I love oriental poppies – the garden is full of them in shades of red and pink – and was quite chuffed when making a rose from the waistband of an unwanted sweater, I…well…screwed up…and discovered how to make a poppy. To make the rose (another idea from Elizabeth Helen Searle’s ‘fun to wear fabric flowers’) you take an old sweater – ask permission first if it’s not yours! – and boil wash it then tumble dry on a high heat. Cut off the waistband, cut each end in to a curve and then gather it up, roll it up and put through a few stitches to hold it in place. However, one time when making one the waist band was a little narrow, so I included a bit of the body of the sweater, which made the flower looser and more open. I then also lost concentration (watching Master and Commander on DVD…I do find Russell Crowe in breeches somewhat distracting) and instead of rolling the gathered waitst band up in the same direction, I accidentally turned it back on itself…and voila my rose was suddenly a poppy! I added a black button centre and now make poppies more than I make roses.
