My DIY fabric dahlia flower pin

Here is a super easy flower pin to make. It's actually a do-over of a DIY I did three years ago. Production values have gone way up at  Bromeliad since then, and the old became an embarrassment.

So for a spring frame of mind, I'm trying it again (even though technically dahlias are a late summer flower). This takes maybe 15 minutes. The key is picking the right fabric.

 

 

Cut a strip of light-weight non-fraying fabric that's four inches wide and as long as you like. Longer= bigger flower. Mine was as long as my tape measure and it made an aggressively enormous flower. You can piece shorter strips together.

 

Fold the fabric in half and cut slits every half inch or so. For a more dahlia shaped effect, you can taper the strips on the end if you've got the patience for that sort of thing.

 

Roll your strip and glue as you go. As you get near the last few wraps, cut your slits all the way to the end. You want the back of the pin to lay as flat as possible.

 

Cut a little circle from a plastic container and one or two fabric circles. Glue the plastic to the back of your brooch and glue fabric over it to cover the fact that your pin materials were taken from the trash. Glue a pin back above center and allow everything to dry.

 

Fluff the pin and wear if you dare. Vintage insect pin inserted onto the fabric brooch is optional.