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Rolled fabric rosettes are an inexpensive and beautiful way to decorate homemade accessories, homewares, and crafts. This is an easy, beginner tutorial about how to make fabric rosettes without sewing!

I am obsessed with fabric rosettes these days, and apparently the universe agrees, because I see these beautiful little decorations everywhere!

And as gorgeous as they are, I had no idea how easy fabric rosettes are to make. Seriously – this is an “anyone can do it” kind of craft.

Even better? Fabric rosettes are cheap as chips to make. And you probably have everything you need to make one in your house, already.

A Note About This Easy Rolled Fabric Rosette Tutorial

I originally published this tutorial in April, 2011. Can you believe how old this blog is????

It’s actually a guest post by Natalie of the blog NatSprat. The photos show Natalie’s hands and work – and even now, I am amazed by her creativity and how gorgeous her rosettes are.

However, since the Internet has changed so much since 2011, I figured it was time to come back to this post and give it a wee refresh. In October 2020, I decided to update it to provide more information and value, organize it with headings, etc. I’ve since made my own fabric rosettes to use on my yellow and turquoise bird wreath!

The really good stuff in this tutorial – the meaty “how to make a fabric rosette” stuff that you’re hear for – is still Natalie’s. But unfortunately, her blog doesn’t seem to be with us anymore, so I can’t give you a link to show off her other gorgeous work.

Hopefully this tutorial is helpful, and a bit easier to follow with the updates I’ve made.

Happy crafting!

How to Make Fabric Rosettes

Materials Needed to make Fabric Rosettes

• Strips of fabric in whatever color and texture you want to make your fabric rosettes. The fabric strips used in this tutorial are about 2 inches wide and around a foot long.
• Glue gun and glue sticks
• Small pieces of felt. The felt will serve as the base or backing for each fabric rosette.
• Scissors
• Any buttons or embellishments you might want to add to decorate your fabric rosettes (optional)

Prepare Your Fabric & Felt

Prepare a strip of fabric that’s around 2 inches wide, and about a foot long.

While you can cut the fabric to size if you want, you can also just tear it for a more shabby chic look. I like the look of the rough edges in the finished rosette, and it’s easier!

You also need a square of felt. Cut the to around the same size of what you want your final rosette will be. The felt will make up the rosette’s backing.

Here’s the strip of fabric and felt square used for this step-by-step fabric rosette tutorial.

Start Your Fabric Rosette

Take your strip of fabric, and fold it in half lengthwise. At one end of the folded strip, fold over one corner and then the other to make a point at the top.

Pinch the ends together.

Shape the Rosette

Glue the pointed end of your fabric onto the center of your piece of felt. This is the center of your fabric rosette.

To make the rosette, twist the strip of fabric, staring from the center of the flower (the part you glued to the felt). As you twist, lay the twisted fabric on the felt in a coil, and use your hot glue gun to secure it to the felt backing.

The looser you twist the fabric and the looser your coil, the more shabby the flower will look. I twisted mine pretty tightly for this flower because I was putting it on a headband.

Keep twisting and gluing as you go…

Finish the Rosette

When your fabric coil reaches the edge of the felt backing, stop twisting and coiling. Now you’ll need to finish the rosette.

Trim off any extra fabric left over, leaving a little bit of hangover.

To finish the flower, you have two choices.

The more difficult method is to use hot glue on the last bit of fabric and tuck it under the edge of the flower to secure it.

Alternatively, you can glue the overhang to the back of the felt. I prefer the second method, because there’s less risk of getting a glue gun burn this way!

Now, trim around the edge of the felt and – voila – you’ve made a lovely shabby chic fabric rosette without sewing a darn thing!

Embellishing a Fabric Rosette

You can stop here, or you can add a bit of embellishment to dress up your rosette.

I like to use buttons, little beads, and faux pearls in the center of the rosette. Just add a little pool of hot glue directly to the center of the rosette, and press your embellishment on, holding tightly for a minute or two.

Depending on how you plan on using it, a little bit of gathered tulle also looks nice on the back of the rosette. Embellishing them is half the fun!

How to Use a Fabric Rosette

These little fabric flowers are so versatile, and really cute additions to all sorts of accessories and houseware! It seems you can put them on ANYTHING and they look cute!

These fabric rosettes look really cut on headbands.

But I’ve also used them on necklaces, a necklace hanger, a picture frame, a -shirt, a wreath, and a pillow!

Final Thoughts About Making Rolled Fabric Rosettes Without Sewing

You see where I’m going with this??? The possibilities are ENDLESS! I hope you enjoyed my tutorial! Now, get out there and go make some rolled fabric rosettes!

Yield: 1

How to Make Fabric Rosettes (No Sew)

Print

Rolled fabric rosettes are an inexpensive and beautiful way to decorate homemade accessories, homewares, and crafts. This is an easy, beginner tutorial about how to make fabric rosettes without sewing!

Prep Time 5 minutes

Active Time 5 minutes

Additional Time 5 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Materials

• Strips of fabric measuring approximately 2 inches wide and 12 inches long
• Small pieces of felt
• Buttons or embellishments

Tools

• Hot glue gun
• Scissors

Instructions

1. Plug in your glue gun to preheat.
2. While glue gun is heating, prepare your fabric and felt. Rip or cut a strip of fabric to be around 2" long and 12" wide. Cut a square of felt that's 2" to 3" on each side. Set it aside
3. Take the strip of fabric, and fold it in half, lengthwise. At one end, fold the top corner in, and then do the same with the other corner to make a point. Pinch the point together with your fingers.
4. Glue the pointed end of your fabric strip onto the center of your felt square and let it set. This will be the center of the fabric rosette.
5. Once the center is securely glued to the felt, take the fabric strip and twist it. The looser you twist the fabric, the shabbier the rosette will look.
6. As you twist, coil the fabric down onto the felt, using your hot glue gun to secure it to the felt backing as you work. Keep twisting, coiling, and gluing until you reach the edge of the felt.
7. Trim off any excess fabric from the strip, leaving about 1/4" to 1/2" at the end.
8. Secure the excess fabric to the felt, either by tucking it under the coiled flower and using hot glue, or running the excess over to the back of the felt square and securing with hot glue.
9. Trim the edge of the felt backing to fit the fabric rosette.
10. Embellish the center of the rosette by gluing a small bead or button on (optional).