Pretty Petals

I suppose that I have quilter's ADD, but don't we all at times?  This week I set aside the star blocks to begin my Schnibble, and then yesterday, I set that aside in order to play with petals.

Have you or did you know that you can make fairly realistic petals pretty easily?  All you need to do is get some polyester fabric in the color of your choice.  This is pink, pongee lining.  It MUST be 100% polyester or some other chemical fiber.  No cotton!

 

I find that cutting it into strips that will accomodate my pattern is the easiest.

 

 

I drew a rounded heart shape a tiny bit larger than I want the finished petal.  I pinned the pattern to the fabric.  This is 8 layers, so I get 8 petals with one cut.

 

 

 

Now that you have fabric petal shapes, it is time for the magic!

 

 

For the next step you will need the following "tools:"  a candle with an accessible flame (not something down in a jar or other holder) and a bowl of water.

 

The bowl of water is for safety:  if you catch the petal on fire--and this is pretty likely if you haven't tried this technique before--then you want to be able to drop the burning petal into it to extinguish the flame. 

 

PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL IF YOU TRY THIS PROCESS!!!

I would hate for your house to get set on fire!!

 

 

 Take a petal in your hand and approach the flame with the edge.  You don't have to get very close to the flame, just near enough to melt the edge of the fabric.

 

 

 

 Can you see here below that the fabric is just curling?  That is absolulety what you want.  You don't have to get it any closer to the flame.

 

 

 

 Just keep moving the petal around to melt the entire cut edge.  It will "draw up" a bit, too.  That is also what you want.



 

When you are done, the petal will look something like this.

 

 

In no time you will have a whole pile.  I think the texture of the fabric really makes the petals look real.

 

 

You may be wondering what you can do with these beauties!  I will show you what I'm doing with them next time!