Dog Collar Fabric Flower Tutorial

In an attempt to make Athena look girlier, we have recently outfitted her in her very own bright pink Tiennot Knits sweater as well as two stylish Sirius Republic collars.  I have definitely noticed more “she’s so pretty!” comments rather than the “he’s so cute!” ones.  But, I decided that Athena needed just a touch more girl to go along with her new girliness.  So, I sat down at my sewing machine and created a collar flower complete with a Velcro attachment and fabric button.

Here are the steps for making your very own dog collar flower:

1.  Gather the materials

• Fabric (I used part of one fat quarter for the main flower fabric as well as a small amount of fabric from a different colored fat quarter for the flower button)
• Cover Button Kit  (or any button that you would like to use)
• Felt
• Double Sided Velcro
• Top Thread (or any thread that is thicker than sew-all thread)
• Fabric Glue
• Rotary Circle Cutter  or Drinking Glass (I used an Olfa rotary circle cutter, but you could easily use a drinking glass to trace a perfect circle)
• Sewing Supplies (Sewing machine, rotary cutter, ruler, needle, fabric pen/pencil, fabric point turner--I just use a chopstick)

2.  Cut the flower petals & felt circles

Begin by ironing your main flower fabric and lay it out on a rotary cutting mat.  Next, set your circular rotary cutter to the desired circumference (or find a drinking glass with the circumference that you need).  Each circle that you cut should measure 4” (this means you need to set your circular rotary cutter to 2”).  Cut out 8 circles from your main flower fabric.  Then cut out 1 circle from your felt that measures 2” (set circular rotary cutter to 1”) and another felt circle that measures 1.5” (set circular rotary cutter to .75”).

Set aside the two felt circles until step #8.  Now fold each of the 8 fabric circles in half and iron each on the fold to create a crease in the fabric.

Using your rotary cutter and ruler, cut each of the 8 circles on the center crease.  You should now have 16 half circles of fabric.

3.  Sew the flower petals

Bring all 16 half circles to your sewing machine.  Fold each half circle in half again with right sides together.  Using a ¼” seam, sew down the straight edge of one of your folded half circles.  Continue to feed all of your petals through the machine without cutting the thread.

4.  Prepare the sewn flower petals

Snip the thread in between each of the flower petals that you sewed in step #3.  You should now have 16 inside-out petals.  Using a fabric point turner (or a chopstick…or your finger!), flip each petal so that it’s right-side-out.  Next, iron each flower petal flat (this is important for achieving crisp looking petals).

5.  Stitch the bottom flower

Use 9 flower petals from step #4 to create the bottom layer of your fabric flower.  With embroidery thread, hand stitch a running stitch on the bottom curve of your first petal.  Pull your needle through the fabric and tighten the thread to gather the fabric at the bottom.  Continue to add the remaining 8 petals, tightening the thread as you go.  Once all 9 petals have been stitched, use the remaining thread to attach the first and last petal together with backstitches.  Tie a knot to secure.

6.  Repeat step #5

Repeat step #5 to create the top layer of your fabric flower, however this time use only 6 flower petals from step #4 (you should now have one flower petal left over from step #4).

7.  Attach the bottom and top layers of the flower

Position the top layer flower on top of the bottom layer and stitch the two layers together.  Secure with a knot.

At this point I didn’t like how I could see the knots from my thread peaking out from the sides of some of the petals.  To hide the thread knots, I simply used a touch of fabric glue at the base of some of my petals to hide the knots.

8.  Fix the ugly back by attaching felt & Velcro

Now that the top and bottom flower layers are attached, you may notice that the back of the flower is quite unattractive.  This is a quick fix by using the felt circles from step #2 to hide the mess.

First measure how much double-sided Velcro you will need for the flower to attach to your dog’s collar.  Then, center align your Velcro on top of the 2” felt circle and securely sew it into place (make sure to backstitch here to create a strong hold).

Glue this felt piece onto the back of your fabric flower.  Next, glue the 1” piece of felt on top of the Velcro to hide the thread and to prevent the double sided Velcro from fraying a nylon dog collar.

9.  Make the button!

This is my favorite part of making the fabric flowers because I just love to make buttons!  To make my fabric covered button, I used a Dritz button cover kit #36 in 7/8”.  I followed the kit instructions to make my button.  You could also easily use any button that you have available instead of making your own.

To finish off your fabric flower, use fabric glue to attach your button to the front of the fabric flower.

10. Wear it out and about!

Now that you’ve completed your dog collar flower it’s time for you and your dog to go out on the town and model it around!  

So far I have made Athena quite a few collar flowers in many colors and styles to match all of her outfits.  People can’t help but stop and admire what a pretty pittie she is when wearing her flowers =)

Please leave a comment below or e-mail us at PitlandiaPooch@gmail.com if you have any questions or suggestions for improvements to this tutorial!

Also check out our Dog Tutu Tutorial for another stylish DIY accessory to add to your dog's wardrobe!