Creative Spotlight: Nettie's Zipper Flower Tutorial

Hi! I'm Nettie. My 9-5 job is Manager of Sunglass Hut. I am a mommy to 4 wonderful children. I am married to the love of my life. Let's face it though, my life is CRAZY! Crafting and blogging are my sanity. I love to create things. I like making things that look complicated and intricate, but are actually super easy. Some of my favorite areas of crafting are, Sewing, Making Jewelry, Making hair bows, and re purposing old junk. So come and craft with me!

ZIPPER FLOWER TUTORIAL

OK kids... first things first you will need a zipper. All zippers are not created equally. I prefer the zippers with the metal teeth, simply because they add dimension to the finished flower. Now, zippers can be relatively expensive. For this particular flower I used a 22-inch zipper (1 zipper makes 2 flowers generally-the longer the zipper the more petals your finished flower will have). A 22-inch zipper at JoAnn's is about $8... which makes it about $4 per flower... now to me, that is a lot. So.... I go to the thrift store. I buy jackets with long metal zippers, for about $4. That makes each flower about $2... MUCH BETTER! This involves cutting out the zipper, but I just get my seam ripper, and it is done in seconds. It is also important to note that colored zippers are sometimes more expensive, unless you purchase them in the "jacket" form... =) 

*I recently discovered that tent zippers and purses generally have metal teeth... talk about a goldmine! ;)

So get a needle and thread. (make sure you use strong thread) Weave it in and out like so.. all the way to the end.

Just kidding, cut off about 2 inches or so (this will be used to make your center), and then sew to the end. Then you just cinch the thread up tight. This will cause the zipper to twist, kind of like a whirlpool slide.

Once the zipper is cinched up tight, just stitch a few stitches at the end of the zipper to keep it from unraveling. Then start arranging the flower. layer each loop on top of the next until you get something like this. Then start stitching randomly, just to tack down each petal. (make sure you are using matching thread. =) Also, if you have to go over the teeth, make sure your thread falls perfectly BETWEEN them, because they are metal, and sort of sharp, they will cut your thread, and then your flower will fall apart. *trust me on this one. ;)

Then just twist up that little piece you cut off earlier. stitch it so it looks like this.

Then just stitch it to the flower and voila! You, my crafty little friend, have just created a zipper flower. =)... Now just attach a clip or a pin or sew it to your favorite hat, or shirt, and you will be looking FINE! Now hurry and go find a zipper!!!

Nettie's original post can be found here:

http://theresalwaysnyquil.blogspot.com/2011/04/zipper-flower-tutorial.html