Tips on ruched flowers

 
My applique teachers enabled my new addiction to making ruched flowers. As I've been obsessively making them in recent days, here are a few things I've learned that make my flowers look better.
At the bottom of this post are photos in order from start to finish.

1. I prefer overlapping raw edges on the fabric strip. Somehow I seem to struggle with the raw edges, and a little wider strip is better for me
2. Rather than marking the half and inch intervals, I just fold the strip to match the upper link of my index finger, which is about an inch long. The creases stay in long enough to do the stitching
3. I put the needle in from the top on one side and out on the bottom on the other side. That way the thread goes over the folded edge, which my teachers assure me makes a better ruch.
4. The ruches should not be so tight that the whole strip curls up. As I stitch the zigzag in about a one-inch cycle, ruching to about half an inch is pretty good. 
5. The finished flower looks better flat rather than cone-shaped. That will require tucking the bottom of one ruch behind another so that gaps are covered, but the flower doesn't get too much taller.
6. To make a tight center, I like to take a running stitch in the bottom of the first 5 petals and draw them together to close the center. It makes it a lot easier to tuck ruch number 6 under the center
7. Stitching the ruches together from the bottom is easier for me to close gaps, but it does involve a little flipping over.
8. I leave the ends on the flower to give it a little structure underneath when it's appliqued down to the background

Now I just need to figure out how to use ruched flowers for Christmas gifts. :)