This t-shirt pdf tutorial is the sole property of Brooke Fuller of Elizabeth Brooke Designs.

Images may not be copied or used without the permission of the owner.

Visit www.etsy.com/shop/brookesdesignstudio for more tutorials!

And feel free to email me Brooke at

elizabethbrookedesigns@gmail.com with any questions.

Make sure you read through the tutorial before you start. T-shirt

flowers make great embellishments for anything and everything!

Happy making!

Materials Needed:

A t-shirt or a piece of knit or jersey fabric approximately 15 inches long.

A sewing machine or a needle and thread to make a single stitch down the center of the

material. Both work fine, a sewing machine is just faster.

Thread ( I like to use the duel duty plus HEAVY thread, or button thread that is sturdier

and less likely to break)

Scissors

A ruler or measuring tape and scissors

A piece of chalk or fabric pen (not necessary if you just want to eye ball your cut)

Hot glue gun with glue sticks works best, but fabric glue or a needle and thread may be

substituted (with a needle and thread you will need to sew the spiraled layers together

when glue is called for and this method is not depicted with pictures).

Small piece of felt or fabric for the back of the flower to make it easier to attach to a

clip, headband, or whatever you might be using it for.

Making the flower:

1. Decide if you will use an old t shirt or a piece of knit or jersey fabric. Lay the

t-shirt on a cutting surface. If using a piece of fabric, do the same and

measure the cut in the following instructions.

5. Measure a 15 inch piece of t-shirt. This will make a flower that is 2 to 3 inches

wide depending on how tight you roll it up. A shorter piece with make a smaller

flower, adding length will make a wider flower in diameter.

*At this point you can also precut a small 1.5 inch (diameter) circle of felt or fabric

to glue to the bottom when you are finished, or wait until step 14.

**You can also use a narrower piece of t-shirt 1 to 1.5 inches wide instead of 2

inches wide. A shorter width can be a little tricky to roll so it is best to start with at

least 2 inches + to start with.

6. Using a sewing machine: Set your stitch width and length to the widest setting

on your sewing machine. Place the strip of fabric under the needle and sew a

straight stitch right down the center. DO NOT back stitch or secure your stitch at

the start and finish, simple run the fabric straight through down the center. Cut

the thread away from the machine leaving some on either end.

If using a needle and thread instead of a sewing machine: Thread and knot your

needle. Run a simple stitch in and out down the center of the strip of fabric until

you reach the end. Weaving up and down. The closer together your stitch, the

more frilly the flower will be.

Here is what your stitch should look like. A wide loose stitch. This stitch was

made using a sewing machine. You can see the hint of black for the

bobbin/underside stitch. If you are using a needle and thread it will look just like

this, minus the black thread and it may be a little more spread out.

7. If you used a sewing machine, hold on to the top thread with one hand and

gently bunch the fabric away with your other hand. If you used a needle and

thread, simply push the fabric down the thread until you have an evenly

distributed ruffle, then knot the ends to hold the ruffle in place. (Pictures depict

the sewing machine method)

8. . Slowly bunch the fabric, then work it down to the end of the fabric. Then push

some more fabric down the thread and work it down to the other end. Be careful

not to push too hard so that you do not break the thread.

9. Before bunching all the way to the other end, knot the far end that you are

bunching towards so that your bunching holds.

10. Resume bunching fabric until a ruffle is created and is evenly distributed. If

using a hot glue gun-the easiest method-turn it on at this point if you have not

already to heat it up.

11. Fold your ruffle in half, ruffle facing down and begin rolling the folded ruffle

inward into to create a coil or spiral. You can wait to glue the flower into place

until the end (depicted in photos), or if you want to, you can put some small dots

of hot glue in between the spirals as you go.

12. Continue tightly rolling the folded ruffled fabric into a spiral.

13. Continue rolling fabric until you have the whole piece of fabric in a tight spiral.

14. Stick a pin in the flower as shown below to hold it into place while you prepare

your circle to glue to the bottom of the flower. You will need to cut out a small

circle that is approximately 1.5 inches in diameter. Measure the bottom of your

flower just to be sure, and especially if you have changed the dimensions of your

flower (used a shorter or longer piece of t-shirt to start).

Measure the width to know how wide your circle should be.

15. Once you have your circle cut out and your hot glue gun is heated, put a small

layer of hot glue across the bottom of your spiraled flower. If you are using craft

glue, you can apply a layer in the same way, but may want to leave the pin in place

until it dries. You do NOT need to leave the pin in place if using hot glue, just hold

the flower together until you are finished gluing.

16. Press the small circle of felt or fabric onto the bottom of the flower where you

have placed the glue. Press into place, trying to push on the inside and outside

edges of the spiral. If your circle is a bit too big, you can always trim it once your

glue has dried.

17. Once dried, flip over and fluff our the layers a bit with your fingers.

18. Now admire your wonderfully created t-shirt flower!

You can make all kinds of things with your t-shirt flowers:

Pins, hair clips, headbands, clothing embellishments, jewelry

embellishments, clip them onto shoes or purses. The

possibilities are endless!

Visit www.etsy.com/shop/brookesdesignstudio for more tutorials!