Rose Posy Picture so 'Chic'.

Rose Posy Picture so 'Chic'.

Today's post is going to be about using some of those beautiful flowers that we sell at Craft Fairy in a picture frame. I've made this because so many of my customers say that our flowers are too beautiful to use and they keep them in a draw to look at from time to time. Well we cant have that can we. So this is how to get them out of the draw and use them to good effect.

Do you like this frame? Does it look expensive? Well, it actually cost me 99p and it came from the shop of the same name. You probably have a local one yourself so get on over and have a look at what they have in stock. There was no glass. What did I expect for 99p? Better for the purposes of making this picture.

The paper is from Making Memories and was part of my stash that I'd been keeping for a long time as it was too pretty to waste.

 Cut the paper so that it fits on the backing board. Fix it in the frame.

For the posy, I used a selection of flowers.

Large curly roses in pink.
Vintage blue roses in blue

Shape your roses so that they form  round shape as seen in the image. Then apply foam pads to the back of the posy.

Stick down onto the backing paper.

To make the vase cut a vase shape from some decorative card. I used some non shed glitter card but you could use any toning card that you have.

Tie a knot in a piece of 16mm ribbon. I used french blue,  and trim to make it look like a bow. Apply tape to each side of the ribbon and tape to the back of the vase shape.

Now attach this to the picture with more foam pads and your picture is complete.

Handmade Poinsettia Ribbon Flower Tutorial

Do you like it? I really hope that you do as I have a tutorial ready for you. This and many other ribon flower tutorials are also to be found on my Craft Fairy Designs Blog. 

The ribbons are available on Craft Fairy and the beads are from my stash.

If you want to make one then all that you have to do is get the follwing ready to play with.

a needle

thread

16mm single faced scarlet ribbon

16mm single faced teal ribbon

scissors

measuring tape.

Start by cutting 5, 7cm pieces of scarlet ribbon and 5, 5cm pieces.

Fold a 7cm piece in half and pinch. Where the pinches are sew together as shown.

Below you will see the two stages together so I hope that this helps.

Now fold the petal on the right side and you will have a pointed petal. If you want really sharp points then you can iron it flat. Repeat with all five petals and lay out side by side on your work space.

Sew along the edge of all of the petals as seen.

Pull the thread tight and the petals will form a circle.

Now repeat the above with 5cm pieces of ribbon and you will get a smaller flower.

Place one flower on top of the other and sew together.

Sew some gold beads to the centre and sew two pieces of teal ribbon to the back for the completed flower.

Coming next will be a 'How to' use the flowers.

Vintage Twisted Ribbon Roses

Hello everyone, It's me, Craft Fairy with you again for another ribbon flower tutorial. This and lots more are avilable on my Craft Fairy Designs blog. I hope that you will come over and visit.


I've noticed that these twisted roses are appearing on many cards and sewing projects lately so I thought that I would bring you all a project and a video on how to do them. I've used fairly bright, well, very bright ribbon to make them as they can be shabby chic, but they can also be vivid and fashionable.

What You’ll Need:

Ribbon – at least 16mm wide

The one that I used here is the 23mm wide swiss dot grosgrain.

16mm satin ribbon in willow

a needle and thread

Cut a length of ribbon, about 30 to 45cm long. The longer (and wider) your ribbon, the larger your rose will be.
Tie a knot at one end of the ribbon, this will be the center of the rose.

Knot the end of the thread and secure it to the base of the knot.

Start twisting your ribbon and stitch it into place around the knot.

Carry on twisting the ribbon and sew it onto the rose that is developing.
Below is what it should look like from the front at this stage.
Keep on twisting and sewing until you have the size of rose that you want.

Once all the ribbon is wound up and secured, tuck the ends underneath and sew them into place with a few small stitchesKnot your thread, trim it, and you’re done
Now for the leaves. They are really simple too.

Take a length of the green satin ribbon and sew along one edge as shown. The longer the length the bigger the leaf. As a rule of thumb, your ribbon should be about two and a half times the width of the finished rose.
Pull the thread gently until you have gathered the ribbon as shown below.Stitch the ribbon together along the middle and then stitch it to the back of your rose and there you have it. Now you can make a card or far better brighten up a jumper or a hat.

Folded Ribbon Rose Tutorial

I seem to be on a roll at the moment and I've been adding tutorials galore on my Craft Fairy Designs blog so I thought that I would add one here too.

You will need the shocking pink 23mm wide grosgrain for this and I used the swiss dot one as I wanted to have the contrast between the plain side and the dotty side. You can make a plain one if you want to but this looks kind of cute.

You will need to start by rolling a short section of the ribbon and securing it with a couple of stitches. Stitching is better than gluing as it will held in place and then, if you want to put it on a garment you can wash it without being afraid that it will fall apart. This roll will be your bud.

Next fold the ribbon at a 90 degree angle to the roll as shown below.Roll the ribbon around the central bud until you get to the end of the folded part. It will be obvious when you do it. Secure the bottom with a couple of stitches. ,Fold and roll again and again. See below. Make sure to put in a couple of stitches as you go.Below is what your rose should look like after you have folded a few times.Now look at the back and you will see how this is coming along, and where to put the stitching. Basically you keep on going until you have as many petals as you want. The cut you r ribbon and tuck the raw wdge under and tack into place. Turn over and your ribbon is done.

Ribbon Pincushion Step by Step Instructions

Today, I'm posting a set of instructions to make a pincushion. I am making this as I am going to enter it for a WI competition in the summer. So. as I was going to do it for this, I thought that I might as well do the instructions and blog it as well. Lots of tutorials available on the Craft Fairy Blog Being in posession of a huge choice of ribbons I really had no choice but to use them. All the ribbons that you see here are available from craftfairy.co.uk

Here is the finished cushion. I know that it is really girly and over the top kitch but who cares. I thought that if I was going to go for a domestic goddess kind of thing I might as well go over the top. 1950's at least. I even feel a frilly apron coming on. Perhaps not today though.

So. if you want to make something like this you will need to do some ribbon weaving first. This really is a good way to use up your scraps too as it only requires short lengths. the sort that are usually too short to be used for anything else.

Cut yourself a piece of fuisable interfacing about 2cm larger than the finished size of the pinchshion. E.g. if your pinchshion is to be 50cm then cut your square 12cm. I used a lightweight interfacing as I wanted the finished cushion to be soft not stiff.

Put the interfacing on the ironing board, fuisable side up. If your don't do it this way your will fuse it to the board. Lay your ribbons out in a pattern and pin to the ironing board over the interfacing.

Cut your lengths of ribbon so that they extend beyond the size of the backing fabric. You will trim them later so don't worry about being too precise. I used a mixture of widths and patterns but to keep the design looking good I used only three harmonizing colours. Pink, blue and a touch of white in the pattern. Lay them vertically over the interfacing.

Now weave the same pattern of ribbon in the horizontal direction as shown.

You should end up with what you see below. Push the ribbons together so that there are no gaps showing and pin in place. You will need to do this or the ribbon will move when you iron it.

Cover the ribbon weaving with a cloth and press with the iron. Do not use steam. This will create enough adhesion to allow you to flip the ribbon weave over and then press again to cause a better adhesion and create your fabric. See below. Now, flip the fabric over, and iron from the back. This will ensure that the ribbons stick to the interfacing really well.

Now, take a length of sewing thread with a knot in one side and sew a running stitch along one edge of the ribbon very close to the edge. When you have reached the end pull the thread to gather it to approximately the length of your 4 sides combined. 40 cm in my case. Secure the end of the thread.

Pin to the right side of the edge of the ribbon fabric. Tack the ribbon in place very near the edge. You will not reallt have a seam allowance on the ribbon. No need to have one really as the ribbon has a sewn edge should not frey. There will be a seam allowance on the ribbon fabric though.

Cut a piece of backing fabric that is the same size as the interfacing. I used a little broiderie anglais that I had in my scraps basket. With right sides together and the ribbon in the middle like a sandwich sew around three sided of the pincushion. I did this by hand as it really is too fiddly to even contemplate sewing on the machine.

When you have done this turn the pincushion around to the right side and fill with kapok or any other stuffing that you have. I had some left over from goodness knows when. Sew the last side into place from the back of the cushion and you have done.
More tutorials available on my Craft Fairy Designs Blog

How to draw a flower with calligraphy pens

I should introduce this video. It shows you how to draw flowers using calligraphy pens that are blendable. They are available from Craft Fairy in a variety of colours. Many samples of cards using this technique can be found on my Craft Fairy Designs Blog.