Black Zipper Orchid...

...not to be confused with a Slipper Orchid ;-)! I made another zipper flower today while the little guy was taking some Zzzzzzzs (I am in packing denial).

I got myself a thimble, and even though it was obviously made for bridezilla and kept falling off my finger (and I'm no small person) it made the job MUCH, much more pleasant. I also tried sewing the flower onto the felt circle. That worked well too....but I ended up applying a second, larger felt circle over the back once I was done...just to hide the really messy stitching.

I left the slider on this one, as a bit of a 'feature'. I also applied a button in the centre....which was SO much easier than sewing in the twirled up zipper end, although possibly not quite as nice looking...I'm undecided.

Now it's time I went foraging in the fridge for some dinner! Wish me luck...

Have a good one,

Blogged to: 100% Pure Love - Crystal Waters, I Drove All Night - Cyndi Lauper, Don't Bring Me Down - Electric Light Orchestra and Bridge to Your Heart - Wax.

Zipper Flower Brooch...

Recently one of the other mum's at school wore an amazing orange zipper flower brooch to school on her coat. I was amazed, totally! What a fabulous idea!!

So this morning while I was out and about I stopped and picked up some 26 inch YKK zippers with metal teeth and did a bit of deconstruction and reconstruction. I trimmed the ends off the zipper (to release the slider and reduce bulk). I looped and stitched one half of the zipper into four petals and with the second half I made one more petal and rolled the remainder into a flower centre (I did trim off a little because it was too long) and then stitched it all down.

I covered the back with a circle of red felt (stitched on in a rather haphazard fashion) and then stitched on the brooch pin (don't mind the mess...this is the back after all ;-)...

I know people like tutorials, but I really didn't feel like making one (sorry)...so I took a bit of a look online and found this one...which is pretty much what I did (except that I didn't start with the felt circle...but that's a really good idea!!).

I gave this brooch to another school mum this afternoon because she liked the original a lot, and I think it'll look really nice on her too. I'll have to make another one for me later. Note to self: BUY A THIMBLE! There are lots of layers to this brooch, and pushing that little needle through with no thimble HURT.

Still recuperating here. The face is slowly returning to normal...wish I could say the same about life in general...but that won't happen until this move is all done and dusted. Still a few weeks to go.

Thanks for visiting,

Blogged to: The Block 2012.