Decoration is my favourite part of costume making 😀
But it is the most time consuming part at the same time. It really challenges your patience.
So I love easy and beautiful decoration techniques like one I’m excited to share with you today!
A while ago, I shared my time lapse video on how I made this costume, and many of you have been asking how I made these DIY fabric flower appliques.
If you want to decorate your costume or dress easily and quickly, these appliques are perfect, because they are super easy to make! In this video, you’ll see how to make these pink flowers! Let’s get started.
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To make a large flower applique, you need:
a strip of fabric – 5in by 24in (12cm x 60cm). This will be a flower that’s about 5in (12cm) in diameter.
matching colour thread
How to Make a Fabric Flower
Fold the fabric in half lengthwise wrong sides together.
Double thread a needle, and make a knot at the end, and from the folded end, start stitching. Keep the stitch length long, about 3/8in (1cm) long, and stitch about 1/4in (5mm) from the edge.
At the corner, instead of taking a sharp turn, make a gradual turn.
Here, I’m using contrasting colour thread, so you can see the stitches, but for your appliques, use matching colour thread. 🙂
If the fabric starts scrunching, that’s fine. Just keep stitching to the other end without cutting the thread. Again, at the corner, take a gradual turn.
Once you reach the end, start pulling both threads gently, and guide the fabric so it gets scrunched up into a nice, round shape.
Push all the raw edges to one side, and I’ll call this side the wrong side. On the wrong side, stitch through the ends a couple of times to keep the ends together. And stitch through the centre part like this a few times to secure the gathering.
Tie a knot, and clean up the excess fabric, and be careful not to snip the stitches.
And that’s it!
For a smaller version, use a 2 ½ in x 12 in (6cm x 30cm) strip, and follow the same steps. You’ll make a flower that’s about 2 ½ in (6cm) in diameter.
I used satin for this example, but you can try other types of fabric as well. If you use heavier material, you may need less fabric per applique.
To attach these flowers to your dress or costume, simply stitch them to your costume by hand.
Depending on the fabric, it may help to stitch the back side of the petals onto the costume, so they don’t sag. For my costume, I sewed on a few beads at the centre of the flowers, then glued on some rhinestones to add sparkles.
This is an easy project and a great way to turn scrap fabric into something really beautiful!
And in my next post, I’ll show you how to make the purple rose appliques I used to decorate this costume. So stay tuned! 😉
Hope you liked this DIY fabric flower tutorial, and if you did, share this post with your creative friends who would love these flower appliques!
And if you want to decorate your belly dance costumes better and more professionally, learn how in my free course, Belly Dance Costume Making 101! Sign up from the below link.
Click here to sign up for Belly Dance Costume Making 101 for free!
Thanks for reading, and keep sparkling!
P.S. Pin this post for future reference 😉
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