Hello again, Reader.

Spring is creeping in everywhere, taking winter’s place and putting me in a good mood. So to join in the fun, I thought I’d share these instructions for simple, pretty felt flowers. I like this idea for a number of reasons: it’s dead easy, so it’s great to do with little helpers. The results are pretty and versatile. You can use them to dress up pretty much any surface imaginable. They’d make great additions to spring-time cardigans, festive table-runners, or even bobby-pins and hairbands for the flower child in all of us. They’d also make great bouquets and wreaths, depending on their size.

These bright little blossoms are also great because they are so easy to customise. They can be any size, shape, and colour you like. The plain version that I’ve detailed here look a bit like ranunculi or shrub roses, but depending on how you customise your blooms, they might look completely different. You can dress them up with beads and buttons. You can use pinking shears to make any kind of petal you can think of. The instructions below stick with the basics, but your flowers can look any way you choose.

The final reason I love these pretty petals is that they use up left-over felt. I always seem to have felt flotsam and jetsam floating around in my sewing cubby. Where does it come from? Why is it there? I don’t have the answers to these questions, but happily, with these flowers, it doesn’t really matter. I can use it up instead of leaving it to take up space.

So let’s get growing. Here’s what you’ll need:

• felt (any colour- I usually try to have two colours for petals and leaves, but that’s up
  to you)
• scissors/shears
• needle and cotton thread

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now that you’ve got all your equipment together, here’s how to get started:

Step 1: Using your shears, cut circles of different sizes into the felt you want to use for your petals. In my case, I’m going to save the green felt for leaves, but the red and lilac felt are for petals. If you are making felt flowers with children, you may need to help them with this step: shears are very sharp, and child-safe scissors are often not sharp enough to cut through felt (or any other fabric, for that matter).

Step 2: Cut each felt circle into a spiral, starting from the outside and working your way towards the centre. Once you reach the middle, cut the absolute centre out of your spiral, so that there’s a small hole in the middle. If you want textured petals, now is the time to trim one side of the felt spiral into any repeated shape you like. This side will be the top of your flower. It should look like this:

Step 3: Beginning from the centre of your spiral, roll up the felt strip. It should look a bit like a cinnamon roll. I found it helpful to pinch it gently between my fingers to keep it flat. Keep rolling until you’ve reached the end of your felt strip. Put your little roll of felt down flat.

Step 4: Leaving your felt roll for a moment (don’t worry, it won’t unravel: felt sticks to itself), thread your needle. Now carefully pick up your little roll like you did when you were rolling it up (that is, pinched between your fingers). Imagining that you are trying to skewer your felt cinnamon bun with your needle, sew from one side of your roll to the other. Be careful not to let the thread show at the top.Your thread should pass through every layer of felt, so that none of your ‘petals’ will come loose. Depending on the size of your felt roll, you may need to do this in a few places,  but for my little flowers, one or two stitches was enough. When you are certain that your roll won’t come un-done, knot your thread on the underside of your flower, and trim any excess thread.If you are making these flowers with children, you’ll likely need to help them with this step.*

Step 5: Customise your flower! You could add felt leaves to the bottom of your blooms. Beads or buttons sewn into the centres could be fun. When you are happy with how your flowers look, you can applique them to cloth, attach them to pipe-cleaner stems to make a bouquet, or onto a wreath for added texture and colour. Let your imagination go a little wild: felt is a very flexible, forgiving fabric, so you have lots of options.

 

*If, dear Reader, the very thought of threading a needle makes your stomach churn and your head ache, never fear! These flowers are just as easy to make using a hot glue gun, or even good-quality fabric glue. Instead of sewing them as described in Step 4, simply put a little dot of glue on each layer as you roll the felt up, and let it dry. You can also use glue to attach any fun stuff (beads, buttons, glitter, leaves, etc). If you are using a hot glue gun, do be careful to avoid burns. Young children should not use glue guns, so if you are making these flowers with your little ones, you’ll need to help them with step.

Have any comments or questions about these instructions? Leave me a comment below! I’d love to hear from you! Bonus points for pictures of your own felt flowers! I hope you’re inspired to get growing some of your own felt flowers, and that these instructions have put a little Spring in your step!

Until next time, Reader.

Yours,

Cotton Jenny