Hello Wednesday - Scarlet Magic

Don't you just LOVE wednesday's? Say hello to wednesday  "hello wednesday" It's all down hill from now on to the weekend - yippee!!!

Poppies bring a splash of colour to summer, to some people they are weeds, to others they are a scarlet blanket of beautiful wild flowers. And to others they remain the symbol of the tragedy of war, whatever they symbolise to you - enjoy their simplicity.

I have been passing these poppies on the way to work for the past week or so, they are happily inhabiting a area of waste land, brightening up the space. They were the inspiration that I needed for this project. Ribbon poppies are so simple to make and can be added to almost anything - garment, bags, corsages, cushions, cards or in this case a freebie photo frame from a perfumery company!  I hate wasting anything, but really did not want their logo displayed around my photos, so I did a bit of disguising.

Heres how you make a Ribbon Poppy.

1.  Gather the bits that you need - wire edge ribbon in red, I have used this 25mm sheer ribbon (can be found HERE), black ribbon, toy stuffing or cotton wool, needle and thread and scissors.

2.  You need four lengths of 25mm red ribbon 10cms long, remove the wire from one side of the ribbon. 

3.  Put a knot in the bottom of the thread and secure it to the ribbon edge with the wire in.  Sew down the selvedge edge, along the bottom edge of the ribbon, without the wire, and then back up the other selvedge edge.  This will appear like a boat shape.

4.  Gather up your stitching so you create a petal, secure with a few stitches.

5.  Repeat steps 2, 3 and 4 for petal number 2.  While the thread is still attached to the petal, sew it to petal number 1. You want the petals to slightly over lap each other.

 

6.  Repeat steps 2, 3 and 4 for petal number 3.  Once again while the thread is still attached to the petal, sew it to petal number 2. Remember you want the petals to slightly over lap each other.

7.  Repeat steps 2, 3 and 4 for petal number 4.  Sew the last petal in place.  You may have a large messy centre, but do not worry this will be covered.

8.  Sew a circle in a piece of 39mm black ribbon, cut away the excess ribbon to leave a small selvedge edge.

9.  Gather up the thread and put a small amount of toy stuffing or cotton wool into the centre of the ribbon circle.  Gather this up and secure. This is the centre of your poppy.

10.  Cut away the wired edge from a piece of black ribbon.  Gently ease out the long fibres and put to one side. These are the little black stamens you find in poppies.

11.  Put a small amount of contact glue (I use a hot glue gun) into the centre of the poppy. Place the long fibres over the centre (don't worry if they are too long), and place the black poppy centre on top. With sharp scssors cut away any long black fibres to give the poppy a good look.

To finish off the frame I used Saddlle Stitch Ribbon, in this really rich red  and just loosely gathered it.

Enjoy the poppies.