VINTAGE VELVET ROSES TUTORIAL

Hello friends!

Well, I have been inundated with emails from gals wanting to know how I made these  vintage velvet roses...

The easy peasy method came from my dear friend Julie Campbell from "A Vintage Chic"...here are her roses:

I just LOVE her style and HAD to know how she made these shabby, wonderful embellishments! Here are the directions Julie sent to me...Julie's directions in red, mine in italics:

I've seen so many complicated tutorials on how to do rosettes--lots of steps...measuring, ironing, etc., and I've found this works just as well and takes about 2 minutes per rosette!  I just started playing with the fabric, and found that by just rolling and twisting it as I go, you get a beautiful, shabby flower...I don't even trim the strings too much...just a little, as I like them shabby.

Just take a strip--however long you like, and start rolling.  It helps if you at first almost make a little ball with the beginning of your strip--you want something to hold on to...then just start winding your fabric around it--not too tight--and twist it slightly as you go so that you are getting both the velvety side and the silky backing--makes it look much more interesting (to me, anyway!) 
 

Fold the fabric in half lengthwise...
 

 

Behold the folded fabric:

I've learned as I go to keep it easy--I used to use felt as a backing, which you can certainly do--but I also have found that just a piece of scrap cardstock works just as well. 

 I also used to do it with a glue gun--messy!  And you have to hurry to get it right on your rosette.  Now, I just use Aleene's Original Tacky Glue...sticks VERY quickly, and holds tight!  And you don't burn yourself or have glue strings to mess with!  I just squirt the glue in the approximate size I'm planning to make my rosette ( a little smaller actually--you don't want glue extending beyond your flower) on the cardstock before I roll my rosette, so it's ready for me--no trying to squirt the glue with one hand while I tightly hold onto the rosette!

I personally like Beacon's 3 in 1 glue...very quick dry, very easy to use! (For those of you who do not know why I choose Beacon's for this project, please check out my "Glue Essentials" video on the sidebar!)
 

Glue one end of the folded fabric to the center of the cardstock circle (this will be the center of your rose)

Now for the fun part! Just begin to roll fabric around the glued center...roll and twist, roll and twist (sounds like a 50's dance, doesn't it?)

Just keep going until you have the size, look & shape you want.  Easy to start over again if your not happy!  When you're finished, put a bit of the glue on the bottom of the rosette to hold the end of the strip tight, then just plunk your rosette on the  cardstock. 

TA DA! A gorgeous, soft and shabby vintage velvet rose! Just keep playing with it until you feel comfortable with it--easy peasy!

 That's it! Be sure to play "Show and Tell" if you make some roses of your own...I'd LOVE to see the "virtual bouquet" we all come up with!

Thanks again, Julie, for all your help!

More soon!