Fabric Flower Belt

Fabric flowers seem to be everywhere lately so I figured I would post another great way to incorporate them into your wardrobe!

What You Will Need for This Project:

- Felt Circle (I cut mine out of felt sheets that I bought from Michaels)

- About a quarter yard of the fabric of your choice, for fancier fuller flowers I suggest using a satin or tulle but any fabric can be used to create a unique look (will use less but I always like to have extra just in case)

- Elastic (thicker widths work best with bigger flowers, pictured above is 2 inch elastic)

- Velcro

- Beads, crystals, button or other items to decorate the middle of your flower

- Hot glue gun and glue

- Sewing machine is optional but is preferred for attaching velcro . . . not sure glue would hold up.

- 1 piece of cardstock, cardboard or poster board

- Scissors

- Fabric shears

- Fabric pins

How to Create a Fabric Flower:

1. Using your cardstock, cardboard or poster board design and cut out a circular flower shape. Doesn't have to be perfect as you can see in my picture below.

2. Pin your pattern onto the fabric and cut out shape. Repeat until you have 8 pieces. For fuller flowers and unique looks you can cut out 16 pieces of the fabric or you can mix two fabrics together (the belt pictured above was created using 8 black satin pieces with 8 black organza pieces). If using satin or similar fabrics you can heat singe the edges to protect from fraying.

3. Take one piece (or 2 if creating a 16 piece flower) and fold in half.

4. Fold in half once again (into quarters).

5. At this point you can glue the petals in place or, if sewing your flower, pin to the felt circle.

6. Repeat until you have a base circle using 4 of the petals (or 8 if you doubled your petals). 

7. If sewing your flower now would be the time to sew your first layer (I sew a circle near the middle of the circle). Then take another quarter folded petal and place a little more centered on the flower. Pin or glue in place.

8. Repeat with 2 more petals overlapping each other in the middle (you will end up with 3 petals on this layer so spread them out evenly). Glue in place or sew as before in a small circle near center.

9. Take your final petal and fold into quarters. Either glue along outside or sew just along edge to create a cone shape. 

10. Center this final petal on the middle of the flower and glue so it stays open or sew right in center. 

Creating the Belt: 

1. Take the elastic and wrap it around your waist. Be sure it is as tight as you will want it to be when you wear it. Cut leaving an overhang that is the same width as your velcro. 

2. Sew one piece of velcro to the back side at one end of your elastic and one piece of velcro to the front side of your elastic on the other end. 

3. At this point you could sew your flower onto the belt just through the center of the flower. I only do a stich or two just for reinforcement . . . don't want to ruin the shape of the flower. However, if you glued your flower together you probably cannot pierce through it with a sewing needle. Hot glue any of the elastic that falls behind the flower and press it onto the felt. This will secure your flower in place. 

4. You can use hot glue to help be sure all of flower is held onto felt and a dot or two of hot glue can help to keep center petal open. At this point you can hot glue some beads, rhinestones, buttons or whatever you might desire in the center. 

And there you have your beautiful new belt for a fraction of the cost of the belts at the store! :)   Have fun with it and play with different fabrics to create the perfect flower for your personality! 

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