Suffolk Puffs

While making my first Journal Quilt I made some small flowers for the pot at the front. 

These were created from small raw edge circles, gathered around the edges and pulled up into a little pouch and shaped to represent a flower.  This type of thing is commonly known as a Suffolk Puff.


The circles were 1" diameter for the smallest flowers and 1.5" diameter for slightly larger ones.

I used a stencil with circles and drew the circles in pencil on the back of the fabric then cut them out.

Light weight cotton which does not fray much is the easiest to use.

Leave a tail of thread at the beginning, sew small stitches around the edge but not so close that the fabric frays, and finish stitching just before where you started.

Pull both ends of the thread so that the circle gathers up and put your little finger inside while doing this to create a little pouch.

When pulled up fully tie off firmly with two knots (but don't break the thread!) and prick out the soft folds with the end of your needle to form an even circle of fabric all round.


Use the needle and thread, still attached to the flower to sew on to your background.


Add a bead in the centre if you like.





Suffolk Puffs are often made larger than this with a narrow turned in hem around the edge.  They can be joined together at the edges for quilts and other decorative types of work.

The method I have used to make mine is to start by drawing a template on card twice the diameter of the size of puff that I want so the photo here shows a template for a puff to end up measuring 1.75".


Next I copied this on to the dull side of freezer paper and cut out the shape.

I briefly ironed the waxy side of the freezer paper shape to the wrong side of my fabric and drew outside the circle with a scant 1/4" turning - see photo.

Now: pull the freezer paper off and cut out the fabric shape on this drawn line.  Turn the same piece of freezer paper over, place on the fabric circle dull side down and gently iron the seam allowance on to the waxy side of the paper with a medium heat iron.

Start to sew the turning on the right side with a small running stitch all around the edge of the circle and gently pulling off the freezer paper ahead of the stitching, releasing it a little at a time. Leave a tail of thread at the beginning to pull up the gathers.
 
 Once the circle of stitches is completed pull up both threads as before into a neat circle at the centre of the Suffolk Puff.  The side with the gathered centre is the right side - this is the opposite of the small ones described above.

These can be ironed very flat and made in multiples and joined at the edges with a whip stitch to create a lacy cover or curtain.

Alternatively they can be used individually for decoration with the addition of a pretty button in the centre.

As mentioned before I would like to spend some time at one of our sessions in Bredon Crafters, or Quilting Arts (or both) demonstrating how to make dimensional flowers.  There are so many ways this can be done and some of them look truly beautiful. 

These Suffolk Puffs could be the start of that project and which I will filter in over time on the blog then develop into a project for our groups at a later date.