5 Ways to Sew Fabric Flowers – No Sewing Machine Needed
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Sewing fabric flowers is so fun and easy. With just a few scraps of fabric, a needle, and thread, you can make your own beautiful fabric flower bouquet! Today I’m showing you not just one method for making fabric flowers, but five!
Each method creates a different style of flower petal. You can create endless designs by combining different types of petals. For example, use one style for the center and another for the outer petals. Mixing different colors and textures of fabric will give you unlimited options!
You might also like my fabric shamrock tutorial!
Supplies for Making Fabric Flowers
- Sewing needle
- Sharp fabric scissors
- Quilt fabric (Green Fairy Quilts is my favorite!)
- Matching thread
- Buttons* or other embellishments for the center of the flower
- Something for tracing circles (cup, lid, etc.)
- Fabric chalk or pen
* Any style of button can work. In the video, I show some ideas for using shank buttons, fabric-covered buttons, and traditional 4-hole buttons.
You can use these flowers to make SO MANY different things. Depending on how you use them, you might want some additional supplies:
- Magnets and a hot glue gun for making fridge magnets
- Hair barrettes (the kind from a jewelry supplier with holes for sewing)
- Push pins for making decorative bulletin board pins
- Bar-back pins for making your own brooches
Skills & Techniques
Sewing fabric flowers is super easy, but there are a few techniques that will be helpful to know. Because you use these methods for most of the styles, I included instructions for the techniques here instead of repeating them in each section.
Basting Stitches
With the exception of the poppy, all of these flowers are made using basting stitches. This is a hand-sewing technique for creating a straight line with a relatively long stitch length. Here’s how to do a basting stitch:
- Insert the needle from front to back and pull it through to the other side.
- Insert the needle from back to front about 1/4″ away from the first hole.
- Pull the thread through and repeat until you reach the end.
To make basting faster, you don’t need to pull the thread all the way through each time. Instead, you can poke the needle in and out of the fabric and bunch it up along the needle until the needle is full of fabric. Then pull the needle and thread through all the layers.
This method works best when sewing through thinner fabric. When sewing through multiple layers, it’s a bit harder to manipulate the needle up and down through the fabric without pulling it through.
Note for all methods: When you thread your needle, give yourself enough length to sew through the petals and any embellishment (button etc.) you might want to add at the end. Tie a secure knot at the end of the thread.
Cutting Circles
For some of these flowers, you will need to cut circles out of your fabric before sewing the petals. You can use basically any circular item to trace your circles. I used the lip of a drinking glass for mine. Experiment with different objects to find what works for you.
I like tracing the circles with a pen or fabric chalk. The tracing line won’t be visible on the pointed petal flowers and rounded petal flower styles. However, it will be visible on the poppy flower design. Keep that in mind when choosing a pen/chalk color.
When tracing circles, try to get them as close as possible to each other so you aren’t wasting fabric 
Fabric Flowers with Pointed Petals
For this style, you will need 5 circles of fabric. Once you have your circles cut, you will make the petals one at a time, stringing them all along the same thread without cutting it in the middle. Here’s how:
- Fold a circle in half wrong side (WS) together so the right side is facing you.
- Fold the half-circle in half again, creating a pie shape.
- Baste along the rounded edge and pull the thread through. Gather the fabric tightly.
Repeat the steps above until all of your petals are on the thread. Pull the petals into a circle so the first and last petals are touching. Then, using the same thread, sew a few stitches around the circle to hold it in place. You don’t have to sew through every ridge of fabric in the gathers — just enough to hold the flower in place.
Using the same thread, attach a button or other embellishment in the center. This will hide the raw edges and make the flower look complete.
Rounded Petal Flowers
This method is very similar to the pointed flower technique above, but it creates a different shape. You will need 5 circles of fabric. After cutting them, follow these steps:
- Fold a circle in half wrong side (WS) together. The right side should be facing you.
- Baste along the rounded edge and pull the thread through. Gather the fabric tightly.
Repeat the two steps above until you have threaded all five petals. Then pull them into a circle and do a few stitches aound the circle to hold it in place. You can use the same thread to attach a button or other embellishment in the middle.
Ruffle Flowers
For this method, you will cut a strip of fabric 1 to 2″ wide and about 24″ long. You can really use any size of fabric though — experiment with different sizes to get different effects!
After cutting the strip, do a basting stitch along one of the long edges. When you reach the end, gather the fabric along the stitching to create a circle. Make a few stitches around the circle to hold it in place, then attach a button or whatever you like to the center.
This style has a raw edge, which is great for making shabby/distressed flowers. I like fraying the edge a little by pulling out some of the loose theads around the edge.
Scalloped Flowers
This method also uses a strip of fabric, but you will cut a scalloped edge before sewing. There are two ways to do this:
- Fold the fabric accordian style and pinch it together. Then cut a curve along one of the raw ends, cutting through all the layers at once.
- Trace a scalloped line onto the fabric and cut around it with fabric scissors.
I like method 1 because it’s faster, but method 2 will give you more uniform petals. You can always do the accordian method and use the scissors to clean up any misshapen petals after opening out the fabric (as shown in the video)
After cutting the scallop, do a basting stitch along the straight edge. Gather the fabric into a circle and stitch around the circle to hold it in place.
Poppy Flowers
I wasn’t sure what to call this type of flower, but poppy seemed the most fitting. It reminds me of the crepe rememberance poppies you wear for Memorial Day or Rememberance Day. If you want to make your own rememberance poppies, this would be a great option. Just use red fabric and a black button for the center.
For this method, you will need 4+ circles of fabric. The more petals you use, the fuller the flower will look. Because of how these are made, you can add quite a few petals without it getting too bulky in the middle (unlike the other circle-petal methods).
- Take a circle and fold it wrong side (WS) together.
- Fold the half-circle again to create a pie shape.
- Poke your needle throuhg the tip of the pie shape and create 2-3 stitches to tack it in place.
Repeat these steps with all your remaining petals, stringing them onto the same thread. They will gather in the middle with the points touching.
When you have all the petals you want, pinch the flower in the center to fan out and flatten the petals. Then attach a button or other embellishment in the center.
Using Fabric Flowers
There are endless ways to use these flowers! Here are a few things I want to make with them. I’m sure there are lots more!
- Attach them to hair barettes.
- Glue a magnet to the back to make fridge magnets.
- Sew them onto fabric baskets or trinket dishes.
- Glue them to a headband.
- Make a fabric flower weath.
- Attach them to push pins for a pretty bulletin board.
- Sew them onto bar-back pins to make a brooch.
- Sew them to a knit hat.
- String them together to make a garland.
