Tuesday, May 04, 2010

May Flowers

I'm an avid reader of the crafting (and little-bit-of-everything-else) blog Not Martha, and while it provides a steady stream of inspiring tutorials and links, I don't usually feel compelled to make the crafts the author talks about on her blog. That was, until she posted about her design tutorial for making a felt dahlia brooch. The project immediately shot to the top of my to-make list.


The flower itself is cut out of one sheet of felt with all of the little petals glued onto a felt-and-cardboard base. I decided to needlefelt everything together based upon the supplies I had on hand. The tutorial translated very well to needlefelting, but I do have some pointers:

* Cut the round base (to needlefelt your petals onto) to be 2.5 inches across. I skipped the cardboard altogether.
* Roll up the petals and felt them slightly before attaching them to the base. This helps preserve the integrity of the base by not overworking it.
* I still used glue to attach the center part of the flower to the front.
* A backing really helps hide the residual felting fuzz and make the flower look finished. You can either glue the backing on or hand stitch it.


I opted to affix my dahlia to a headband instead of a brooch so that I could wear it in my hair. Since my headband had small teeth along the inside, I simply sewed on the flower using a little embroidery floss and completely skipped the glue.


I'm very glad that I invested the few hours it took to put everything together because I really love the finished object. It will be the perfect thing to wear to a wedding I am attending later this month!

6 comments:

yarnpiggy said...

Ooooh, that's lovely!

(OT: You need to send me your snail mail addy so I can send you your Malabrigo Lace! Rav pm would be great.)

Helga Marie Bee said...

OMG- that turned out sooo cute!

blumster_pike said...

You look soooo lovelyyy!!!!..I thought the same as you..i need to make one now!!..I'm a little confused on how the center part is made..could you explain it to me!?!?..please!?..so pretty!!..have a nice day!!!..=)

Kristin said...

I made the center part exactly as Not Martha describes in her tutorial.

I used pinking sheers to cut a small circle and a long, thin strip of felt (cut one side with the pinking sheers and one side flat). I rolled up the strip of felt into a circular disc, with the ridges from the pinking sheers on one side of the disc. I glued the disc together, then down onto the small circle.

This piece is then glued to the center of the flower.

I guess I don't have a good picture of the center in my blog post, but you can see it better on the original tutorial here: http://news.holidash.com//2010/04/23/mothers-day-corsage/

I hope this helps!

painted butterflies said...

I love this flower I am definitely going to give it a go. Love your blog, would you come and support me on mine I have just started it up and would love you to follow me.

http://painted-butterflies.blogspot.com/

Amy x

Delia said...

What kind of felt did you use? And where did you get it from?