Obviously we had to spend some time getting things ready for Miss Grace for the Krewe of Erin Princess Crowning this past weekend!
Obviously she needed a green dress and a nice hair bow to go with it. Because even though she would be getting a crown (tiara really), from the back, you would not see it much. So Meme and I sat down and while Meme made the hair bow, I decided to make a matching brooch for me, as my Irish Clover Sweater I had won on ebay had not arrived in time, and it looked like it wouldn't, so I needed to use a different sweater over my tea dress. And really, mom and daughter should attempt to blend, right????
Here is what her bow ended up looking like:
So here is some very basics steps is how I made the brooch.
1. I took a strip of fabric from a bolt of floral knit fabric I had bought years ago. It's not really a clover print, but whenever any one looks at it, they think it is. Sorta tricks the eye! Anyhoo, I took about 17 or 18 inches long by about 3 1/2 inches wide.
I fold it over wrong sides together and made a basting stitch all the way down the open side, lengthwise. I then pulled the basting thread and gathered the length into about 1/3 of what it was laid out (sorry forgot to take a pix of that). Basically like a yo-yo, if you've ever made one of them.
2. I then took a piece of cardboard and cut out a circle about the size of the inside of a toliet paper roll. I then took a piece of green felt and cut it out allowing for about an 1/4 inch extra around the cardboard circle. I then cut into the 1/4 inch allowance, much like you would for sewing curves. I then took some super glue and glued the felt onto the cardboard (see below pix).
3. I then pinned the strip in place around the backside of the covered cardboard, making the ruffles as even as possible. THIS is important- PIN before you superglue! This allows you to then turn it over, make sure it is even, reset it, and then pin and glue! I glued one section, removed the pin, held in place, and when set moved onto the next. Because I was using knit fabric, it set very quickly. BUT, I did let it sit for 10 minutes before moving onto the next step.
4. Now you 'backside' has become your front piece! I know it looks reverse, but stay with me here. next you will take a pin back- I had these really cool button type that push through the backing and you push down the clips to keep them in place. I figured out where I wanted the cross bar placed on the backside, marked it and then I GLUED the button back into place, making sure the tabs went through the cardboard backing, Why glue then you ask, if there are tabs?
Simple- because this will be on the chest area and your arm, and possibly bodies (think hugs), will be pressed on it. You want it NOT to move! hence, the glue.
5. Turn your brooch back over, so the 'front' side is now showing. Cut out a medium size heart from the cardboard, for your template. Then using it, cut out 3 hearts from the same green felt, used earlier for the backing piece.
Arrange the hearts in a clover shape and super glue onto your brooch, making sure you place the top one on the 'top' of the brooch (remember to look for where you pin placement is on the 'backside'! AHA, now you can see the design taking place!
6. I then took apart a hair clip we had found at Hobby Lobby, taking the hair clip off and then gluing it in place on top of the 'clover' make from the felt hearts.
Now before I glued the bottom, the flower on, I realized it needed some more bling, so I took apart a hair tie from last year, and glued the ribbons under where the flower would be, hanging down the center of the brooch (and giving the clover a visual 'stem'). Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of this step, as I was on the phone at the time. Flower was then glued in place and allowed to set for 5 minutes.
7. Miss Grace adores lady bugs, and I had a necklace for her with a ladybug on a 3 leaf clover, so I decided to add a ladybug to my brooch also. So i took an extra ladybug button and sewed him into place on top of the heart clover, making sure the stitched went into the under ruffle, so they would be nice and tight.
And the result was this:
Simple ans easy and finished in about 35 minutes, only due to drying time!
And yes, I had many compliments on how well it matched Miss Grace's hair bow, even thought really it was only the same coloration and center flower that was the same!
I hope this gave you some ideas on how to make a simple brooch, in case you need one for St Patrick's Day or Easter!.
Obviously she needed a green dress and a nice hair bow to go with it. Because even though she would be getting a crown (tiara really), from the back, you would not see it much. So Meme and I sat down and while Meme made the hair bow, I decided to make a matching brooch for me, as my Irish Clover Sweater I had won on ebay had not arrived in time, and it looked like it wouldn't, so I needed to use a different sweater over my tea dress. And really, mom and daughter should attempt to blend, right????
Here is what her bow ended up looking like:
So here is some very basics steps is how I made the brooch.
1. I took a strip of fabric from a bolt of floral knit fabric I had bought years ago. It's not really a clover print, but whenever any one looks at it, they think it is. Sorta tricks the eye! Anyhoo, I took about 17 or 18 inches long by about 3 1/2 inches wide.
I fold it over wrong sides together and made a basting stitch all the way down the open side, lengthwise. I then pulled the basting thread and gathered the length into about 1/3 of what it was laid out (sorry forgot to take a pix of that). Basically like a yo-yo, if you've ever made one of them.
2. I then took a piece of cardboard and cut out a circle about the size of the inside of a toliet paper roll. I then took a piece of green felt and cut it out allowing for about an 1/4 inch extra around the cardboard circle. I then cut into the 1/4 inch allowance, much like you would for sewing curves. I then took some super glue and glued the felt onto the cardboard (see below pix).
3. I then pinned the strip in place around the backside of the covered cardboard, making the ruffles as even as possible. THIS is important- PIN before you superglue! This allows you to then turn it over, make sure it is even, reset it, and then pin and glue! I glued one section, removed the pin, held in place, and when set moved onto the next. Because I was using knit fabric, it set very quickly. BUT, I did let it sit for 10 minutes before moving onto the next step.
4. Now you 'backside' has become your front piece! I know it looks reverse, but stay with me here. next you will take a pin back- I had these really cool button type that push through the backing and you push down the clips to keep them in place. I figured out where I wanted the cross bar placed on the backside, marked it and then I GLUED the button back into place, making sure the tabs went through the cardboard backing, Why glue then you ask, if there are tabs?
Simple- because this will be on the chest area and your arm, and possibly bodies (think hugs), will be pressed on it. You want it NOT to move! hence, the glue.
5. Turn your brooch back over, so the 'front' side is now showing. Cut out a medium size heart from the cardboard, for your template. Then using it, cut out 3 hearts from the same green felt, used earlier for the backing piece.
Arrange the hearts in a clover shape and super glue onto your brooch, making sure you place the top one on the 'top' of the brooch (remember to look for where you pin placement is on the 'backside'! AHA, now you can see the design taking place!
6. I then took apart a hair clip we had found at Hobby Lobby, taking the hair clip off and then gluing it in place on top of the 'clover' make from the felt hearts.
Now before I glued the bottom, the flower on, I realized it needed some more bling, so I took apart a hair tie from last year, and glued the ribbons under where the flower would be, hanging down the center of the brooch (and giving the clover a visual 'stem'). Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of this step, as I was on the phone at the time. Flower was then glued in place and allowed to set for 5 minutes.
7. Miss Grace adores lady bugs, and I had a necklace for her with a ladybug on a 3 leaf clover, so I decided to add a ladybug to my brooch also. So i took an extra ladybug button and sewed him into place on top of the heart clover, making sure the stitched went into the under ruffle, so they would be nice and tight.
And the result was this:
Simple ans easy and finished in about 35 minutes, only due to drying time!
And yes, I had many compliments on how well it matched Miss Grace's hair bow, even thought really it was only the same coloration and center flower that was the same!
I hope this gave you some ideas on how to make a simple brooch, in case you need one for St Patrick's Day or Easter!.
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