Saturday, March 23, 2024

Framed Embroidered Florals From Shower Curtain Fabric

                            

We've all had that sudden urge one time or another to do something about a piece of decor in our home that bothers us! That's me every time I go into our spare bathroom! The shower curtain there really bugged me since I hung it over ten years ago. The top of the curtain has a poofy valance that has to go! I don't think it gives off a modern feel or is in style anymore. I just need to make the valance go away since it makes the shower curtain look dated and doesn't compliment my home decor style.

 Luckily, I do love the fabric that has lots of embroidered floral designs on it! 

So, I'm going to repurpose or 'do over' some of the embroidered florals by cutting them out from the shower curtain valance fabric and using them as appliques on a cardboard design in a picture frame I got from Goodwill! 

Welcome to this months' "Do It Over Designers" Blog Hop! The "Do It Over Designers" is a group of creative bloggers who love to recycle/upcycle/ DIY, hosted by Anne @The Apple Street Cottage. It happens the 4th Saturday of every other month and it's all about taking something old and/or unused and 'doing it over' into something new. Normally we don't have a theme, but every now and then Anne wants us to 'do over' a certain item. This month's theme is Fabric!  Thanks Anne for hosting this wonderful blog hop!

So let's get started with the materials I used to frame the embroidered florals design from the shower curtain fabric!

Materials Used:

  • Embroidered shower curtain fabric
  • Decorative picture frame
  • Mod Podge
  • Paint brush
  • Scissors
  • Fabri-Tac glue

Steps:

First, I removed the shower curtain valance from the shower curtain with a few snips, snips, snips on each side. Now the shower curtain looks so much better, don't you think!

Next, I got out an old frame that I purchased a few years ago from Goodwill for two dollars and took the backing off.


I discovered that a design was on the backside of the cardboard and whoever had the frame before covered it with paper and enclosed it in the frame. It was a lovely design so I decided to use it as a base design to place the cut out embroidered florals on.


My next step was to determine which embroidery florals I would use. I chose a few that were outline in a sort of reddish purple and deep lavender threads.


Once I decided on the florals, it was time to paint on a layer of Mod Podge since the shower curtain fabric and threads would probably fray when cutting them out.


        It took a few hours for the Mod Podge to dry clear and fray free!


Then it was time to cut out the embroidered florals - starting with a long stem! 


 Adding Fabri-Tac fabric glue to the backside and .  .  .

smoothing the cutout embroidered stem down along the painted flower stem.
I was really getting excited about the dimensional look of the embroidered stem! Imagine how cool the embroidered florals would look, too!

Next I started cutting out individual embroidered flowers and .  .  .


adding fabric glue to the back .  .  .


smoothing it down on the cardboard design.


 Then cutting out another embroidered piece, adding glue to the wrong side and .  .  . 
 
laying it down next to the first to complete the look of the main embroidered flower. Look how the appliques blends in beautifully with the painting.

Cutting out and gluing on a few more embroidered florals .  .  .


along the stem .  .  .




to complete the look!

Then framing it all!
How cool does this look!

I love how the framed embroidered florals turned out. There are so many ways to recycle/upcycle embroidery pieces. Especially when there are lots of them in a piece like the shower curtain valance. They can be added to pillows, clothing, sachet bags, and linens, etc.  Or used as appliques on just about anything to enhance the item or to add a "wow" factor to the design! My work is cutout for me using this fabric!

Be sure to visit all of this month's creative Fabric Projects by the 

"Do It Over Designers" listed below:















Tuesday, March 12, 2024

BHG Inspired Beaded Flowers


I've  been a subscriber to Better Homes and Garden (BHG) magazine my entire adult life. And before that, I grew up with the magazine arriving every month to our home. I loved looking at the beautiful homes pictured and the lovely gardens featured. There were lots of delicious recipes that my sister and I often tried to make, lol! I also love the fact that the magazine would usually have a simple DIY craft included in most of the issues! Imagine my excitement when I saw the cover of the January/February 2024 Better Homes and Garden magazine! Just take a look!  



It's all about beaded flowers and .  .  . 


 the simple (and sometimes not so simple) techniques on how to make them!     

 Welcome to our Creative Craft Hop hosted by Sara @Birdz of a Feather! We are so glad you're here! If you're coming over from Donna @Modern on Monticello, welcome! Wasn't Donna's Pom Pom Pillow adorable! Please don't forget to check out all of the stunning creative craft projects listed at the bottom of my post!

Now back to my excitement about Beaded Flowers! When I looked at the cover of the BHG magazine and read the article, I wanted to know more. I discovered that this type of beading is called French Beading, which is really an ancient beading technique. However, nothing in the article mentioned that what they were talking about was actually French Beading!


Anyway, I was excited to try some of the techniques described and make a few  beaded flowers! I had acquired lots of seed beads when A C Moore went out of business and was excited to finally be able to use some of them! The only problem I had was the fact that this technique called for size 11/0 beads which were much smaller than the 6/0 beads I had in my stash! But that didn't stop me! In fact, to make these beaded flowers I'm using what I already had on hand including a bead spinner I had forgotten about! I have no idea what I made with it. I guess I was trying to make something since one of the bowls that came with it was full of beads, and the two curved needles included were no where in sight! I'm really glad I found that. I don't want to think about threading all those beads onto wire by hand!


Materials Used:
  • Seed Beads 6/0
  • Wire - 26 gauge 
  • Bead Spinner
  • Wire Cutter
  • Ruler
  • Nylon Jaw Pliers
  • Needle Nose Pliers
  • Wood Skewer Stick
  • Stem Wire 16 gauge
  • Floral Tape
I decided to make a continuous loop beaded flower - which means making the petals or leaves on the same length of wire. one loop is one petal. So the first thing I needed to do was to string all the beads I thought I would need on 26 gauge wire - while leaving the wire attached to the spool.

It didn't take me long to thread all these beads onto the wire- about 1 and a half yards of beads. It's best to have more beads on the wire than you actually need!

Knot the end of the wire so the beads won't fall off.


To decide how many beads are in a petal, you can either count the beads or use a ruler. I decided it would be easier to use a ruler. I wanted my petals to be four inches. So I left about four inches of wire from the end knot and slid the 4" of beads after measuring toward the 4" space of wire.


Create a loop with the beads, twisting the wire three times to secure.


Leave a small space on the wire and measure out another four inches of beads.


Create another loop, twisting three times again.

Continue leaving a small space between loops and measuring out four inches of beads. forming a loop until .  .  .

     

you have the desire number of petals. In this case, five petals. Then cut the wire, leaving a four inch tail. Cross the tail wire over the first wire creating a circle of petals, twisting the two wires together into a tail.
  
             

I wanted to make a layered continuous loop flower, which would make the flower look fuller. That meant decreasing the number of beads in each petal for each additional layer. I chose to make three layers of petals. So for the next layer, I measured out three inches of beads for each petal and repeated the steps I used with the first layer. Once the second layer was complete, insert the tail into the middle of the first layer twisting both tails together.


For the third layer, measured out two inches of beads for each of the five petals, leaving a small space between each loop and repeating the same steps as before. Stacking all three finished layers together and twisting the wire tails together to secure. 

                    

Complete the look by adding beads to a four inch wire, wrapping the length of beads around a wooden skewer. Then remove to twist the two wire ends together and .  .  .  
              
inserting the wire ends into the center of the flower layers for a decorative look. 

     

Finish the flower by inserting a stem wire into the back of the flower and wrapping the bead wire around the stem wire. 


To make the leaves, use the bead spinner to string a few feet of beads onto wire, then make a small loop so the beads won't fall off.


Count out four beads for the basic row from the spool and slide them toward the end of the wire. Leave a small length of wire above. Make a loop in the wire and twist a few times. 



The bottom wire will become the leaf's stem wire which will attach to the flower stem.

Move more beads down the working wire slightly longer that the basic count up from the spool and wrap around until they are beside the basic row toward the top wire.

Wrapping the working wire with beads around the basic wire from back to front.


Repeat bringing up more beads for each row until the desired number of rows for the leaves.


Cut the basic wire a little above the top bead and bend the short piece to the back of the petal.


Close the loop and twisting the wires together. These will become the stem.


Then add the leaf to the flower stem.


Have fun joining addition flowers and leaves to the stem.


Use floral tape to wrap and cover the wires and stem wire.

Here's a different floral look using the same basic techniques!


I hope you are inspired to try making a few beaded flowers! It is truly a fun craft!  Up next is Jenna from The Painted Apron sharing her beautiful 3D Flower Art Canvas! Jenna's creativity is amazing! And don't forget to check out all of the stunning creative craft projects listed below.