Lollipop Flower Tutorial

Where have you beeeeeeeeeeen?
I went to see my parents again in Charleston one last time before school starts and I neglected my blog for a whole week.  Sorry!
My flight came in at noon on Friday and Daniel took the afternoon off to pick me up, have lunch with me, and take a long nap together before we went out to eat and to Starlight Theater to see Cinderella.  So sweet!  He bought me tickets for mother's day (ya, no kiddies, but it's always been hubby/wife day for us) and they were fantastic.

How did I get so lucky?  We had I had a lot of fun and loved the show.  The weather was perfect and only sprinkled a teeny bit at the very end.  Love.

Anyway, according to the title of my post I should be teaching you how to make something. =)
I get asked how to make these all the time- family, friends, people in the fabric store for crying out loud!  I didn't invent them, just learned through the grapevine.  SO, here you go!

Fabric is one of 2 things:  Natural or synthetic.  Natural fibers are things like cotton, wool, linen, silk, etc.  Synthetic fibers are things like polyester, nylon, rayon, etc.  The way you can tell the difference (among many!) is to burn them.  Natural fibers will always burn, while synthetic melts.  To make these flowers, you need to purchase 100% synthetic polyester.

You need:

5 inches 100% Polyester

Thread and needle

Bead center if desired

candle/flame

If you are going to have a candle in your face, you might as well get one that smells good!  Thank you, Home Goods!  $3.99!

First, cut at least 5 concentric circles.  The more you have, the fuller your flower will be and the prettier it looks.  I start cutting the smallest circle and get bigger and bigger.

You want to be able to see a difference in size, but not too much.  Only about 1/4 inch difference.

Light your candle and melt the edges of the circles, one at a time.  I hold the circle and turn it clockwise as I melt the edge.  DO NOT GET THE FABRIC IN THE FLAME.  Your goal is to get the fabric as close to the flame as possible without touching it so that the heat given off by the flame melts the fabric.  Otherwise, your fabric will turn black.  =(  I find it easiest to melt the fabric while aiming for the side of the flame, not the top.

Layer them together:

Sew the circles together through the center, starting from the back:

Clip your threads, glue or sew on your bead, and you are finished!  Attach to headbands, thank you cards, or even clothing.  Here are some things I have done with them:

Thank you cards

Adult/Child Headbands

Baby Headbands

Nursing Cover

Baby Booties- but they were a shower gift and I forgot to take a picture.  And my favorite...

Cardigan!  I have like a thousand of them.  Cannot get enough of them!

I bought this at Banana Republic for $10.99.  Can you see it's original price?  $50!  Double clearance, folks!  Add the flowers for $.50 and we have an awesome piece for only $10.50.

This is random, but my good friend and pen pal Tara had family photos taken of her precious and beautiful family and she wore a one shoulder dress I made for her and the little baby dress and diaper cover I designed for her Claira.  Check out how perfect this picture turned out!

Keller Photography and Design took their pictures.  Amazing!

Thanks for being such a sweet, sweet friend, Tara!  Your family is beautiful!