A fabric flower provides a stylish accent on just about any accessory – handbag and totes, hats, jackets, t-shirts, headbands and more. They're easy to hand sew using a few simple folds and brief hand stitching or gathering to make stunning creations with almost any fabric choice. It is the fabric choice, color, and cutting then manipulating the fabric using easy techniques that brings the flower to life.

Author Elizabeth Helene Searle has brought together the basics of fabric flower making in her book Fun-to-Wear Fabric Flowers (2006) from Lark Books, a division of Sterling Publishing. It’s a guide to make charming gathered flowers using elegant yo-yo designs, five-petal Victorian ones, classic roses, ruched peonies, traditional pansies, even bias-strip flowers that are easy to make bloom using her instructions.

For the novice sewer: the directions for making a wide variety of flowers are clear enough but do only have very few step-by step illustrations showing the basics for each flower. However, that’s all that is really needed for making each type. Each flower is shown as fully made. Fabric flower basics – materials, equipment and supplies and basic techniques, are extensive and do provide the creative spark to help any who attempt to craft these beautiful flowers. Each distinctive flower design is explained as crafted by folding, fringing, gathering, felting, edgestitching or cutting in strips or individual petals.

Less a how-to book and more of a colorful creative guide as to how the finished fabric flower can look when applying individual choices as to type of fabric, color, and technique. It is recommended to read the beginning basics offered on pages 6 through 21 to understand how the author approaches her fabric flower making.

The colorful images of the finished flowers provide inspiration to apply to a fabric stash of odds and ends. There are dozens of fabric flower projects, all of which can be made entirely by hand, all in an afternoon.

This is a sturdy paperback book, however it is somewhat awkward for leaving open as you follow the instructions. A spiral bound paperback that would lay flat would have been delightful. The local library may have a copy to peruse before deciding to purchase. It is a useful addition to any sewers library if you like to make fabric flowers.

Disclosure statement: This book was purchased by me, using my own funds, in 2009. I received no other compensation from the publisher or book author and this review contains my sincere opinions about the book.

Sew happy, sew inspired.