imitation modification {giveaway}

first, pick yourself out some rockin fabric.  bring a friend.  this is wayyyyy more fun.  preferably a friend who gets giddy in a fabric store as this makes it even better.  we chose an eighth of a yard (i had no idea what that even meant) of gold/mustard yellow and a bright red.  (and maybe quite a few other patterns....)


bags and clutches at Last Chance were pretty pricey, and I had to part with the gloriously seafoam green clutch for $25 dollars because it was dirty and they don't care.  so we found one at Marshalls.  $7.99..... boo. yeah.

you'll need this.  and PLENTY of it.

then you'll pull out that fabric, lay it out flat, and spray a layer or two of starch on it, then iron.  when you are finished and it is dry, fold it in half, hot dog style (moment of silence for Mrs. Hamel's first grade class), and repeat with starch and iron.  but starch it good.  the fabric should be pretty stiff.


determine how big you want your flower, and how full.  if you want your flower a smaller size for a smaller bag or clutch, trim along the hot dog edge that you can peel open, not the side that is folded over. begin cutting the fringe.  to cut the fringe, begin cutting down from the folded edge to the open edge.  leave very little fabric attached, maybe  half a centimeter, but make sure you don't cut through, like I did here (notice this short strand).

sew a straight line across the bottom to hold the two edges together.

do this along the entire piece of fabric.  when finished, very gently begin rolling like a sleeping bag from one side of the fringe to the other, hot glu(e)ing along the way. like this.  

once the entire piece is rolled, find the center and flatten it out.  starch and iron around the edges again to make it super flat, or give it some volume and let it bounce a little.  be careful not to iron over the center to reactivate the hot glue that has already set.

attach to the bag or clutch using a hot glue gun.  because of the ginormity of the flower, hot glu(e)ing it to a pin and pinning it to the bag was impossible, but for a smaller flower, it will work to pin directly to the bag.

realitymade total cost: $8.99

the pros at emersonmade price: $58.00

this picture is not great, I admit.  but its late, and dark, and I'm tired, so tired.


here's the best part.  winning it.  I'm loving bright red, white, and navy blue these days, maybe I'm feeling patriotic.  also yellow and pretty much any other color (seafoam green, for example).  


so here's how you win.  comment with your favorite color combinations this season.  that's it.  (update: you will not be forced to follow my blog to win). I'll draw Monday morning.  

ready.

go.