Thursday, February 3, 2011

Fabric Friday: Valentine Zippers

Remember: Fabric Art is sold locally at  
Do you feel a theme here? I am having so much fun. Last night someone from church brought me a whole bag of zippers. I was like a kid in a candy shop. I won’t show you the bag because I have already moved everything and used some. I forgot to take a picture.
Well I decided it was time to do some for Valentine’s Day. Nothing like waiting until the last minute. Well, I still have 10 days. I was digging through my red bin.
zipper valentine 021
Remember: Never throw anything away. The paisley was my mother’s dress. I found an old worn out sweater that belonged to my daughter. In southeast Texas we don’t have many of those. The few sweaters we have don’t wear out because we hardly wear them. I say that on a night that we are expecting snow, but that is a rare occasion. They have closed school because it might, possibly snow. They interrupt The Bid Bang to say the radar reports snow in the upper atmosphere. Anyway, here is the sweater:
zipper valentine 001I cut a piece of freezer paper and ironed it on the back side. Then I sewed around that piece and cut it out.
zipper valentine 002
I drew a heart and stitched around that.
zipper valentine 003   zipper valentine 006
Next I cut out a larger heart. I wanted the edges the ravel or fray, but I did not want the whole thing to come apart.  When I pulled off the paper, I had a nice heart to start decorating.
zipper valentine 007  zipper valentine 008
I found some lace and some trim and just started to create.
zipper valentine 009On each one I put a zipper flower.
Earlier I gave these written directions. I still did not take pictures.
  1. To make a flower cut the stop off the bottom and upzip. This removes the pull. [I am saving them because I live by the mantra, "Never throw anything away!".]
  2. I now have two parts of the zipper. The size of the flower depends on the length of the zipper.
  3. After much experimentation, my favorite flowers begin by rolling the zipper end that I cut off the stop. I use hot glue to tack it as I roll about 1" of zipper. That is not exact, just roll until you like it.
  4. Now I run a gathering stitch along the cloth edge. I use beading thread, just because I have it. I stitch about 3", pull it up and tack the gathers.  I do this by hand, not on the machine.
  5. The next part is just personal preference. I gather a bit and then glue it around the base center roll. Gather some move and glue.
  6. When I get to the end of the zipper, tuck the end under and glue.
  7. Now I decide if I want to add more zipper to make the flower larger or stop.
  8. When I am happy with the flower, I cut a small round of felt and glue it to the back side.
  9. I can get creative and add feathers or tassel leftovers or lace or whatever else I can find. Sometimes the craziest things make the best background. I made some yo-yos to go behind the zipper flowers.
  10. The last step is to decide how it will be worn. I glued some to headbands, some to elastic, some to clips and some to pins.
These are the ones I made tonight. I have not decided whether they will be headbands or hairclips or broaches.
zipper valentine 010   zipper valentine 020   zipper valentine 016  zipper valentine 018  
Aren’t they sweet?


Here's where I link:



Iron Violet Designs
calm+breeze+banner+friday.jpg junkinfinds
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Keeping It Simple  http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/

11 comments:

  1. awww....I loved that sweater!!!

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  2. Those are so cute! Love the zipper flowers. Thanks for joining Junkin Finds Friday (please check the link back it's not working). Thanks, Linda

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  3. These are so cute, what a wonderful way to repurpose the zippers, very colorful. Thanks for the tutorial and thank you so much for visiting with me. Happy creating.

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  4. They are really cute and different:@)

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  5. Hey the zipper are a great present! I love what you have done with them. Great ideas. Thanks for sharing, and thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a sweet message. Hope you will come back again. Karie

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  6. Aw, so sweet. This is the second time I've seen zipper art....and I am lovin' it!! Very unique!! Great job!!

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  7. Super cute! Thanks so much for sharing this with us at Inspiration Friday this week! :-)
    Vanessa

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  8. I am loving those zipper flowers! And how lucky were you to get a whole bag from your friend from church! Thanks for linking up to Fantastic Friday. I hope you will join us again this week!

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  9. Very cute and just perfect for valentines day!

    Thanks for linking to a Round Tuit this week!
    Hope you have a great weekend!

    Jill @ Creating my way to Success
    http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/

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