RECYCLED "BRA" FLOWERS

Re-purpose old bras into flowers 

and embellish bags, purses, totes, jackets, hats...

where ever you want to place a flower 

that will certainly grab attention.

First....find some colorful, lacy bras!!!

Cut them apart and save everything!!!

Once your creativity begins...
you will pick and choose from the pieces and parts. 

Make sure to REMOVE all the under-wires from the cups. 
Just clip the fabric near the end of the wire placement
and pull the wire out.  

Take a sharpie and draw a leaf design on the bra cup.  

Remember the bigger the cup the larger the leaves can be 

OR you can cut several from one large cup.

It is easier to satin stitch the leaves "before: you cut them out.

Stitch just to the inside of the marker.

Sew around the leaf design a couple times 
for a good satin stitch then cut out the leaf.

Once it is cut out...satin stitch one more time
for a finished look

Now straight stitch some free-form leaf veins.

Make two or three leaves and sew them together 
with a straight stitch to make the BASE of your flower.

Use a lacy cup to cut out a free from design 

that resembles a flower (scallop design)

Flatten out the bra cup and sew a satin stitch around it

 making sure to catch the lace in the satin stitch 

as you go around the design

The lace will stretch to meet the outside edges.

Now scrunch or kinda pleat the design piece  
to get some dimension.    Straight stitch it down.

Place it on top of the leaves and stitch it down the center.

 Use a  "side" piece of the bra to build flower fillers.  
A long basting stitch on your
machine or just run a gathering stitch by hand.

Pull the thread to gather the piece...

...into a flower bud.  Slip stitch it closed.

 

Place and sew on top of the flower-I do this by hand.

And I added a tiny piece of pink lace in the center 
and stitched in down by hand.

All DONE! 

Find a fun place for it!

I made a brown, black and taupe flower 

for a guild challenge bag. 

I used a brown bra cup to make the 2 leaves 

and built the flower with just flat lacy pieces.

I added a button in the center of the flower 

and a button that looks like a leaf 

at the bottom of the flower.

Because the flowers are a little "top heavy"

 no pun intended.  I sewed the flower to the 

center of the bag BASE - before I put in the lining.

Love the bag fabric...

it kinda look like abstract books to me!  (wink)

And the finished bag was a winner in the 

Fa-BRA-ka-da-BRA challenge.