Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Doily flowers

Here is another type of flower, made from a vintage doily (under 10" diameter).

1. Cut a length of hand sewing thread, thread your needle and knot it.  I like to use 8 or 12 weight pearl cotton for the doilies. 


2. With a long running stitch, sew a circle around the doily with a 1" or so radius from the center.


3. Don't overlap your first stitch, but when you get all the way around, take your thread to the backside of the doily.

4. Gently pull your thread with one hand while holding the doily in your other hand.  The doily will gather and ruffle as you pull the thread, creating the flower shape.  There will now be a small lump at the center of the flower, this is the back of the flower.  Take a few whipstitches through the lump to secure the flower.  Leave the thread end long to sew to a larger piece of fabric.  That's it!  So simple, a neat way to use old doilies.  Use them to add dimension to Baltimore Album type quilts, crazy quilts, or your own unique art quilt bouquet.

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