I was tickled pink when she agreed to do a DIY for my Christmas series!  I hope you are inspired.

Hi to Bethany's sweet readers! I'm Whitney from Elm Street Life and I am honored to be here with a really easy DIY that is so versatile.



Here are the supplies you'll need:

Fabric scraps in two colors (You only need a maximum 1/8 yard of two different fabrics)

A small piece of felt for backing

Pearls or beads for the center

Sewing needle

Sewing machine

Iron

Scissors

Elastic (optional)

1. Choose the fabric you'd like to use for the outside of your flower.

2. Cut a strip or two out of your outside fabric that's approximately 2 inches wide.

3. Fold your strip in half lengthwise and iron so you have a crisp edge.

4. Sewing along the raw edges of your fabric, pleat your fabric as you sew. I just push the fabric under right before it goes under the needle, about every 5 to 10 stitches. The pleats don't have to be perfectly even at all.

5. Once you've pleated, this is what you should have: a strip or two of pleated outside fabric with the folded edge on the outside.

6. For the inside fabric color, repeat steps 1 through 4. I really liked the frayed look of this gray fabric so I chose to leave the raw edge on the outside, but it's up to you!

7. Cut a circle out of felt (for the backing) approximately 3" across.

8. Pin your pleated strip to the outside of the felt circle and sew along the original stitch line. Repeat until you go around the circle at least 2 or 3 times.

9. At this point, you should have 2 or 3 layers of pleated rows.

10. Using the same technique, add the other color to the inside.

11. Choose which color beads/pearls you'd like to use. I chose a soft gray pearl for this one.

12. Hand sew the beads or pearls to the inside of the flower and you're done! The options are endless once you've finished your flower. Add a piece of elastic, like I did, by hand sewing a piece of elastic to the back of your flower. Or hot glue a pin onto the back and wear it on your shirt, purse, or scarf!



Merry Christmas to you!



[be sure to visit Whitney's Etsy shop,  Brighter Day.  10% of her proceeds go toward bringing justice to victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression.]  Thank you, Whitney!