Repurpose vintage and thrift-shop silk neckties to make elegant wearable rosettes. These extremely versatile pieces can be worn as lady’s brooches or gentleman’s boutonnieres. They would make a great tribute piece to a father or grandfather. Or dress up a pair of shoes by attaching shoe-clip hardware to the back of two matching rosettes or hot glue the rosettes directly onto the shoes. <b>You Will Need:</b> - Patterned silk necktie - Seam ripper - Iron - Scissors - Ruler - Sewing needle - Thread - Hot glue gun and glue sticks - 11∕8-in/2.8-cm button cover form - Pin-back hardware - Felt or leather scraps
Remove the seams of a necktie with a seam ripper and press out all folds with an iron. Be sure to set your iron on the silk temperature setting.
Trim a length of necktie fabric into a 3-in-/7.5-cm-wide by 12-in-/30.5-cm-long strip and press in half lengthwise with an iron.
Thread a needle with a long length of thread, knotting the two ends together. Stitch loosely along the raw edge of the folded fabric strip. Cinch the fabric along the thread to ruffle into a 3-in-/7.5-cmdiameter rosette. Tie the knotted end and needle end of the thread together into a secure knot. Fold back the ends of the fabric strip and stitch or hot glue them together.
Cover the button cover form with neck-tie fabric using the manufacturer’s directions, removing any button shank prior to assembling.
Using the hot glue gun, glue the ruffled fabric rosette to the back of the button.
Attach pin-back hardware and felt or scrap leather to the back of the rosette to complete.
This project is excerpted with permission from the book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1452111049/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1452111049&linkCode=as2&tag=craftfocom-20">"Rosette Art: Instructions and Papers for Beautiful Rosettes to Share, Wear, and Display"</a> by Cathe Holden and published by Chronicle Books.