Friday 11 October 2013

How To: Make a Mini Felt Leaf & Daisy

To celebrate the launch of my new book, Super-Cute Felt Animals, I'm sharing a collection of free tutorials that you can mix and match with the projects from the book.

This week's projects coordinate with the animals from the "In the Garden" chapter. Today you can learn to make a little felt leaf and daisy. 


To make the leaf and daisy, you will need...

- the template sheet at the bottom of this post
- a small piece of yellow felt
- white felt, approx 2 x 4 in (5.5 x 10.5 cm)
- green felt, approx. 3 x 3 ¾ in (7 x 9 cm)
- matching sewing threads
- spring green embroidery floss (thread)
- stuffing & a pencil or other small stuffing tool
- needles, pins & embroidery scissors (great for cutting out small felt shapes!)


To make the leaf:

1. Use the templates provided to cut out two green felt leaves.

2. Cut a length of spring green embroidery floss and separate half the strands (so for six stranded floss, use three strands). Use the green floss to sew a line down the centre of the leaf in running stitch, sewing along in one direction and then back in the other filling in the gaps to create a continuous line of stitching. Then sew a series of diagonal lines as pictured, sewing out from the central line and then back again with more running stitches. Take care not to pull your stitches too tightly and pucker the felt.


3. Pin the two leaf shapes together, and trim any excess felt from the back (unstitched) leaf – adding the embroidery may have caused the felt shape to shrink slightly. Whip stitch the edges of the leaf together with matching green sewing thread, removing the pin when it’s no longer needed and finishing your stitching neatly at the back.

I kept my leaf flat, but if you’d like to stuff yours just leave a gap large enough for your finger then stuff the leaf lightly before you finish sewing up the gap.


To make the daisy:

1. Use the templates provided to cut out two daisies from white felt and one circle from yellow felt.

2. Place the two daisy shapes together, and whip stitch around the edges with white sewing thread. Finish your stitching in the centre at the front where it’ll be hidden in the next step.


3. Position the circle in the centre of the daisy, and sew it in place with white whip stitches. Sew most of the way round the circle, leaving a small gap. Stuff the centre of the daisy so it’s slightly padded. Then sew up the gap with more whip stitches and finish your stitching neatly at the back.


Click here to view the template sheet in another window/tab, and print it at 100%.


This tutorial is for non commercial use only: you can use it to make as many felt leaves and daisies as you want for yourself or as gifts, but please don't make any for sale. You may borrow a few photos if you want to blog about this project, but remember to credit me and link back to the original source, and do not reproduce my entire tutorial on your site. Thanks!


Super Cute-Felt Animals is published by CICO Books, RRP £12.99. It includes 35 fun felt projects, each with illustrated step-by-step instructions. It's available to buy at Amazon UK and Amazon USA and many other bookshops.

Please note: the Amazon links in this post are affiliate links.

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