Brooch tutorial

How to make a fabric brooch

You will need:

• Fabric
• A pen
• Circular shape
• Pinking shears/scissors
• Ribbon
• Buttons
• Brooch back/safety pin
• Needle and thread

1. Assemble all your things. I find it easier to select my fabric and ribbon first and then match the buttons to them later.

2. Use your circle shape – I used a sticky tape roll – to draw out a circle on your fabric. Then use the pinking shears to cut it out. If you want more of a “shabby chic” look then just use normal scissors and the edges will start to fray after wearing a few times.

3. Next you need to decide how long you want your ribbon pieces to be. Do they extend over the edge of the circle or stay well within it? Again for a “shabby chic” look use regular scissors rather than pinking shears. Cut your ribbon to the desired length – I cut mine so that they just reach the edge of the circle.

4. Lay your ribbon onto the fabric circle and sew into place – you only need a couple of stitches at this stage as your button will be sewn onto the same place later on. It should look something like this:

5. Next, sew your button on! After this you will need to attach the brooch back/safety pin. I’m using a safety pin as more people are likely to have these lying around. However, for a more professional look, use a brooch back. This is the part that can be quite fiddly. I lay my pin down like this:

I then sew around the back bit of the safety pin (the bit that doesn’t open) and voila your fabric brooch is finished!

Here are some variations.

Enjoy!