Almost every morning starts by brewing one of my favorite things, coffee. To me coffee has always been more than just a drink. In the afternoon it’s a snack, when crafting it’s a fabric dye, in the garden it’s a bug repellant. I could go on, and on.
Coffee is almost the perfect waste-less product. I drink the coffee, repurpose the coffee can and use the grounds, but the snag always came down to the filter, until recently when I had a caffeine induced inspiration.
I was crafting my normal hand sewn fabric flowers when I took a small coffee break. While cleaning the pot, I noticed how the filter has a bit more give and was a little more forgiving than regular paper, almost like a stiff gauze. So for the next few days I saved my coffee filters and the next time I sat down to play around with a new possible flower technique I used the coffee filters instead of fabric. I was very pleased with the outcome and especially liked the color and texture of the dried coffee filter. I made this flower into a brooch but they would also make nice present toppers instead of bows.
Tools & Materials
- Nine fluted coffee filters, used, with grounds discarded
- Ruler
- Decorative scrapbooking scissors, with scalloped edge
- Sewing needle and cream-colored thread
- One large button
- Hot glue gun
- Square of felt (enough to make a circle, 3” in diameter)
- Jewelry pin of your choice
- Russian netting or tulle (optional)
After brewing a pot of coffee, remove the filter and gently clean away coffee grounds. Lay filter on a flat surface to dry. Repeat until recommended quantity is achieved.
Then take the filters and fold them in half. On five of the filters, mark a spot 2.75” from the center of folded edge of the filter using a ruler. On the remaining four filters, mark a spot 2” from the center folded edge. Take the scalloped scissors and cut the folded filters into semicircles, using the marks as a guide. Leave the filters folded.
Along the folded edge of each of the larger (2.75”) cut filters, use a gathering stitch to string all four into a long line.
Pull the string, scrunching the filters into petals.
Bring the string full circle, stitching both ends together and tie off. Repeat using the remaining five 2” semicircles.
Cut a piece of felt into a circle, 3” in diameter and attach pin to felt with hot glue.
Use the hot glue gun to adhere the felt to the back of the larger ring of petals. (OPTIONAL: If you would like to add netting, or other embellishments, glue it in place to the back of the flower.)
Take the smaller petal ring and carefully glue it to the top of the larger flower base.
Glue a large button to the center to finish.
Enjoy your new broach!
We’d love to see your take on this project. Please share your coffee filter creations in the comments.
That is so pretty! And what a fun conversation piece for a coffee lover. Thanks so much, I’ll be linking.
How nifty! Loving the coffee stained look too. Thanks for sharing.
This looks adorable! I have been wanting to get more crafty and I always check on this site for ideas, and I think this is something I could do!