Fresh Flowers for Your Lapel!

I love the idea of wearing a little nosegay of violets or violas in the springtime. Here is a cute way to keep them fresh for a few hours longer. You know those tiny glass vials that you get free perfume samples in at the department store cosmetic counter? You have to ask for them, the sales staff never seem to offer them without a request!

The first step is to select some lace trims, ribbons and buttons to cover the glass vial. Using Fabri-Tac glue, adhere a piece of lace to the top and bottom edges of the vial. Let dry a few minutes.

Next, with the same glue, adhere a pin back to the vial. I use a pin back that is almost as long as the vial is tall. Let this dry an hour or so. Glue the narrow ribbons you have chosen to the vial, with ribbon ends overlapping in the back, over the pin back. This will help to secure the pin back to the vial.

The bottom ribbon will probably have to be trimmed as it won't fit over the pin back (the pin back is almost, but not quite, as long as the vial).

Embellish with trim, or a button. On the example above I glued a piece of silk ribbon flower trim and added a tiny rhinestone. On the example below I tied a little pearl button with embroidery thread.

Something has to be added behind the decorated vial, otherwise the pin wants to flop to the side when you wear it. To fix this problem you can either add a ribbon or lace bow (glue it over the pin back) or make a felt leaf to attach to the pin. I used a fusible adhesive to attach buckram to the back of the felt, to give it body. The leaf is a tulip poplar, which I hand sketched from an illustration on the internet. Transfer the sketch to the back of the buckram/felt sandwich and cut it out. I painted the edge of the leaf with fabric paint. It is hard to see, but I also painted lines, using a Micron Brush marker, on the felt to resemble the veining on the tulip poplar leaf.

Cut two holes in the leaf to push the pin back through. This was a bit of a challenge. Make sure it is going to fit before you apply the glue.

Instead of sketching a leaf, you can always go outside and find a leaf that is the right size and shape and simply trace around it onto the buckram. Here is a redbud leaf that I picked today.

I think I got these little fabric flowers to put in the pin/mini vase at Paper Source in Porter Square, but you can find them in other places too. Or, you could pick some fresh violets or other tiny flowers, and wear them on your lapel for a fresh and friendly spring greeting. To fill the little vial with water, use a pipette, or one of those little coffee stirrer straws.

I wore my fascinator at the Artistic Figurers in Cloth banquet, and got a prize for it, in the "Vintage Chic" category!