How to Make Fabric Dahlias

Use up some of the fabric pieces you have left over from previous sewing projects to put together a quick and simple embellishment -- a fabric dahlia. With a few snips and stitches you can have a dahlia in minutes that you can use to decorate store-bought items such as totes and jackets, or handmade items like scrapbook pages, jewelry and cards.

1/4 yard of quilter's cotton fabric
Ruler
Scissors
Tailor's chalk
Sewing machine
Needle
Thread

Instructions

- 1
  Measure and cut a 4-by-36-inch piece of your quilter's cotton fabric. Lay the fabric out on your work surface running horizontally.
- 2
  Measure and mark with tailor's chalk every 2 inches across the fabric from left to right an inch up from the bottom edge starting 2 inches in from the left edge of the fabric.
- 3
  Mark every 2 inches across the top edge of the fabric starting an inch in from the left edge.
- 4
  Draw diagonal lines that zigzag up and down the top 3 inches of the fabric, moving left to right, connecting the marks you made along the top edge and the marks you made an inch above the bottom edge.
- 5
  Cut along the diagonal lines you drew.
- 6
  Loosen the tension on your sewing machine and lengthen the stitch length to sew a basting stitch. Sew along the solid 1-inch-wide edge of the fabric with a 1/4-inch seam allowance.
- 7
  Knot one end of the threads from the basting stitch. Pull the threads at the other end to gather the fabric along the stitch. Gather the fabric until it is only 12 inches long, and then knot those threads as well.
- 8
  Roll the gathered fabric to form the dahlia. Sew a few stitches through the bottom of the flower with needle and thread to hold it together.

How to Make Layered Felt Flowers

Flowers Arrangements Ideas

Floral Designs