Today in our Rustic Wedding series with Fabric.com, we move from decorating the wedding environment to decorating the wedding party. Several trends are showing more color for the groom and the groomsmen. Many couples are moving away from the traditional tuxedo towards more casual suit options, and they’re injecting other tones besides black and white. Traditional or modern, the classic boutonniere is still the ultimate way to bring a wedding’s theme colors onto the groom’s side of the aisle.
Small flowers, even in the hands of the best of florists, can turn wilted and tired in a short period of time. Why not switch to a fabric flower? We worked with lightweight synthetic lining fabrics, burlap leaves and ribbons to create a small, sophisticated boutonniere. By layering interesting textures, the result is a less-frilly, more rustic look. However, the options are endless. Go bold and bright, natural and neutral, or even trendy and tropical!
Our thanks again to Fabric.com for sponsoring the Rustic Wedding series. They are always coming up with great new ways to bring sewers what they want at great prices. Visit today and discover their Frequent Shopper Program, follow their info-packed blog, or become a Facebook Fan for the latest news and sale alerts.
Fabric and Other Supplies
Supplies are shown for one boutonniere. Usually the groom has a boutonniere that is different from the best man, groomsmen, ushers, fathers, grandfathers, etc.
- Synthetic fabric for the petals
- Felt for one leaf and backing
- Burlap for one leaf and flower center
- 15″ of ³⁄₈” wide ribbon.
NOTE: It’s nicer to use ribbon that is either double-faced or looks good on both sides. - One 8mm pearl; we used Swarovski Elements Crystal beads in Copper
- Thin hand sewing needle or beading needle
- Thread; we used Coats and Clark Duel Duty General Purpose Thread in Spice (match your bead)
- Paper stem wire (available in craft stores)
- Stem tape in brown (available in craft stores)
- Glue gun
- Scissors
- Straight pins
- Boutonniere/corsage pin for pinning boutonniere to jacket.
Getting Started
Our instructions are for one groomsman boutonniere. Follow the same instructions for the groom’s boutonniere, using the fabric of your choice.
Cut Pieces
- Download and print ONE copy of the Flower Template.
Important: This pattern consists of ONE 8½ ” x 11″ sheet. You must print the PDF file at 100%. DO NOT SCALE to fit the page. - Cut out the three pattern pieces.
- Using the 2¾” Circle pattern, cut at least THREE circles from your synthetic fabric. This will form the main body of the flower. If you want a fuller flower, cut FIVE circles.
- Using the 1½” Circle pattern, cut ONE circle from your felt. This is the backing for the flower.
- Using the Leaf pattern, cut ONE leaf from felt and one from burlap.
- Cut a small square and fray two of the side as shown above. This will be the flower center.
- Using your wire cutters, cut ONE 3¾” length from the Paper Stem Wire.
Make Flower
- Using your lit candle, lightly melt the edges of the 2¾” circles. See our Organza Flower Tutorial to learn how to melt the flower edges.
- Use one for circle as the base for the flower.
- Fold your second circle in half, taking a small center tuck, and position it on the base circle as shown. Pin through the back of the flower to hold this second layer in place.
- Repeat to fold and place the third circle, etc.
- Center burlap flower center on the petal stack and pin in place. Take a small stitch through the stack to secure layers.
- Sew bead in the center of the flower.
Assemble Boutinniere
- Use a glue gun to glue the leaves to the back of the flower. We placed the burlap leaf first at a slight angle then glued the felt leaf in place on top of it at a slightly different angle.
- Wrap the stem with stem tape, leaving the bottom 1″ unwrapped.
- Use the glue gun to glue the stem to the back of the flower.
- Glue the felt backing circle to the back of the flower, covering the stem and leaves.
- Take your length of ribbon and tie a small bow on the boutonniere stem. Trim the ribbon ends at an angle as shown.
*Sew4Home reserves the right to restrict comments that don’t relate to the article, contain profanity, personal attacks or promote personal or other business. When commenting, your name will display but your email will not.