Teardrop Bag from Amy Butlers Style Stitches

 I just finished my version of the Teardrop Bag from Amy Butler's book 'Style Stitches'.  As I was making the bag, I had already cut out the hips, but I decided not to use them on the bag.  Since they were already cut, I decided to cut three more sets and make a flower out of them.  I wasn't sure if I'd like it (and I'm still 50/50 on it) so I make it a pin that I could add/remove at will. 

Like this bag? Its for sale in my Etsy shop.

To make the flower: I cut out 10 of the hips from the pattern and sewed them together in pairs- right sides together (leaving the end open to turn them).  I then machine basted them together with the largest stitch my machine would do (below) while leaving a large amount of string at both the beginning and the end.  I took one of the strings from one of the ends and pulled it to bunch the 'petals'.  I then knotted the ends together and went around the edges again with another piece of thread and a needle to help secure the flower.  I used the fabric from the inside of the bag to make a 11/8' button for the center.  I then sewed it into the center of the petals and sewed a pin on the back.