Fabric Strip Roses

 So, I saw a picture of some fabric roses on Pinterest that looked simple enough, although if I had gone to the person's site they might not have been simple at all. Things usually aren't as simple as they look. Anyway, I made up my own version. I had a torn strip of an old bedskirt that I had torn to make fabric beads and hadn't used, and it was a short length, maybe 7-8", and maybe 3/4" wide, and I tied a knot as close to one end as I could get it, held the knot, and twisted the strip, winding it into a spiral, which kind of resembles a simple rose, or it could be just a spiral. I choose to call it a rose! I stitched it together on the back, cut a simple double leaf out of some batik cotton, and stitched it onto a page of the fabric journal in a previous post (see the second picture below).

I loved it, so I've decided to put one on all eight pages of the book to help tie it together, plus I made a couple of extra pink ones, one of which I used on the stitch meditation in the last post. The seven white ones below are from the vintage bedskirt that I tore strips from, and this pale pink one is from one of my old knit gowns. I've also cut more double leaves.

These are all pinned together and ready to stitch together and onto book pages as soon as the urge hits!

I'm sure the ones in the Pinterest picture were probably more complicated and not nearly as raw looking as mine, but I love the rawness of the unfinished edges and the frazzles! And they are fun to make!

Looking forward to getting these done and stitched into my book, and, although I do love the white ones, I think I'm going to make some up in different colors to have on hand for other projects too. 

If you have noticed how many things I have used the fabric from an old bedskirt for, I have really gotten my money's worth from it. It was a king sized dust ruffle, with a white cotton box spring cover (like a thick sheet) with a delicious thick white cotton lace ruffle on three sides, about 8" wide with a wonderful design. It was an expensive bedskirt, well made, and it looked new. I bought it for $5.00 at Goodwill at least five years ago. I hated to tear it up, but once I cut the first pieces from it and made the project, I have enjoyed using it much more for various projects than I would have enjoyed it on the bed. Besides, that's what I bought it for! It was a day of vintage lace and fabric hunting at Goodwill, and I got a lot of great things, most of which I haven't used yet, but the bedskirt has become my "go to" fabric/lace, and has given me many hours of pleasure.

So many things I want to learn and do and so little time to do it!