Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld kicked up some hay this spring with his tweedy, lacy spring collection revolving around a barnyard theme.

One accessory that popped up consistently in the Spring 2010 collection was the poppy - poppy pins, poppy dresses, even poppy embellished clogs. (See slideshow below for examples.) Camellias have been associated with Chanel since the 1960s, but the hot orange, black and white poppies of this year's collection have a distinctly modern touch.

To make your own poppy accessories, you could simply buy a silk poppy from a craft store and glue a pin to the back. Style blogger Kelly Framel (a.ka. The Glamourai) used pre-made but embellished silk flowers to decorate a basket in the style of Chanel.

However, if, like me, you have a hard time finding a large silk poppy, you can channel legendary French feather and decorative flower maker Lemarié and make your own.

Materials needed are:

* a small piece of red, black or white silk or similar fabric. (I used silk hankerchiefs from my local thrift store Baltic Bazaar, 141 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn. Or you could try the lingerie area of your local thrift store for another recycling option.)
* a small piece of black felt or velvet
* another small piece of felt that is the same color as your flower
* heavy black thread
* heavy spray starch
* needle and thread
* fabric glue
* thin piece of plastic, which can be cut from a takeout container or similar packaging.
* pin backings

Download my template for the poppy petal, center and back.

Cut a piece of plastic about three inches long and about a half inch wide. Wind the heavy thread around the plastic and spray on both sides with starch until damp. Allow to dry.

Spray your silk fabric with spray starch until damp. Twist and clamp the fabric and allow to almost dry completely. (You can use a blow dryer to speed the process.)

(For an alternative wrinkling method, see my tutorial for making these flowers from heavier fabric.)

Unfold and stretch the fabric out. If the wrinkles are too tight to keep the fabric flat enough for cutting, spritz again with starch and stretch the fabric out.

Cut 12 to 14 petals.

Stack the petals two or three at a time and stitch together, fanning the petals out as you go.

If your flower has any "bald" spots, add a few more petals.

Cut a piece of plastic and a piece of felt matching your flower from the larger circle in my template. This will be the back of your flower. The plastic adds a little extra stiffness. Glue the plastic to the center of the back of the flower and glue the felt over top. Glue the pin backing to the center of the felt.

Cut a smaller circle from the black felt or velvet. Flip the flower over and glue to the center of the flower.

Now for the fun part - adding the "eyelashes" or stamens to the center of the flower. See the slideshow below for details for these steps.

When your thread is dried, carefully slide it off of the strip of plastic. (It does not need to come off in one piece. You can cut the thread and slide off in sections, if needed.)

Dip one end of the wrapped thread in a blob of fabric glue and arrange along the edge of the felt circle. Be generous with the glue but try not to get it on the front of the felt since it dries a bit shiny.

Continue to dip and add thread around the circumference of the felt circle until you have a complete ring of thread.

Allow glue to dry.

Your pin is ready to wear.

Check back for upcoming articles on ways to add to this basic Chanel-inspired brooch.

See more of Chanel's spring collection with Women's Fashion Examiner Samantha Cabrera and

Samantha Baldwin