Fabric flower fail part 2

If 2D flowers were not going to work, then off to Pinterest and the web again to look for 3D flowers.

Classic Felt Flowers from Thecraftyblogstalker

Good grief no! These were waaaaaaaay too much work. I am spatially challenged. You will lose me at "Take the first strand over the second strand". You mean the one I just dropped and the cat has made off with?? The 3D ones I found were also striving for realism, not my style. I wanted petals that draped, I wanted petals in layers, and I wanted the whole thing to sit in a vase like a flower, but I didn't want it to pretend to BE a flower, at least not without a very large wink to the viewer.

I found flowers that were circles of fabric, layered, with a button or bead in the middle. I cut circles of fabric. I looked at circles of fabric. They remained flat circles. I pondered. I asked at JoAnns about moldable interfacing. They looked blank. I googled all possible variations and discovered products I did not know existed, mainly for hats and caps. None of them seemed like what I was looking for though. Too stiff, too bulky, too expensive, too hard to find. Did I mention I'm picky?

Fabric flowers - the process part 1

I dye a lot of fabric, and it occurred to me that one of the things I might do with it is to make fabric flowers. I immediately turned to Pinterest and the web. My two best buds! 

There were lots of ideas for felt flowers layered and stitched, and I made some. They were a wonderful travelling project. I stitched and stitched!

They were a lot of fun, but when I was done I had no idea how to display them. They were not 3D. If I stuck them on a stick, they would look awful from the bottom, and they would flop in on themselves, not drape and fold as flowers do. In  fact, I had planned to use more felt for leaves, but either the size of the leaf, or the color, or both, made the poor little flower look like it was being slowly absorbed by carnivorous leaves! Urgh.

So they went in the cupboard with the FO??s. (Finished objects I have no idea what to do with). I keep them in the hope that inspiration will strike one day and they will be exactly what I need. I am such an optimist. I suspect if I didn't have cupboard space my optimism would be short lived!

Wednesday Words

From the creator of Dilbert, Scott Adams:

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep"

I need to work on both of these! I get so frustrated when the picture in my head gets interrupted by my current skill level. I do know it's a good idea to put things away for a bit, both the ones I totally love and the ones I don't. When I come back I can see where the beloved ones could use some tweaks, and often I can see a path to improve the dogs.

The quote is from a fun site called Brainy Quotes!