A Perfumed Pomander

I'm starting to think about new items for my Christmas stands at shows. Yes I know, it's still summer but we have to be on to it now or it will be too late and to make matters more urgent, I am about to undergo an operation which might leave me out of the creative sphere for some time.

So seize the day. Carpe diem as those Romans would say! ;)

I'd like to show you how to make a very simple little pomander. Simple but incredibly effective and I'm sure that, perhaps apart from the pot pourri you need, you will already have most of the items needed to finish this project, in your sewing stash.

YOU WILL NEED
Silk material ( or poly-silk )
Lace or some pretty edging
Sewing thread and a needle ( preferably strong thread )
Ribbon
Stuffing or wadding
pot pourri of your choice.
Some decorative buttons or bits and bobs which you might like to use to prettify your creation.
( optional ) Some pretty flowers which I'll show you how to make over on BoxCleva.
Candle
Scissors
Glue gun

FIRSTLY
You will need to cut out a circle in your chosen material.
A dinner plate or tea plate is a good size to use. I cut mine with pinking shears as it helps the edge stay neat.

Onto this edge sew your lace or other pretty ribbon or edging. Make sure the pinked edge is inside.

Then about an inch from the top of your circle sew a line of running threads and leave BOTH ends free so that you can pull hard and tie them off when you have completed the stuffing.

Gather up a bit of wadding and into the centre place some pot pourri...not too much -not too little and make a pocket of it.

The pot pourri doesn't have to be the pretty kind as you won't see it. However, it does have to be fairly fine. If it isn't, try mashing it up in a pestle and mortar or bashing it, folded into an old towel, with a hammer! That's a fun bit!


With a little more wadding covering the pot pourri, push this into your circle and then pull up the threads. Tie it off and thread with a needle the two ends to be sure it's secure. Cut off the excess thread.

Now you are ready to add the pretty rose flower.

If you haven't done this before........ then go HERE for the tutorial on how to make silk roses.

Now you will have a sweet rose you can put into the top of your pomander.

You can make these as fluffy as you like, meaning that you can have a many layered flower or not as you wish. However, full flowers are more difficult to locate into the space in the pomander top- so be aware. Six petals are about right as you are going to push the flower in to the top of the pomander and so it will close up nicely.

In my latest creation I used a pretty pink pearl button for the centre but you could use what ever you think looks right.


Now before you attach the flower cut a small amount of ribbon, double it over and stick it ( I use the glue gun but if you wish you could sew it ) to the inside of the trim at the top. Make sure it's long enough to hang it.

You could now run a piece of ribbon around the top and tie a bow or you could, like I have done add some little flowers.

I'll show you how to make those another time.

You will just have to curb your impatience! :)
Oh well alright then ( I did promise I would do it on BoxCleva )...so HERE WE ARE....