This photo shows some of the roses I've recently made, soaking in tea to give an aged colour.I've become slightly obsessed with making them, and since taking this photo have made a lot more. I absolutely love this style of rose.
For a while now I've wanted to make roses that are flatter than the ones I normally make [my usual style roses]. I still like the look of the velvet roses, but they can be too bulky for some projects. At the back of my mind, I vaguely remembered seeing a technique somewhere for making roses from ribbon, which looked quite flat. I am always trying different ways of of making flowers, and if I can find tutorials to either copy or inspire me, then I am very happy. My search took me to this website. [The Domestic Diva]. It's incredibly simple to make these, and need only a small amount of sewing, almost all of which can't be seen in the end result. What I'm saying is if you don't like sewing, or are a messy sewer (like me!), then it really doesn't matter. Some people call them ribbon roses, some call them spider roses because of how you start them off, but I call them flat roses. To me, they look like roses that were once puffy and full, but over the passing of time have been flattened in the back of a wardrobe. Dare I say it, they look vintage to me. And that's why I love them!I don't need to explain how to make these flowers, as you can just follow the link and read it for yourself at the [Domestic Diva's] site (there is even a video to watch, which is very helpful) but I will show you a couple of photos.
An embroidery hoop is pretty vital to use, but I don't have one. I improvised, and took the lid from a Mason jar - one where the centre of the lid is loose and can be removed - and used that instead. I took out the centre part so I was left with a circle, put my fabric over and secured with an elastic band. Not ideal, but it worked for me. I think I shall have to invest in a proper hoop soon.
Each time I start making one I have a crisis of confidence, and think it's going wrong, but persistence pays off. You make your flower, then go round and stitch in a few stitches to secure the 'petals'. Then cut around the outside of it (being careful not to cut through the stitches) to remove excess fabric. 
You could make these directly on something like a t-shirt or scarf. You can use any fabric, though I find that it's best if it's quite lightweight. Ribbon works very well, and is easiest. 1/2 inch thickness of ribbon gives the best flower in my view. I tried lace, but it didn't work well at all so I gave up.
A selection of flowers in different fabrics. From left, patterned satin, taffeta, and cotton. Centre photo shows velvet and ribbon. On the right, my favourite, ivory satin dress lining, lightly dyed with tea.
I've already used some in the statement necklace that I showed yesterday. 
I have 2 more projects in mind that I will use these flowers for, but I'm sure I can think of many more. The uses are endless. You could even make them to use for decorating Christmas and birthday presents.The Giveaway has now closed.The winner is Isobel! Congratulations Isobel. I've already sent you an email. I was up bright and early to do the draw and Isobel's was the first name out. Hope you like the goodies :o) Thank you to everyone who entered