Greetings From the Asylum: Paisley Petal Flower Headband

Today we have Tanya, From Greetings From the Asylum, if her blog name doesn't make you laugh, her witty blog will. She always has some great craft or recipe to share. Today she is showing us how to make Paisley Petal Flower Headbands and she has THE perfect models to help out :>

Blog Meet Tanya

Hi! I'm Tanya.  I'm a little crazy.  Hence, I named my blog
Greetings From the Asylum!

I am so excited to be guest posting at Blissful and Domestic today for "Hair Week!"  This is my first time to create a guest post!  Thanks Danielle!

Here is a brief introduction about me and why I blog.  I have piles of half finished projects laying around my house.  Put those together with the projects that I have yet to even start and you have a lot of craziness! Before I start any new projects, I have to finish what I've started first.  At Greetings From the Asylum I'm sharing this process with you.  That and a few recipes thrown in for good measure!

I had a few ideas when I designed this headband.  I wanted a black piece that was flecked with gray and accents of sparkly red.  This is the result - the Paisley Petal Flower Headband, and I'm sharing it with YOU, the fabulous visitors to Blissful and Domestic, first!  Yeah!!!

I was getting no cooperation from my daughter so I used the Pillow Pet!  Hey, at least he was sitting still!

Here are the materials that you need to make your own Paisley Petal Flower Headband.

• Two 2" strips of black satin
• One 2" strip of gray satin
• One black metal headband
• black felt
• one round head button (not pictured)
• red glass seed beads
• red crystal beads
• needle and black thread
• hot glue gun and hot glue

Begin by cutting the strips of satin into 3/8"ish tiny strips.  I just used scissors and estimated the width.  You don't need to be very exact while cutting these strips.  I followed this cutting pattern (without a fold in the fabric) to make one loooong tiny strip made from the original 2" strip.  Begin cutting on the 2" edge.

source

I ended up with this:

Tiny strips just perfect for braiding!

You will have three very long strips of satin after you complete this process.  I cut each of these long strips into thirds to make them more manageable.

Tie two black strips and one gray strip together in a quick knot at one end.  Braid the strips together.  Knot the other end after you complete the braid.

*It is easiest to secure the knotted end to something and let the ends hang down straight.  I pinned the knot to the top of a bath towel hanging on the wall.  There was plenty of room for the ends to hang down and not get tangled.  Keeping the ends of  the strips well separated while you braid will help too.*

Beginning the braid.  Notice the edges are starting to fray. 

Use all of the strips to make three braids.  Then, singe the edges of the braids to remove the frayed edges from the fabric.

*I find it is easier and you have more control if you keep the flame stationary and move the fabric (such as with a candle) instead of keeping the fabric still and moving the flame (such as with a lighter)*

See the difference?  The top has been singed, the bottom has not.

Now that the braids are complete, you are ready to move on to phase two...hahahahahaha!
Oh sorry, I got away from myself for a minute.  I'm fine now, really... :)

Here are the materials again with the braid added.

First, make yourself a pattern for your paisley petal.  I sketched one out on a piece of paper.  The paisley pattern was approximately 2" long and 1 1/2" wide.

Another easy way to find a pattern is to use a clip art program.  I often use Microsoft's Clip Art site found here.

Cut five paisley patterns out of felt.  One for each petal.  Begin sewing the braid onto the felt. *(Here is where I insert my disclaimer.  I LOVE to hand sew,  I do it whenever I can.  You can use hot glue or fabric glue to make the paisleys, but that will make your finished flower much heavier, thicker, and much less flexible.)*   Start at the center of the fat end of the paisley and sew in a circle.  Then sew around the outside of the pointed end and fill in the rest.  Snip the end of the braid, fold the end under towards the inside, and sew it down.  Tie the end of the remaining end of the braid off with a knot.

Click on the photo to enlarge.

Click on the photo to enlarge.

Each braid made two paisleys.  Sew four paisleys on one side and the fifth on the other side.  This will give the finished flower a swirly asymmetrical feel.  You can also sew all five paisleys on the same side for a spiral look.

Once you have finished all of your paisleys.  Begin stitching them together.  Sew two paisleys together, then another two paisleys.  Sew both sets of two paisleys together.  All of the curves should be curving the same direction.

Four paisleys

Two paisleys

Sew the pairs of paisleys together. 

Add the final paisley to the top of top of the flower.  The final paisley will be the one sewed opposite the others.  Once all of the paisleys are sewn together, you'll want to singe the petals one last time to clean up the edges of the flower.

See how the last paisley goes the other way?  It has an almost starfish like look to it. 

Now for the finishing....

Here you see rhe button I covered with black felt and seed beads.  I used the fabric glue to adhere the felt to the button.

After I covered the button with felt, I used hot glue to adhere the seed beads.  Put the seed beads into a portion cup.  Cover a portion of the button with hot glue.  Then press the button into the seed beads in the portion cup glue side down.  I did this in five sections.  It worked well.  In the above picture you can see what seed beads were left in the cup.

Use hot glue to attach the button to the flower.

Squeeze!

Hand sew the crystal beads onto the petals of the flower.  I began at the tip of each petal and sewed four crystal beads in a row and then two next to each other.

Sewing on the crystals.  A few of the seed beads fell off but only a few. 

Cut out a piece of felt for the underside of the flower.  Make it about 1/4" larger than the flower.

Trim the under felt.

 Put the glue onto the back of the flower.  Glue the headband to the back of the flower first.  Then, glue on the felt backing.  Squeeze gently to make sure everything sticks.  Finally trim back the felt backing.

Glue!

And you are done!  Show off your amazing new headband!

All alone.  Do you see the crystals?

Lulu Panda is looking Stylin'.

I got my daughter to sit for ONE photo only!  :)

Back to the stuffed animals. 

Luckily my sister came over.  She sat for a few.  Thanks, Tina!

Here you can really see the crystal patterns on the petals.

So there you have it!  You know everything I know about making a Paisley Petal Flower Headband of your very own!

I have had a great time guest posting here on Blissful and Domestic for Hair Week!  Thanks again, Danielle, for the opportunity!

-Tanya