My husband suggested we make flower pots out of fabric not too long ago. To be honest, I was a little skeptical at first but I have to admit I was wrong. The first pot we made turned out awesome. You’ll have to take my word for it because sadly, there are no pictures and the pot in question was a gift. We used different patterned blue fabric scraps and a piece of matching vinyl as a liner. An idea was born, begging for a repeat.
To give the pots a little more body, I wanted to use a fabric that is a little heavier than the quilting cotton we used on our prototype, such as an upholstery fabric. JoAnn’s carries the new HGTV line of home décor fabrics, which has some beautiful prints. Now I am more of a summer colors girl for flower pots, and I love the combination of hot pink and bright orange. The Urban Blossoms and Checkered Past in Berry fit the bill perfectly.
I have to stop here for a minute and tell you that JoAnn’s and HGTV sent me generous samples of the new HGTV home décor fabric line to play with. But I was genuinely thrilled to see which prints had been sent my way. I mean, look at those pots, how could I not be? It is gorgeous fabric.
I used a simple pattern for a lined bucket to make my pots. Out of each print I cut a 19.5” by 10.5” rectangle and a 6.25” circle. Because I was making flower pots I used
Pellon Vinyl Fuse on the liner fabric to make it somewhat waterproof and protect it from the dirt. Great stuff, easy to work with. It makes the fabric very stiff but I had no difficulty at all sewing through it.
First you make a tube by sewing the short sides of the rectangle together with the right sides facing. Iron open the seam. A word of advice: use the protective paper backing from the vinyl fuse when ironing the seam of the fabric fused with vinyl. Use it not only on top of the fabric, but also on the inside. Your tube will otherwise melt together. Trust me on this one.
Then you pin the bottom to the tube you just made and sew it in place. Go slow.
Do not turn the inner layer inside out. Repeat these steps with the outer layer and turn that one with the right side facing out.
Place the outer layer inside the inner layer. Line up the tops and pin in place. Sew together, leaving about a 4” opening.
Pull the fabric through the opening and turn the bucket inside out. Push the inner layer into the outer layer and topstitch along the top edge to close the opening. If you like, you can fold over the inside a little, or a lot.
That’s all there is to it. Lovely and vibrantly colored flower pots. Of course you don’t have to put a plant in them, you can use them to hold whatever you want.
If you too would like to try the new HGTV home décor fabric line, there is a 10% off coupon valid through May 4. (And if you can wait a little bit longer, the HGTV line is available at 50% off starting April 14.) Enjoy!
