Cabbage Roses

A while back, I was planning on making myself a sash belt with cabbage roses on it to wear with a dress I purchased but ended up having to return because it was too big.  That happened after I had already bought a sash, something I no longer really need, but that still did not put a damper on my interest in creating cabbage roses.

So today while conversing with my friend about sewing, I had the urge to sew one, and ended up making two.  I used some fabric I had bought over 4 years ago when I made Zoe's baby bedding, and because of how careful I ration my fabric, I ended up with a respectable amount of fabric left.  Some time ago, my friend had found me this link, which I bookmarked and I pulled it up today to figure out how to sew these flowers.  It's a great tutorial; however if you're left handed like me, it's got a bit of a learning curve, because I tend to work clockwise, while right handed people tend to work counterclockwise.  I ended up having to save the files and then reversing them so I could follow the directions, however my flower didn't come out quite as well as I'd like, however for a first timer attempting to work in reverse, it came out alright.

The center stabilizer is actually a pearl.  As you can see the flower is worked around clockwise, which for some reason I find aesthetically pleasing.

Then I of course decided to try again, and this time without the stabilizer bead and I added a second piece of fabric between the folds and sewed that together to give it a different look.

This one is done without a center stabilizer, and it's also got another piece of fabric.. and it's quite a bit larger as a result of using longer length of fabric. And it also goes counter-clockwise.

I'm not sure which one I honestly like more, since they are both pretty and unique in their own ways.  However, I cant wait to experiment with different fabrics as well as different finishes.. the instructions suggest to hide the raw cut edges of the fabric, but I think I want to try this with the raw edges showing... there's just so many possibilites with this one set of instructions!  You can also do this with ribbon and other types of fabric.. satin, organza.. as long as it's not too thick it should work!