Initial Button Corsage
As I’m writing this, it’s pouring down rain and chilly outside, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d think Winter’s still trying to hang on a little. But, as you know from my recent posts, I’m not having it. It’s Spring everywhere you look inside my house and since the Easter stuff’s out at Hobby Lobby, well, it’s officially Spring, y’all. But, we do have a little dilemma this year when it comes to Spring wardrobes. Here in the South, we do our best to hold back on the Spring garb until Easter, then we let loose. It doesn’t matter if there are six inches of snow on the ground–on Easter Sunday, we will wear our Easter dresses & Easter shoes and no one can tell us otherwise.But this is one of those really odd years when Easter comes late, putting us in a tailspin, leaving us to wonder whether we should break the cardinal rules & bust out the seersucker & white patent leather, or hang on for for a few more weeks & keep our pretty painted toenails covered. Oh, the stress of it all!!Well, whatever you do in your part of the country, you can never go wrong by pinning on a flower, whether Spring has officially sprung or not. I made a couple of these initial button corsages for some friends of mine recently & I thought some of you might like to make some, too.
The first thing you need for this project is a set of alphabet stamps. I bought mine years ago at H.L. & I still use them all the time. It’s well worth the investment if you don’t have any. I’m not even sure if they have this exact set anymore, but anything similar will work.
Next, you need some solid fabric. I used (of course) some scraps of canvas from one of my drop cloth projects. You also need a large covered button kit (big enough to fit the letter stamp on).
Start by cutting a generous square of fabric & stamping your letter. You can always trim the fabric down before constructing the button, so give yourself plenty to work with. 
Then, you line up your letter over the button & hold it in place while you place the button into the bottom part of the button maker. From here, follow the directions for making the button given on the package.
Next, make yourself a pattern for your flower by cutting out a larger & smaller flower out of paper. Mine were about 3 1/2 & 4 inches across.
Then, cut 3 large flowers out of your chosen fabric. I cut 2 out of canvas & one out of a polka dot. Stack these together, staggered a little bit, & these will be the bottom layers of the flower. 
Next, cut 7 of the smaller flower out of one fabric, & 3 of the smaller fabric from another fabric. (At this point, you can wash & dry the pieces to give the edges a fuzzy frayed look, or you can speed up the process & skip this part like I did & go on to the next step.)
Now you’re ready to create the layers of petals. Each petal is made by folding a small flower in half (right side on the outside)…
…and then folding it over about 2/3 of the way across. It should look like this:
Then, start pinning them in place over the bottom layers of large flowers. 
The first layer of petals should consist of 4 “petals”.
The next layer should consist of 3 “petals” of the contrasting fabric. Try to stagger the petals a little to allow the under layer to show through.
The last layer will be 3 more petals of the first fabric, again- staggered a little.
Now you’re ready to sew the flower together! 
After each petal is securely sewn, sew on the button as well.
To finish off the back, cut a circle of felt & glue it on with hot glue, then add a little more hot glue to add the pin back. 
These are great for embellishing a gift as well! {Helpful hint of the day: Pottery Barn gift- wraps for free–which leaves you more money to add your own personal touch.}
I know this seems like a lot of steps & pictures! But trust me, it’s easy. The hard part will be trying to decide which shoes to wear with it–the closed-toed flats or the strappy sandals… Oh, the decisions!!!!Sharing these with a few of these peeps…Check them out.And don’t forget to enter my giveaway going on here…ends Saturday!
March 10, 2011 @ 10:19 pm
I love it so much! Thanks for sharing!!!!!!!!!
March 10, 2011 @ 11:50 pm
oooh pretty!! very nice tutorial!! thank you!!
March 11, 2011 @ 12:34 am
Drat it! I x'ed out before I hit post! arrrrggghhh! Anyway, I said this is a really cute idea for little girls' headbands or hot glued onto barettes! Thanks for the idea! xxoo Diana
March 11, 2011 @ 2:40 am
OOOOHH!! this is a great idea. i need to go dig through my scraps….
xoxo
lynn
March 11, 2011 @ 4:24 pm
Way too cute. Very nice tutorial!!!
March 11, 2011 @ 5:15 pm
Nice tutorial you will be featured tomorrow on our blog: http://fabricbowsandmore.blogspot.com/
March 12, 2011 @ 1:15 am
I really really love this! Thanks for such detailed instructions, too! I hear ya about the spring in the south thing, I feel like the only one who has busted out my hot pink trench, but I just can't take the blacks and neutrals anymore!!
March 12, 2011 @ 1:24 am
This is soo cute! I love the monogram–it really adds a special touch! Thanks for sharing how you made it!!
March 12, 2011 @ 2:23 am
I love the idea! We are up north and are known to get snow for Easter. Always hard to look "springy" in snow. This is a great idea, thanks for sharing.
March 12, 2011 @ 12:49 pm
Love it! Have seen these on etsy but didn't want to pay the price for them! Thanks so much for sharing!!!
March 12, 2011 @ 1:35 pm
This is such a stinkin cute idea, love it!
March 12, 2011 @ 2:12 pm
What a wonderful idea!
March 12, 2011 @ 2:17 pm
these are so pretty and just perfect gift toppers!
megan
craftycpa.blogspot.com
March 12, 2011 @ 2:25 pm
These are awesome!!! Love your style : )
craft-interrupted.blogspot.com
March 12, 2011 @ 6:27 pm
I love it and all the ways you showed to use it… I've always been afraid to make one of those layer flowers. đŸ™‚
I'm filing this at thecraftersfilebox.com. Thanks for sharing!
March 13, 2011 @ 3:57 am
These look amazing! Adding this to the "to do" list for sure.
http://itsybitsypaper.blogspot.com
March 13, 2011 @ 1:49 pm
this is so adorable…love the layered fabric and the ones you chose are bright and pretty…thanks for the tute and for linking up to fridays unfolded! now following…:)
blessings,
alison
stuff and nonsense
March 13, 2011 @ 8:16 pm
Love it! And I love your alphabet stamp collection!
March 14, 2011 @ 10:25 am
I love this! I'd love for you to link up at Inspire Me Mondays @ Singing Three Little Birds.
http://singingthreelittlebirds.blogspot.com/2011/03/inspire-me-monday.html
April 7, 2011 @ 8:31 am
Lovely!!! I've been meaning to hide a hole in a favorite blouse, and I was searching for a flower layered pin!!! I'll repost this on my blog, on my to do list @sewhappiness.blogspot.com, if you don't mind:)
Thanks again:)oohhh I'm so happy!!You made my day with this tutorial:)
June 25, 2011 @ 7:01 pm
I adapted and simplified this to work for little girl's headbands/clips…they're way cute!!!