When I was a kid, you didn’t dare go to bed on March 16th without something green on. “But, I have green eyes!” didn’t cut it. My red-bearded, last-name-starts-with-Mc dad would leprechaun-ninja attack in the morning with a pinch. We took the holiday seriously.
In the interest of saving my poor defenseless daughter (have I ever mentioned she’s a black belt?) from getting pinched this week, I created this little bit of greenery for her to wear.
To make one for yourself, you’ll need some fabric, a button, hot glue, a tiny piece of green embroidery floss or thread and this pattern.
Cut the shape out on the fold, as indicated on the pattern. You’ll end up with a weird looking shape like this.
Press, if needed, then fold with right sides together. Stitch around the edge with a scant 1/4” seam, leaving both ends open. Clip the corners and curves.
Turn right-side out and press. You’ll need something pointy to push out the circles and stem.
Turn the end near the stem to the inside about 1/4” and press. Feed the other end inside that, creating a circle. Stitch the two ends together.
Hand sew a long running stitch near the bottom edge, all the way around.
Pull tightly to gather. Knot the thread to hold it.
Stitch through the button holes with the embroidery floss and knot on the back. The reason I don’t stitch it on is that it’s difficult with the hole in the middle of the shamrock to catch enough of the fabric.
Since we wanted to make this into a barrette, I glued the ends of a 1/2 by 1 1/2” piece of felt on the back to feed a bobby pin through. (Note to self: find out if those are still called bobby pins so we can avoid the whole thong/flip-flop fiasco again.)
Glue the button on the front. Here it is, shown on my lovely model and the shamrock’s future owner.
Erin Go Bragh!
Cute flower hair barette, and even cuter story! I totally agree with you on the whole thong/flip flop thing. I still call ‘em thongs, but then what do we call the other… uhh…garment? Happy St. Pat’s Day!
Thanks Doreen! That particular mix-up has caused some teenaged eye-rolling around here more than once. I’ll admit, maybe it was on purpose…;-)
This is adorable and looks pretty easy too! My new sewing machine has been sitting in a box since x-mas…this might be the project to start with!
Oh my goodness…it’s time to break that baby out!
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I saw this on One Pretty Thing. I totally love it. That pattern is genius! Yay for minimal hand sewing! I posted a sequin shamrock I made a week or so ago, but dare I say, I think I like yours better.
Happy St Patricks Day!
Actually, Ashley, I saw your sequin shamrock barrette and it’s adorable! And, just so you know, your Dollar Store Girly Bank has been on my to-do list for some time now!
Super, super cute! I love that it has finished seams, instead of being felt or raw-edged! : )
I love the look of the raw edged stuff, but I CANNOT leave the strings alone!
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Very cute project!! Thank you for posting it.
My pleasure Sue – I’m glad you enjoyed it!
This is a Four Leaf Clover, NOT a Shamrock. Don’t people know the difference these days?
Soc ute and easy! Thanks for sharing!
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
So cute. My daughter’s birthday is on St. Patrick’s Day. She is 34 now, so of course I’m having Mommy – guilt that I never had time to make little things like that when she was younger. Maybe now that I’m retired I can make it up with my Grandkids!
I’ve started saving cute craft ideas that my kids are way too old for in my mental “future grandkids file”! It’s never too late – it just moves up a generation!