'How-To's from SewDeb

• How to Make a Boutonniere and Corsage
  
  
• How to Make a Pew Bow
  
  
• How to Make an Arch
  
  

Supplies needed:

• narrow green floral tape
• thin gauge floral wire
• greenery for backing
• filler (such as statis, baby's breath, etc.)
• ribbon (I suggest 1/4" for the guys and 1/2" for the ladies) - Picot ribbon is nice
• multiple size blooms
  • one large bloom for each guy
  • three medium to large blooms for ladies (you can also add a couple of smaller blooms and buds)
• hot glue gun (if using silk flowers)

Begin with one "fern" shaped leaf for the backing. Add one large bloom (a rose perhaps), then a small amount of "filler". As you add each item, continue to wrap the floral tape around each stem.

Add only a very small piece of ribbon for the guys - I usually take the ribbon, fold it in half, and "tie" with a piece of floral wire. Also, if you use fresh flowers, use the floral wire to help the fresh bloom to stay upright. Silk flowers should do fine on their own without the extra support.

For corsages, use the "law of threes". An arrangement looks best when an odd numbers of flowers is used. For instance, one large bloom, one medium and one small bloom, all staggered, along with some filler and greenery makes a nice small corsage for a guest book attendant.

For a larger corsage, perhaps for the mothers and grandmothers, you may want to use as many as 5 blooms. I would just use one large, two medium and 2 bud size flowers, or maybe one large, three medium, and one bud along with some filler and greens.

The directions for making the corsage are the same as for making a boutonniere.

Experiment with different arrangements.
If you are using fresh, then practice on a few silk first.
Even in the store, you can pull out different sizes, shapes, and colors of blooms, filler and greenery in order to get the look you want before buying.
When using silk, if you think you'd like a bit more stability, add a bit of hot glue to secure it.
(For example, if the blooms tend to "fall off" their stems)

How to Make a Pew Sash

Determine how many sashes you would like -I prefer one on EVERY pew on BOTH sides of the aisle, but you can place them on every other row if you prefer. If there is no center aisle and you have processional down one side and recessional on the other side, you can fill all the pew ends with the sashes for a lavish look, or just for the family rows in front for a "reserved" section.

Determine the length of each sash by using your tape measure. Measure from about 3" down from top of the pew to the floor. Add an inch or two if you want a soft puffed up look. The ones displayed here were cut in 35" lengths.

Purchase tulle at least 60" wide - you can get it at 72", 108". You want to purchase your tulle with a width as "full" as you want them to be when completed.

You will also need corded elastic (all these supplies can be purchased at Walmart, as well as fabric and craft stores), approximately 10 to 11 inches in length for each sash depending on the top width of the pews. Just measure around the top of the pew - this is in order to attach the sash without any damage to the pew.

Additional options for adding a special touch are:

• flat, wide lace that is scalloped on both sides (I purchased a beautiful rose patterned lace for "cents" per yard at Walmart) This can be cut the same length as the sash to flow down in the center. I used only one piece of lace, but you could use two or more pieces, as well as narrower lace if you like.
  
  
• Another option to decorate the sash is "pearls on a string" from the trims aisle at these stores. I used a 5mm width - but you may like a larger or smaller size pearl. I hot glued a string 6" long (folded in half so it only hung 3") from the center of the pouf.
  
  
• You can also substitute small silk flowers to be hot glued either on top of the pearl string for extra pizzazz or all by themselves in the center of the pouf without any pearls.

The pouf: These are made pretty much like a regular pew bow. I cut 3" wide strips of the tulle - again, you choose how full you want the pouf - you can make it wider or narrower. I took a piece of cardboard strip that was 6" long and wrapped the tulle strips around it about 5 times and cut it off. I then slipped it off the cardboard and tied it with a tiny piece of thin guage floral wire in the center. I made another just like it and tied it also in the center, crisscrossing over the first one. Once they were together, pulled out the fullness of the tulle all the way around, forming a circle. This gives the appearance of a big round flower when finished.

To assemble: Take your long sash piece and wrap a piece of wire about 1" down from the top - if you add lace, then lay it out in the center of the tulle first, then wrap the wire at top. Then using a hot glue gun:

1. Glue the pearls/silk flowers to center of pouf (covers the wire in the middle)
2. Glue the pouf to the top of the long sash
3. Glue the elastic cording on the back in the center of pouf.

Sounds like a lot of work, but it's really not - especially after you've made one. It goes much faster after that!

The Finished Product

How to Make an Arch

For an arch I use the following:

You can substitute whatever flowers or greenery you prefer as this is a guideline

• 10 yrds of ivory tulle (My personal favorite is the one called "sparkle tulle" from Walmart)
• About 10 large fern shaped silk greens
• Long stem silk flowers in roses in a variety of sizes (I buy the stems with multiple sizes like buds, medium, and large blooms), tiger lilies, statis, and sweet peas

I also suggest using 2 pew sashes made of tulle to balance the look. Attach them at the point where they will lightly "puddle" on the floor.

First weave the tulle through the brass scrolls of the arch (I rented mine for $40 at a rental party center) or you can buy a garden arch from craft stores or home/garden stores for an outdoor wedding./p>

Then begin with the large fern shaped greens and weave the long stems through the scrolls all the way around the arch. Where needed, I use thin floral wire to use like "twist ties" to help attach them, as well as using the short wires on the filler and flowers to stabilize.

Then weave the large roses and tiger lilies in. After that the medium blooms of roses and sweet peas, and lastly the filler (I suggest statis).

I periodically stand back so that I can get a look at how each side is balanced. I do the exact same arrangement on both sides of the arch.