Gingham Carnations

You will need (for one flower)

• 1m of 40mm or 50mm-wide gingham ribbon
• Needle and white sewing thread
• Pins
• Scissors
• 1 x 25cm long, 20 gauge green floristry wire
• Green floristry tape

To make

Bend the end of the florists’ wire over by 2cm to form a flat loop at the top and place to one side.

Fold each cut end of the ribbon diagonally over to meet the long finished edge and pin in place.

Thread a needle with a doubled thread and knot ends together. Starting at one end where the ribbon is folded over, work a couple of backstitches to secure the thread.

Then, stitch a row of small gathering stitches (approx. 5mm in length) along the entire length of the ribbon, catching in the folded ends as you sew. Remove the pins.

Pull up the gathers tightly and secure the stitching with a couple of backstitches at the finishing end to hold the gathers in place – DO NOT cut off the thread.

Untwist the gathered ribbon, so that you can lay it flat in an arched shape, as shown.

Now tightly wrap the gathered section of the ribbon around the wire loop.

Stitch the gathers together across the base and around the wire loop to form your carnation flower and attach it to the stem. Finally, wrap floristry tape around the base of the flower to cover the stitching and the wire stem.