DIY Patriotic Pinwheel Corsage

It’s that time of year again – the time to show your patriotic colors and celebrate our Independence!? This holiday corsage takes the traditional pinwheel and transforms it into a showy brooch, perfect for a picnic or get-together.? Use vintage fabrics and trims for a piece even Martha Washington couldn’t resist!

Materials

*2 colors of patriotic fabric
*scrap of lace trim
*a couple coordinating buttons
*pinback
*stiff felt

*ruler
*pencil
*hot glue gun
*scissors

How-To:
1. Cut your fabric into a 5″ x 5″ square.

2. Draw a straight line from corner to corner, crossing in the middle.
3. Measure about 1/3 of the way out from the center X along the lines (about 1.5″ in this case), and make a mark.
4. Snip the fabric along the lines to your marks.

5. Fold the right-hand (or left-hand) corner of each triangle you cut into the center, securing with a dab of glue and overlapping as you go. (Just make sure each corner you fold into the center remains consistent as you go around your square.)

6. Repeat for the other piece of fabric.
7. Layer the other pinwheel under the first.
8. Create a rosette out of lace by folding and turning the lace trim into a small circle, securing with hot glue as you go.? Glue the rosette on top of one of the pinwheels in the center.

9. Glue down the buttons in the center.

10. If your fabric pinwheels are too “floppy,” glue on a backing of stiff felt, cut into a small circle, to provide shape to the brooch.? If they can stand up on their own, you can just glue the pinback on, and secure with a strip of felt over it.

Wear at your Fourth of July picnic and fight with the fireworks for attention!

??

P.S. If you’d like to make just a regular pinwheel out of decorative paper, here’s how:

 

How to Make a Traditional Paper Pinwheel

?

?Materials

 

*square piece of paper
*ball-head pin
*wooden dowel
*pony bead

*scissors
*pliers (not pictured)

How-to:
1. Repeat steps 1) – 5) from above for prepping the paper.? (Mine was extra-large, about 12″ square.)
2. Instead of gluing each corner down, push a pin through the center of the pinwheel, catching the corner of each triangle you folded into the center.? Make sure it comes out the back of the paper dead center.

3. Twirl the pin around a little to widen the hole.
4. Thread a pony bead onto the pin at the back of the pinwheel.

5. Push the pin into the top end (a little bit lower than the exact end) of a dowel, and use the pliers to bend down the end if it sticks out at all.

Happy Fourth of July everyone!

 

And if you like DIY and making your own clothing, jewelry, and accessory projects, please check out my blog Chic Steals for hundreds more inspired-by-the-runways tutorials!

Happy DIY’ing!
xoxox
Carly