fabric flowers – Bubblegum Sass

Pretty in Progress

April 17, 2014April 16, 2014 Sarah Leave a comment

I’ve been spending the last several weeks preparing for the upcoming Boutique Wedding Market here in Calgary. I’ve designed a couple new products for the show, while the rest are slight design variations on my current products. I brought the colours of everything inline with the very popular shabby chic/rustic style wedding decor (dusty purples & pinks, peach, ivory & beige). It’s all a lot more soft than the punchy colours you see in my Etsy shop.

I had already played around quite a bit with the shabby chic style cuff bracelets last year. So I used the inspiration from those and sprinkled it into my button hair clips and the new bridal accessories. The result is a whole lot of pretty in vintage doilies, lace, silks, tulle, yo-yos, and buttons. There’s a lot of hand stitching going into all of this, evenings spent sewing yo-yos & lace flowers while we watch our latest addiction on Netflix. Right now, I’m moving on to putting together the hair clips, and finishing touches on the bridal accessories. In a few days, I’ll be diving into button magnets (all in wedding appropriate colours… don’t you think they would make cute wedding favors?). I’ve also got several display details still to finish up. I’m really tickled with the display I’ve got roughly worked out. It will be quite a change for Bubblegum Sass (I won’t be hiding behind a table for once), but I’m loving the idea!

So here’s a peek into the progress:

Peach bridal accessory (can be worn as a hair piece or accent belt for a dress)

Bridal accessory with cute blue & bird details

Diving into purple... fabric flower accents for bridal accessories & hair combs — Diving into purple… fabric flower accents for bridal accessories & hair combs

Lots of beautiful shabby chic inspired fabric button flowers for hair clip sets. — Lots of beautiful shabby chic inspired fabric button flowers for hair clip sets

Button-spiration: Spring Flowers Pt. 2

April 2, 2014March 25, 2014 Sarah Leave a comment

Here is another adorable spring button flower project to keep you busy until we can enjoy actual flowers in the yard. The full tutorial can be found on the V Spot blog, by special guest blogger Flamingo Toes.

These little potted fabric flowers are actually quite small, only about 4″ tall. You can pick up all sorts of sizes of clay pots at the craft store these days (and they’re usually very inexpensive). You can either paint the pots, or leave them as is, depending on the look you’re going for. You’ll need some stuffing and faux green moss to fill the pots. Next choose some fabric and burlap to make your flowers. Really, you can use any fabric flower tutorial to create the blossoms, it doesn’t necessarily have to be the style she used here. I would likely use some of my scrappy flowers that I use to make the floral hair combs & brooches. However you decide to make your fabric flowers, just pop a button into the centre of each to finish them off.

Pretty darn adorable project to decorate a fireplace mantel, small shelf or Easter dinner centerpiece. In fact, they’re so simple to make, you could put together one for each Easter dinner guest to take home with them. Attach a little name tag to the pot and you’ve got adorable seating place markers. Lots of ways to use these guys! Have fun creating!

Colourful blossoms

April 19, 2013 Sarah Leave a comment

I’ve been working on getting these little button brooches into the shop lately. Sticking with my desire to use up the materials I already have in the sewing room, these flowers are made from scrap fabric strips, some cotton, some silk or corduroy. All very cute and perfect for spring and summer! Or even for bringing a little cheerfulness to our “winter coats” which we have sadly continued to wear, with fresh snow falling each week.

I love how the flower acts as a little frame to those adorable buttons! Each brooch is one-of-a-kind, colourful, scrappy and eclectic. I’ve even been playing around with a slightly modern version, a ruffled button brooch that can be worn vertically or horizontally. It’s been fun to experiment with these AND to see my mound of scrap fabric getting a little smaller each week.

There is a colourful collection of these brooches now available. And of course, all my Canadian friends should take advantage of the FREE shipping for these gals.

Happy Spring

March 20, 2012March 2, 2012 Sarah 2 Comments

Wishing you a very lovely first day of Spring! Of course in Calgary Spring always feels like one of the shorter seasons. Sometimes I miss living in Vancouver just because of the spring season they get each year with actual flowers and pretty blossoming trees. Oh the cherry trees and grape hyacinths! Anyway here’s a bit of spring for Calgarians to enjoy… a bouquet of floral pins. I made this as a birthday card for a friend, so she would have some pretty pins to wear. The fabric flowers can simply be unpinned from the card. And of course I had to add some buttons leaves!

Fabric blossoms

May 7, 2011May 13, 2011 Sarah Leave a comment

I really shouldn’t be left alone with a hot glue gun or a sewing machine or buttons. Craziness always ensues. Craziness that turns into pretty things, so that’s okay, right?

I’ve had this project in the wings for over a year; floral hair accessories made from scrap fabrics. I made one to wear to my brother’s wedding last May and loved it. Ended up making a second one and wear them both all the time. They look super cute in my short hair too. Did I ever mention that I got my haircut? More than 6 inches off! Anyway, I finally sat down and got a bunch more made up. I like them on the hair combs, but I’m also trying them on clips and barrettes. Plus, I want to play around with some more complex headpieces. Fun, fun, fun!

Happy crafting!