A small crocheted band that wraps and buttons around the stems of a bouquet. Fast and easy to make, which matters here – if you are making one for every member of a bridal party, you want a project measured in minutes rather than evenings.
What it does
It covers the taped or bound stems of a hand-tied bouquet, which are functional but not attractive. It also gives the person carrying the flowers something comfortable to hold, and it can pick up a colour from the wedding scheme.
Because it buttons rather than being sewn closed, it goes on after the bouquet is assembled and comes off afterwards. The wrap can be kept when the flowers cannot.
Yarn
Whatever complements the flowers and the dresses. Cotton and cotton blends hold a crisp edge and come in the clearest colours. A yarn with a fine metallic strand catches light nicely in photographs without looking showy.
Avoid anything fuzzy. Against flower stems and close to a dress, a shedding yarn leaves fibres on everything.
Sizing
Measure around the actual bound stems, not around your hand. Bouquets vary a great deal – a tight posy and a loose garden-style bouquet have very different stem bundles.
If you are making these before the flowers exist, work a generous length and place two or three buttonholes along it so each wrap can adjust to whatever it ends up around. That flexibility is worth the extra five minutes.
Buttons
Sew them on with doubled thread, knotted securely. A button that comes off during a wedding is a small disaster at a moment when nobody has time to fix it.
Making a set
Work them all in one sitting if you can. Tension drifts between sessions, and a set of wraps that vary in width is noticeable when the bridal party stands together.
