Even More Needlepunch Ribbon Flowers

I have made several more of these ribbon flower pins since the last time I posted about them.

Experimenting with different ribbon widths, adding other fibers, including different beads...creating these has been an ongoing quest.
And I finally figured out a way to "finish" them that I like!

They make nice gifts....

This one uses 13mm and 4mm RiverSilks ribbons, Krenik Soie Noppe thread and 6 ply silk floss, with some barely visible machine sewing thread in little loops in the center.

It became this:

The leaves are made from the hand-dyed felted wool I bought from Vicki Day in January.
This pin is a bit large for my taste, though. So I went smaller.

This one has simpler leaves and is smaller in diameter too. There are more beads incorporated as well. You can sew those on either after needlepunching the ribbon or before.

Next I tried sewing the leaves around the perimeter of the ribbon flower itself.

I like it, but they are a wee bit hard to see. Too subtle, I guess.

Larger leaves again, then.....

But they are nice and clean looking, of vintage lucite.

All these flowers were mounted over Timtex with an additional covered Timtex backing which worked well but felt cumbersome to me.
Then it finally occurred to me that covered button blanks could be ideal for this application. They come in sizes that are plenty big. So yesterday I tried that approach.

The button blank is 1 1/2". I've got a circle slightly larger than that drawn on my fabric in the hoop, to account for the curvature of the button blank. You can see my pearls are already sewn into place.

Fast forward to fitting the finished punched flower over the button form. I've removed that wire shank.

Using strong Silamead thread, I ran a gathering stitch around the trimmed perimeter of my punched fabric.

Then I cinched the gathers tightly, and took a few more stitches to get everything snug.
This picture doesn't show it, but next I used my fingers to push the fabric onto the prongs in the button form. That way it is easier to snap the button back over it into place.

And here is the lavender flower....

The leaves are a size I like, and the flower is held together quite securely and neatly by the covered button front and back. I just need to glue a pinback on it and it is all set to go on a lapel somewhere!

I'll be teaching how to make these flower pins at a private class arranged by a friend of mine in the Bay Area in May, and also at the Adventure in Crazy Quilting conference in Connecticut in April 2011.
This Adventure, produced by Maureen Greeson and Susan Elliot, with my co-teachers Betty Pillsbury and Sharon Boggon, promises to be a truly wonderful event for crazy quilters from around the country. Hope you can attend!