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Big ol’ Puffy Ribbon Flower Tshirt (yeah….crazy name!)

I got an email from one of you readers, who wanted me to make a shirt with a pig puffy flower on it.  (Yep, I’m talking about you Rebekah….ha!)  I loved it.  And told her I’d add it to my list of projects to try.

 

It was cute…..and I knew it would be darling on either of my girls.

Even though my version is different from the picture she showed me, it turned out simple and cute.

 

And a total must-try. :)

 

 

 

 

 

Elli has been fascinated with gardening and plants lately.  But especially flowers.  (Need someone to come water your flowers?  Elli’s your gal…)  So, because of her love for flowers of any kind, she told me this shirt was perfect for her!

 

 

 

 

 

In case you think this flower is flat…….it’s not.  It’s full and fluffy and, well, I think it’s adorable! :)

 

 

 

 

 

In less than 30 minutes, this little lady had a brand new shirt.  And happily headed outside to take pictures for my “computer friends”.  (Yeah, she’s been more and more curious about who you people are, whom I share her photos with.  And she calls you my “computer friends”.  It’s pretty cute!)

 

 

 

 

Now, go and grab a few spools of ribbon and set up your sewing machine.  You’ve got a little shirt to make.

 

 

 

 

 

Which will most likely result in one happy little girl. :)

 

 

 

Ready to make one too?

 

 

Let’s get started.

 

I purchased a 2.5 inch wide sheer ribbon with a satin ribbon trim on each side.  (I used about 5.5 yards of it.)  Any ribbon would probably work……but the sheer ribbon really gave the flower some dimension and helped not weigh the flower down too much.

 

To begin, I melted one end of my ribbon with a lighter, to keep it from fraying.

 

 

Then I folded that end behind and down to an angle.

 

 

Then I began accordion folding the ribbon back and forth about 6 times (or 3 folds on each side).

 

 

Then, I cut off the end, melted it with a lighter and folded it down and to the back.  (This will help keep the melted end hidden.)  The view you’re seeing is the back side of the accordion folding…..because from the front, the end is tucked behind the first fold of the accordion.

 

 

Then, make a pleated fold on the bottom edge of the accordion ribbon.

 

 

And just to show you what that pleated fold looks like (since it’s kinda confusing in the image above), this is what I mean.  But just do that to the one edge of the accordion folded ribbon and it will help give the flower some depth but will also make it easier to put it together as a flower.

 

 

Repeat with 5 different sections.  (If you need more to make a nice full flower, go ahead.  It will just depend on how wide your accordion folds are.)

 

 

Then, one at a time, sew your flower sections down to the shirt.  (Be sure and separate the front of the shirt from the back as you slide it onto your sewing machine, so that you’re not sewing the two sides together.)

 

 

Then, lift up the petals and make a few stitches along some of the back folds (down through the shirt), to help keep the flower up and perky…..and not flopping over.

 

 

Repeat with all 5 sections, in a nice circle shape.  You’ll have to overlap the inner edges, to create a nice full flower.

 

 

Then, create a smaller accordion ribbon section that is more narrow and only has about 2 folds on each side.  (Be sure and seal the ends and angle them down as you fold.)

 

 

Then, sew it down to the center of the flower, spacing it between two of the larger ones that are already sewn in place.

 

 

Repeat with 4 others of these smaller sections, completing this inner circular layer of the flower.  You’ll have to overlap the inner edges to make them all fit.

 

 

Now, to cover the sewing in the center of the flower.

 

Cut several inches of ribbon (it will depend on the size flower you are making) and overlap the ends into a loop.  Be sure that both ends are heat sealed, so they won’t fray.

 

 

Then, flatten the loop.

 

 

And then pinch the center, creating a nice gather.

 

 

Sew along the pinched center section, right down to the center of the flower.

 

 

Then, fluff it up and let it hide the center sewing of the flower.

 

 

Next, flower stems.

 

I cut 5 at first, but realized that was too many.  So, I went with 3 in the end.  Heat seal both ends of the ribbon stems.

 

 

Now, sew each ribbon down to the shirt, creating stems.  My ribbon already had a line of stitching down the center, so I just followed that and sewed them down to the shirt.  But you could also sew along both edges of your ribbon pieces.  (Just be sure and separate the front of the shirt from the back as you slide it onto your sewing machine, so that you’re not sewing the two sides together.)

 

 

 

And hooray…..that’s it.

 

Now, go fancy up some little girl and let her wear her new fluffy flower shirt! :)

 

 

Enjoy!

-Ashley

 

 

 

 

Ashley Johnston

Administrator at Make It & Love It
Ashley Johnston is a professional DIY costume maker, sewist, crafter, and owner of Make It & Love It. She is a mom of 5 and a wife to a very patient (with the craft clutter) husband. In case you’re wondering, she always chooses crafting/sewing/designing over mopping/dusting/wiping base boards……but bathrooms/laundry/full bellies are always attended to. Whew!

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Hi, I'm Ashley

Hi, I’m Ashley—the DIY-enthusiast behind this crazy blog!

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