Thursday, December 10, 2009

Felt Flower Tutorial

My name is Somer of Rainy Day Wren and I am a long time customer of Material Girls. And, well, I kind of hijacked things here.

Like I said, I have been shopping at the Material Girls for a long time and I often get butterflies when I see a new fabric line. But today I went in for some felt and my heart skipped a beat when I saw all the beautiful colors. "Nadine," I said, "these colors are amazing! I think I'm in love." To which she said, "I know, but I haven't advertised it much." So I took the challenge to find some fun projects for the amazing array of colors.
As I drove home, my mind was reeling with ideas. Just trust me when I say these colors are edible, but I couldn't settle on just one idea.
So, first up we have a flower brooch/hair clip.
To start you need: a glue gun, scissors, headband/hair clip/pin back of your choice, felt, and a button or bell, if desired, for the center. You will also need a piece of scrap paper and pencil for making a template.
You need two circle templates, one about 3" diameter and one 2" diameter. I used a drinking glass and a cookie cutter to make my circle template.
Pin template to felt and cut out 8 0r 9 large circles and two small circles. (You need 9 if you want a rose and 8 if you want a peony with a button or bell center.)
If you want to put your flower on a headband, cut two slits in the middle of one of the small circles. Now, place a small bead of hot glue in the middle of a large circle and...
fold it in half. Hold it there for about thirty seconds.
Place a bead of glue on folded circle, where shown, and...
fold again. Hold in place until it is secure and glue is dry.
Repeat with the other seven circles (if you are using nine, leave the ninth alone for now.)
Put hot glue on small circle without slits and place two folded circles with folds facing on the circle.
Repeat with two more folded circles, matching similar folds. (Two folds by two folds, double thickness folds by double thickness fold.)
This is what it should look like from the back. Flip it back over and repeat with four more circles, centering them over the first to hide the folds. (You can see what I mean in the next photo.)
If you want a jingle bell or button center glue that in place now. A fabric covered button would be darling.
For rose center, fold circle in half but don't glue it. Then, place glue up about 1/4" from fold and...
pinch through one layer at glue bead.
Put a dollop of glue in center of flower and press point of circle in place.
Glue pin back and top edge of hair clip to small circle with slits. Open clip to make sure you don't glue it shut and make sure you glue the top and not the bottom of the clip. (I placed the headband through the slits to show how that works. The teeth of the headband will keep the flower from sliding.)
Put glue on circle, being careful not to glue between slits.
Attach your circle to the back of your flower.
If you want a leaf, cut a 1" square from green felt and fold and glue like a cone.
Glue it to your flower and you're done. Slide headband through slits when you want to wear it that way.
Pin, clip, wear your flower anyway you want.

16 comments:

haley said...

love it! its adorable! cant wait to make some! keep them coming please!

Material Girls said...

Somer!
I love it!! I knew you would do something fantastic with that felt!!
Thanks so much!
Nadine:)

Amanda said...

So cute. And looks really easy too!!! I will be in for some felt soon!!

Elizabeth said...

That is so cute! Good job, Somer!

Amanda (Smith) Zimmerman said...

I love these flowers. I guess I need to get crafty over the holiday break.

Sumo @ Sumo's Sweet Stuff said...

I love this tutorial! I also tried it with fabric, fraying the edges, and it is adorable!

Featuring the tutorial on my blog today:

http://sumossweetstuff.blogspot.com

Will be showing my new fabric flowers on my blog on Monday!

Thanks for the great idea!

Kizzie said...

I love those flowers! I wish I had a little girl (only boys over here!) I'd make one to match each outfit!!

Beverly Hernandez said...

Ohhh, you have way too much fun! Cute stuff.

Sheri said...

Cute, and what a great tutorial! I've posted a link at childmade.com. Thanks for sharing!

Andie said...

I loved the felt flowers and am excited to give it a try! I hope its okay to post it on my blog, so I can remember it. www.andiesthings.blogspot.com Thanks!

Unknown said...

Olá. Gostei do passo a passo. Obrigada

Hello. I liked this tutorial.

Thanks

Sonia said...

Awesome! love this flower!

Aisyah said...

Cute! I've linked this to my blog for my Daily DIY. Thanks!

Lucía said...

I loved your tutorial so much, thank you!

In fact... it became my first felt thing ever! :)

Lucía said...

I wanted to share with you the result of my first felt flower, based on your tutorial.

http://feitoaman.blogspot.com/2010/05/primeiros-pasos.html

Lucia.

singapore florist said...

nice color you chose as an example.