Welcome to OPC’s The Better Half. My name is Jocie, and I love to craft and DIY my home into something wonderful. I hope you enjoy this tutorial on how to make fabric flowers. It’s been a popular article with over 220K pins and growing! If you enjoy this article, check out some other recent crafts and consider subscribing to The Better Half (email or RSS). Also, feel free to share this tutorial on Facebook and give it a +1. All the buttons float along the left side of your screen. Thanks!

Making your own fabric flowers is great because they are very popular, you can use them for lots of different things, and it is way cheaper to make them than to buy them. For example, I found some fabric flower headbands at Target recently for approx. $8, but was able to make my own headbands for about a $1.  I used fabric flowers on our DIY lampshade and I’ve also made barrettes, pillows, and picture frames using fabric flowers. Some may say I’m obsessed. lol. It’s also great for up-cycling old fabrics like an old t-shirt, ripped tights and ribbon.

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French Pouf (flower)	French Pouf (flower) with Button	French Pouf (circle)
French Pouf (circle) with Button	Rosette	Ruffled

How to Make A French Pouf (Flower)

Here’s the same style of flower with a different fabric, an old bandanna.

And another made of felt.

This is a very simple and pretty flower called a French Pouf. What I really love about this flower is that you can dramatically change the look of the pouf with different fabrics.  All three examples above look very different given their color and fabric.

Start by cutting out five  to ten flowers (depending on the thickness of the fabric). You want them semi-uniform so we’ve included some (downloadable) templates that you can print out and trace to make it easier.

Large | Medium | Small | X-Small

Put a dot of hot glue in the center of a small circular fabric scrap.

Fold each flower cutout  in half and place two folded flowers on opposing sides of each other. Don’t burn yourself on the hot glue (cause that hurts).

Rotating the flower base one-quarter and repeat the same process as above, placing a dot of glue in the center and then layering two more halfs on opposing sides.

Depending on how dense you want your french pouf, continue layering until you are happy with it! I layered about 8 folded flower cutouts.

You can stop here and glue a button or gem to the center for a more casual type of flower. I made one for a headband for Izzie and it turned out really cute!

Then, for the top of the flower, fold a flower cutout in half once and then push the two outer folds inward. Do this for two flower cutouts.

Place a dot of glue in the center of the pouf and gently press the two folded flowers into the center, points down.

Viola!

Making A French Pouf (Circle)

In this picture, my precious girls are both wearing homemade French Poufs (circles). Lucy’s headband, on left, was made with an old onesie. Izzie’s barrette, on right, was made with an old t-shirt layered with tulle.

This flower was made using a lightweight cotton fabric that my friend, Ruth gave me because I loved it so much.

This is a variation of the French Pouf, but using circles rather than 5 point flowers. This is quicker to make because it takes less time to cut out circles than flowers but it also appears slightly more dense. Here is a side by side of both poufs, circle on right, flower on left.

Just like before, you can dramatically change the look of the pouf with different fabrics.  This flower looks great using old shirts! Also, you can add layers of tulle with any fabric (or just use tulle by itself) for a dressy and more whimsical pouf.

Start by cutting 8 -10 circles. The size can vary depending on how big you want your flower to be. The number will depend on the thickness of the fabric. If using a thinner fabric, like a bandana, or a larger flower, you will need more circles. They don’t need
to be exact either, once the flower is made, imperfections will be hidden.

Put a dot of hot glue in the center of a small circular fabric scrap.

Fold a fabric circle in half and then fold in the two outside folded edges.

Do this with four circles and then place them flat, points facing in on the glue dot.

Rotating the flower base one-quarter and repeat the same process as above, placing a dot of glue in the center and then layering four more quarters.

Depending on how dense you want your french pouf, continue layering until you are happy with it! I layered about 8 folded circle cutouts.

You can stop here and glue a button or gem to the center for a more casual type of flower. I made one for a headband for Izzie and it turned out really cute!

Then, for the top of the flower, fold a flower cutout in half once and then push the two outer folds inward. Do this for two more circle cutouts.

Place a dot of glue in the center of the pouf and gently press the two folded flowers into the center, points down.

Making Rosette Flowers

These rosettes are much flatter than the other flowers we’ve shown you. Rosettes are what I used on our lamp and look great with any fabric. Tights and t-shirts make great rosette accents on shirts, hats, and headbands.

Similar to the ruffle flower, start with a long strip of fabric and fold it in half lengthwise.

Start with one end and roll it in on itself.

Keep wrapping the fabric around.

For a more texture in the flower, twist as you go.

When you reach the end, insert a few pins to hold everything in place.

Hot glue the backside, and hot glue a piece of fabric for backing.

Remove all the pins, and you’re done!

DIY Ruffled Fabric Flower

Start by cutting a strip of fabric. Longer strips will make for larger (diameter) flowers and wider strips will make for a taller flower. Thread a needle lengthwise through the middle of the strip, and tie off one end. This thread will allow you to bunch the fabric and create the ruffles. If using a sewing machine (much faster technique), use the longest stitch and do not back-stitch.

Take one end and fold the fabric in half lengthwise along the string.

Begin wrapping the end around itself to create the center of your flower.

Continue winding the fabric around, and when you’re finished, insert pins to hold everything in place.

Flip the flower over and glue the underside with a hot glue gun.

Remove the pins, ruffle the fabric and trim any fly-aways.

Here’s the same type of flower done with green ribbon.

Easy right?

We hope this little DIY fabric flower tutorial helps you out.

Any crafty people out there have tips to add? What is your favorite flower and fabric to use?

As Always, thanks for reading!

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