Make Your Own Faux Prima's

Today I have a little tutorial for you on how to make your own faux Primas. They can be pretty spendy so this is a way to save a few bucks. You can use fabric that you may have in your stash, or you can do like I did and re-purpose an old shirt that is ripped or worn. I used a Prima flower that I had on hand as my inspiration, but feel free to try and recreate any other types of Primas you might have on hand or see online. You are going to need your fabric of choice, chipboard or cardboard, beads, and basic supplies.

Start with cutting a circle out of your chipboard to use as a base. Take a strip of fabric and staple the end down to the center of the circle to hold it in place while you glue.

Spiral your fabric to form the center of your flower.

When the glue is dry you can move onto the outer portion of the flower. Here I twisted the fabric strip, starting at the outer edge, as I glued.

Here is what your flower will look like when it's all glued down. 

Try experimenting with different types of fabrics.

Once dry, you can add some misting, fringe in the center, and beads. My white flower became pink, and I made a second one with gray fabric. In the picture below, the flowers on the left are original Primas and the one's on the right are my version.

Now, on to how to make the beige colored flower in the picture. You will need some fabric such as organza, silk, tulle, or anything that can be melted. I created this one with an old shirt as well.

You're going to need your fabric, a candle, and some thread to sew on the center beads. These are so simple to make, but I can't take credit for them. I discovered this technique online at http://littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com/2009/08/how-to-make-pretty-organza-flowers.html


Step 1: cut out 3-4 layers of fabric in either a circle shape or a flower shape and they need not be perfect.

Step 2: This is the fun part, but watch your fingers! Hold the layers of fabric, one by one, over the candle flame until you see the edges curl. Do this for each layer.  Then stitch together and either sew on your beads or glue them into place.

And there you have some very inexpensive, practically free, Faux Prima flowers!  I hope you enjoyed my tutorial!  Happy Crafting!