If you’re looking to add as many DIY touches to your wedding as possible, look no further than this flower petal bundle-dyed fabric tutorial! Once you’ve dyed your gorgeous masterpiece, you can use it in ribbons to bind bouquets, to tie together stunning invitations or to wrap gifts. If you use silk as your base fabric, you could even make your bridesmaids some beautiful wraps!

There is a huge amount of variation in this kind of DIY, so have a play about with different flowers and foliage to see what will produce the kind of colours you’re looking for. Each piece you dye will be unique, which makes the process all the more fun!

What You Will Need:

  • Flowers of your choice – I used Dahlias, Roses, Marigolds from the garden and stamens from Camellias. Fleshy petals in deeper colours will work best.
  • Cotton or silk fabric (a natural fibre is necessary – I used white cotton lawn). Wash the fabric to remove any chemicals and boil in 4 parts water and 1 part vinegar for 1 hour before use.
  • Twine
  • Heavy based pot and colander, or steamer

What To Do:

Step 1. Strip all the petals off your flowers. You can include the foliage and the stamens too! If you’re hoping to get a lot of colour use a lot of petals, use less for a more subtle pattern.

Step 2. Once your fabric has cooled from its vinegar bath (see above in ‘What You Will Need’) but is still damp, lay the fabric out flat. Sprinkle the petals over half of the fabric lengthways. You can do this randomly, or you can try to create a pattern. Half of the fun of this project is that it is impossible to tell exactly how it will turn out, so prepare a surprise!

Step 3. Once you’re happy with your petal placement, fold the other half of the fabric on top of the petals. As tightly as you can, roll the fabric up. You may want to ask for some extra hands for this step, as a tight bundle is necessary for the colour to transfer.

Step 4. Once the fabric bundle is rolled up, use the twine to tightly bind it together. Again, you may need help to ensure this is done as firmly as possible.

Step 5. Pop your bundle into a colander and place it inside a heavy based pan with approximately 1-2 inches of water. Make sure the fabric doesn’t touch the water and bring to a very gentle boil. Steam for two hours (or more, depending on how dark you would like the colours to turn out) with the lid on, turning after one hour. Keep an eye on the pan to ensure you don’t run out of water.

Step 6. Being very careful not to burn yourself, remove the bundle from the saucepan and pop it into a glass bowl or jar. Make sure the bowl or jar is sealed, and leave overnight. In the morning take your bundle outside (or somewhere where a little mess is encouraged!) and unfurl your creation! Leave to dry, preferably in the sun, for 1-2 hours. Shake off the petals while soggy, they may become a little trickier to remove once dry.

Step 7. Once your fabric is dry, iron it at a high temperature to seal the colour. If you’d like to wash it, later on, use only cold water, and expect a little colour to fade. Now you have a gorgeous piece of fabric to do with whatsoever you please! Table cloths, napkins, gifts for your bridesmaids – the options are endless!

All images by Ms Honeycomb

Ms Polka Dot says: How gorgeous this would be for the ribbons on your bouquet and tie it in with matching napkins or tablecloths at your reception – beautiful!

About Ms Honeycomb  – Hi, I’m Nicola, the florist and crafter behind rubyandjoy. I’m a gardening, fabric loving, mint tea drinking, brownie baking, book obsessed maker! I love a good adventure having just moved back from five years in Scotland (with my lovely Scottish husband).