Friday, January 2, 2015

#430...fabric succulents

I made a couple of fabric succulents to give as gifts this holiday season. One went to my sister Sarah, who has been unsuccessful at keeping live plants in her office. I thought a fabric plant would be a colorful addition for her desk.
I first made a paper leaf pattern and traced it onto various green and yellow fabrics.
Next, placing right sides together of two different patterned pieces, I stitched around the leaf leaving the bottom open for turning.
Turning the leaves right side out was the most tedious part of this project because it is such a tiny piece of fabric to pull through.
To add some structure to the leaves, I wrapped a piece of electrical wire with polar fleece using double sided tape. Each polar fleece wrapped wire was then inserted into each leaf.

For the succulent bases, I used small pottery vessels that I had thrifted or made years ago in a wheel-throwing class. I put floral foam into the pots to hold the leaves in the base, and used some hot glue to secure them. 
I needed something that looked like potting soil to cover the floral foam and found a pair of cut up brown leather pants in my leather bin. I cut pieces of the leather and scattered it onto the top of the floral foam.




2 comments:

Becci said...

I love your little plants! I am always looking for something fake that I can't possibly kill. I have even killed cacti. No green thumb here. I am going to attempt some of these to fill my cute little pots. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

These are lovely. I plan on making 1 or 2 as time allows. Lovely gift idea.