Made by hand: organza roses

Early on in wedding planning I posted about making organza roses, but didn't include much of a "how to" or include the end result, so I thought I'd do that here.

I got the idea from browsing on Etsy, looking at the lovely fabric flowers made by Viemoderne and Tijusai:





So I searched around on the internet for instructions so I could make my own. Turns out its really pretty simple.

First you get your hands on some synthetic organza fabric and cut out circles of varying sizes:



Next, you run the edges of the circles over a flame for just a second (too long and the fabric will discolor). I used tweezers to hold the thin, slippery fabric.



Heating the edge of the fabric will melt and curl the edges slightly. I wanted relatively flat petals, so I gave the fabric less time over the flame. For a more curled petal, leave it a touch longer.



Layer the petals on top of one another. I alternated a matte organza with a shiny one to mirror the matte/shiny stripes in my dress.





Hold them together by sewing through the center, anchoring the stitch on the top of the flower with a bead of some kind. I picked a tiny glass bead because I wanted a pared down look, but you can use any combination of colorful beads in varying sizes.





Before the wedding I pinned a few to my waistband.





I also sewed a few to bobby pins for my hair.