Elegant Obasan's Custom Creation Project: Rosette/Peony Chiffon Flower both On The Straight and Bias Cut

So, I'm taking a break from the zipper tutorial. A lot has gotten done, it just didn't get photographed. One of the things I got accomplished was a lovely little white dress that is made of embroidered satin. I was going to put rosettes at the waist and went hunting for rosette tutorials. I even got some chiffon strips cut out in the color I wanted, but I was not happy. My thought was to have them look like small explosions and everything I saw was a variation on a spiral. Nice, but not what I wanted. Then, I realized that the search term might have been what was sinking me, but about that time this idea came to me;

Some of the flower tutorials I saw used a base so that seemed to be a good place to start. Starting at the small dot at the top and going around right at the edge, I would spiral around twice, once on the edge and once slightly in a bit, and then do a back and forth/zig zaggy pattern in the middle. When making my first one I decided that going through the 'center' into the back would be a good idea and that is marked with the large dot in the middle of the diagram.

On the left is the felt base, a bit over an inch in diameter, and on the right is a finished rosette.


Here is a tube of chiffon cut on the straight. It is a left over from failed attempts; making a tube is unnecessary

I've gone all around the edge and am starting the second spiral layer using a zigzag stitch.

After completing the second spiral I backtack and get ready to do the back and forth/zig zag part. I tacked this by hand.

On the left the zig zag becomes visible. Next I go around, following the spiral a bit to do the second side of zigzagging.

Using a seam ripper I make a hole in the center to put the end through.

Showing the center hole more clearly (sorry about the pink)

I cram in one more zig zag (on the right) and then use tweezers to stuff the end through the hole.

This is the back with the end pulled through.

I check the top to adjust it to make the rosette as nice as possible.

On the back the end gets tacked down and snipped off. I make sturdy rosettes that can go through the washer and dryer.

Here are four rosettes crammed together and pinned to a piece of felt. Don't worry if each flower isn't perfect. They look great in a crowd!

Ok, I wanted to see exactly what difference a rosette done with the same base, the same pattern, but cut on the bias would do. Like the strip cut on the straight, this strip is 2" wide. The felt round is a bit over an inch in diameter.

The bias strip was folded in half and run through the sewing machine to gather it up.

Since I had been somewhat unhappy with the way the previous flower behaved when I just put the end under the base, this time I wrapped the hanging threads from the gathering stitch around the end. This will be the starting end.

Going the same direction, doing the same thing, I sewed with a zigzag stitch first around the very edge, and then coming in for a second layer/spiral

Here the fabric is folded back on itself to form the first back and forth petal.

At the bottom you can see the fabric folded over. The seam ripper gives good control for making a small hole/slit. It only needs to be big enough to stuff the end of the chiffon through.

This is a shot of going around the back of the hole, following the machine sewn spiral to start the second side of back and forth/zig zagged fabric folding. Each layer is tacked down separately.