5 Minute DIY: Fabric Poppy Flower Gift Toppers
In the last minute craziness of finishing Gifted Magazine a few weeks ago, I completely forgot to add a note about the cover image (photo by me) and the poppy gift toppers I made for it. Oops!
In any case, today I thought it would be fun to share a simple how-to with you so that you can make your own DIY Fabric Poppy Flower Gift Toppers. Be forewarned that these little blooms are incredibly addicting to make. In fact before I knew it I had made so many of them that my studio looked like the field of poppies from the Wizard of Oz (minus the opium haze of course).
If you're on board for making your own, here's what you'll need:
- A ventilated work space
- Candle
- Lighter or matches
- Chiffon or lightweight satin - your fabric needs to be 100% polyester in order to work properly
- Tulle in black (optional)
- Fabric scissors
- Embroidery thread in black
- Matching red thread (optional)
- Button (optional)
- Seed beads (optional)
Step 1: Prep your fabric. Cut out squares of chiffon in varying sizes ranging from 3.5 to 2 inches You will need 3-4 squares per flower (at least 1 small, 1, medium, and 1 large). Snip around the edges to round them into rough circles. They don't need to be perfect.
Step 2: Creating the petals. Please follow my quick video tutorial above for the petal making process. I was going to write all the steps out, but it is far easier for you to see the process in action (even without the sound on, it should make sense). I added notes throughout the video for those of you who need to watch with the sound off. If for some reason you need extra help on any of the steps, please be sure to let me know. I'm happy to help.
Step 3: Dress up the middle of your flower. For the poppies here I first added a small circle of black tulle to the middle and then made a mini pom pom out of black embroidery floss and stitched in into the center of my pom pom (on top of the tulle). You can watch my DIY Pom Pom tutorial from earlier today if you'd like a bit more help with the how-to (there's an example of an embroidery floss pom pom at the end).
Stitch through the center of your flower (all three layers plus the tulle and pom pom) until everything feels secure (3-4 stitches should be fine). Alternately, you can finish the center of your flower with a cute button or stitch in some small seed beads for a unique look.
Step 4: Finishing. Add a double-sided glue dot (available at craft stores) to the back for easy gift topping. You could also attach a pin-back to make it into a wearable accessory or adhere it to a headband or any other accessory you'd like. Just think of the fun gifts you could make!
I hope you have fun and enjoy making these lovely flowers. Experiment with the number of petals and colors you use...you can make peonies, roses, and more. For my sister's wedding I came up with a way to make white daisies (let me know if that tutorial would interest you, and I can put it together sometime soon). xo Ez
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Please note: This project is not intended for young children or pregnant women (because of fumes). Please work in a ventilated work space. Never leave candles unattended and use caution near open flame. For safety, keep a glass of water or extinguisher close by in case of a flare up (this has never happened to me...but I want everyone to be safe).
50 Lovely Comments | Email Article | found in D.I.Y. + Projects, Holiday Inspiration/Projects, Tutorials Print Article | Share This | 
| by Ez Wednesday, November 30, 2011 
Reader Comments (50)
It was awesome to stumble upon this tutorial of yours! Going to share this with all my friends!
Thank you for this great tutorial, it's a wonderfull idea how to make a flower.
The flowers are beautiful! Thanks for the tutorial.
Thank you for this wonderful idea for making flowers.
Such a great Idea for christmas!!!
thank you :D
thanks for sharing!!! can't wait to try one..
funny, but as I went on reading, I was thinking "no way I'm putting this on a gift, this are for my hair!!" and then you suggested it :D
just adorable
Beautiful poppies! Wonderfully simple to assemble.
Would love a tutorial on the daisy's!
Thanks!
These are lovely! I wanted to let you know that I featured this beautiful wrapping today. You can view it here.
http://designdininganddiapers.com/2011/12/top-10-tuesday-14-brown-paper-packages
Thank you for sharing your tutorial!
I made three of these poppies and adorned them on a black tank top- looks great! Thank you so much for the idea!
Thanks for letting me know this was your tutorial! great site
I love these, it is the school National Book Day dress up on Thursday (1st March) and my 5 year old is going as Princess Poppy and I am making these with pin backs to put all over a pettiskirt for her to wear and on a elastic hairband! please please show use the daisy one too.
Thanks for taking the time to share such a cute idea! Love it and can't wait to make some... will be checking back in for more awesome ideas from ya!
This tutorial has inspired my entire wedding! Thank you! :D Now for hours upon hours of poppy making fun! Finally something that clicked with my vision! Thank you!
Oh I'm so happy to hear that Alison! We had a large group of girls get together to make these for my sister's wedding, and it was not only fun, but they all turned out wonderfully! Congrats on your upcoming happy day! xo Ez
Love this. I actually used this same technique to make my wedding bouquet. It was time consuming (about 80 flowers!) but totally worth it!
These would be GREAT additions to anything altered ie, books,boxes,art work. The possibilities are endless. You are so sweet to share this .
Thanks for the inspiration.
Thankyou for this! We commemorate Anzac Day here in Australia ( and New Zealand) and I plan to use this with my textiles students to make some. we will use a brooch back - or safety pin.
wow! It is so awesome.
Thank you for this wonderful idea for making flowers.
LOVE these tutorials. I had found another one similar to it previously, but I think this really does a better job at showing, explaining, and the finished product is amazing! Would love to see the daisies you mentioned or any other flower you can do! I really am trying to figure out how to do a pansy as well. email me if you have any info or help for pansies or daisies! thanks, Elizabeth (libbyann78@hotmail.com)
Hermosos los trabajos y fáciles las explicaciones. Gracias!!!
found you on pintrest- thank you for some lovely inspiration!
Loved this tutorial! I am so excited to be making my girls' Christmas presents this year! I see this was posted about a year ago. Did you ever do the daisy tutorial? I would LOVE to see that one if you could post a link. :)
Hi there,
So glad I found your web site, I'm thinking of making these poppies for remembrance day to sell at our church (all donation will be given to Royal British Legion ).
Was wondering if you could suggest what to use for the leaf eliment to the poppy as not sure that felt would look to good and the same fabric as the petals would be too flimsy I think, or do you think if I used the same candle technique and the same fabric in green it might add strength and stop it being so floppy ?
Hope you understand what on earth I'm talking about : ) would love to hear your advice !
Your site is excellent and I can't wait to try the poppies out x
Adorei as flores, ficaram lindas!
Gostaria de ver o tutorial das margaridas, as que você fez para o casamento de sua irmã, obrigada!
I loved the flowers were beautiful!
I would like to see the tutorial of daisies, the ones you did for the wedding of her sister, thank you!
These look great! Any suggestions for adding a stem so that they can be a bouquet?