House Revivals: Veteran's Day

Monday, May 26, 2014

Never Forgotten: A Story of Sacrifice and a Remembrance Poppy Tutorial

I have loved the little Remembrance Poppies, sold by our veterans, as long as I can remember. As a little girl, shopping with my mother, I was always given a bit of change to donate for my own little poppy to wear.

Each year, when I get my poppy, I am reminded of my mother, and how she taught me about the sacrifices made by so many.

A few years ago, the reality of this great sacrifice was driven home, when I received a phone call saying that the son of a friend had been killed while serving in Iraq. Our sons had enlisted at the same time, and I still remember sitting with the other young man's father, a veteran himself, during a parent orientation evening.

Read the rest of this post....

Thursday, November 11, 2010

A Poppy for Remembrance

To honor the brave soldiers lost in battle, and all our veterans, a poppy.

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918) Canadian Army

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

To make this poppy, using the burnt edge method, begin with a light weight piece of red polyester fabric.

In this case, I re-purposed a thrifted blouse that was stained.

Cut a strip about 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide, and 10 to 16 inches long (I used the longer measurement, for a fuller poppy, but for a poppy more reminiscent of the traditional crepe paper poppies, use less fabric).

Fold your fabric length into quarters and clip the fold lines, rounding the corners slightly. It's okay if you hack it a bit and have a rough edge -- this will add character to the finished flower.

Singe the edges, as shown in this tutorial for a burnt edge peony.

Cut a circle of black or brown fabric from a textured fabric -- I re-purposed a velvet skirt that I haven't worn since the nineties. Place a bit of batting in the center of the circle, and gather the edges closed to create the center of the flower. If you like, you can add a bit of fringe around the center -- I decided to leave it out.