Weddingbee Blog

A few months back, I purchased some blue organza table overlays from another bride on Weddingbee. They were beautiful, but now our tablescape has changed and I’m not going to use them, so I was excited when I saw this post over on You Can’t Take It With You. Thanks to the tutorial and the inspiration, these organza flowers were super easy to make and look really pretty, so I now have a great use for my cast-off overlays. Here’s my watered down version of a tutorial; check out Stacie’s for the full-on instructions.

These were my materials. I picked up the buttons at the flea market on Sunday at $1.50 for 5. They’re all mis-matched, which is fine with me.

First, I cut out circles, from biggest to smallest. As you may notice, my circles are in no way perfect but it doesn’t matter in the end, so chop away.

I placed all the circles on top of one another, from biggest to smallest, and then sewed them together using a (VERY) basic cross-stitch.

This is where I differed from the tutorial slightly. Stacie goes on to use a candle to curl the fabric before sewing on her button. I sewed the button on right away because I hate threading needles and try to keep that to a minimum in any project. Anyways, I sewed on the button, and then came the fun part: melting the edges of the organza to make the “petals” curl up. It’s surprisingly simple; just put the edge of the organza close to the flame (I burned a few edges but ended up leaving the burned parts since I think it gives the flowers a little more texture). Also, it helps to hold the flower directly over top of the candle in the direction you want it to curl, as the heat works almost instantly on the fabric.

I was trying to show how I went layer by layer, melting the fabric, but this picture turned into a gratuitous ring shot (oopsies). Oh well…

The finished product!

Here’s a shot of the flower “in the air”, which is a potential use for them. More on that in another post. Please excuse my messy apartment.

Here’s a few different sized flowers I did.

I haven’t talked about what I’m going to use these for. I already mentioned I’m saving it for another post, but I’ve got a few ideas bubbling. Either way, I’ll need at least 20 of these, possibly more than double that number. So I guess my question is, do I have what it takes to finish that many of these before June? Has anyone else done this project? Was it a success, or a failure? Share any other DIY decor ideas, too!

P.S. - Just for fun, here’s a cool shot of these antique glass Japanese fishing bobbers that I picked up at the Hell’s Kitchen Flea market… I may throw these somewhere (escort card table? gift table?) as an added decor element, but for now, they are glorious on my mantel…