Getting Started

I love making felt flowers because you can get started with just a few supplies, and you don’t have to break the bank! If you’re an avid crafter, you probably already have most of these items on hand. Anything you don’t have is easy to find at your local craft store or online.

TOOLS

Miniature Low-Temperature Hot Glue Gun & Glue Sticks

I recommend using a low-temperature glue gun. I’ve used high-temp glue guns, and while they work great, burns and blisters are an unwelcome side effect. You can achieve a strong bond on felt with low-temperature hot glue. I like to use a mini version because it’s easy to hold and doesn’t get in the way while working with flowers.

Pliers & Wire Cutters

A multi-tool with both needle-nose and wire snipping components (like those used for jewelry making) is great, but you can also use two separate tools. You’ll use these to bend and cut floral wire.

Scissors

At least one sharp pair of fabric scissors is a must—dull scissors on felt are a nightmare! I particularly like scissors with a razor edge. If your scissors are sharp enough, you can cut through multiple layers of felt with relative ease. Though not absolutely necessary, in addition to fabric scissors, detail scissors are helpful when cutting in small areas.

Pinking Shears

These scissors are used to create a zigzag edge on your fabric—they make quick work of adding lots of detail and texture. In this book, you’ll use them for the fern.

MATERIALS

Felt

There are more varieties of felt than you may realize! Any felt can be used to make flowers. Still, the type you choose can affect your projects’ outcome because some felts are better quality than others.

Craft felt. This is the most common and easy-to-find type of felt and probably what you remember from your childhood crafts. It’s made of synthetic fibers (usually polyester), is easily accessible, and comes in a variety of colors. Though you can certainly make your flowers with this felt, the quality of your blooms will not be as high as if you used a wool-blend felt.

Wool blend. Wool-blend felt is a blend of wool and rayon. It’s considered an heirloom-quality felt and resists pilling (which some lesser-quality felts tend to do). I made all of the flowers in this book using wool-blend felt. It’s easy to work with, comes in beautiful colors, is durable, and is reasonably priced. Wool-blend felt can also stand up to the heat of an iron if you need to smooth out some of your pieces. This felt is easy to find online from marketplaces like Etsy (I like to buy from benziedesign.com) and is starting to show up in craft and fabric stores available by the yard.

100% wool. As the name implies, this felt is made entirely of wool. It is more expensive than wool-blend felt and is usually thicker and stiffer.

Floral Wire

Green, fabric-wrapped 18-gauge wire. When it comes to floral wire, the lower the gauge, the thicker the wire. This gauge is ideal for flower stems. It can support the weight of the flower blooms while still offering some movement. Most (if not all) floral stem wire comes packaged in 18”-long pieces.

Green, fabric-wrapped 20- or 22-gauge wire. Because this wire is thinner than 18-gauge wire, it is easy to manipulate and twist. It’s ideal for wrapping around other pieces of wire.

Bark-wrapped coiled wire. This natural-looking wire can be wrapped in bark or paper and makes an excellent base for flower crowns and garlands.

Twine

Jute or hemp twine has many uses, from tying on wreath attachments to holding together a bouquet. It’s a natural and neutral material that blends well with the other materials you’ll use for flower-making.

Fabric Stiffener Spray

Fabric stiffener spray is perfect for shaping felt petals and leaves. You can use it to curl long leafy tendrils and to crease or crinkle petals, adding dimension and giving them a more realistic look.

BASIC TECHNIQUES

Using the Templates

At the back of the book, you’ll find templates for each of the leaves and flowers. You can use these as exact patterns or as visual guides. Here are several options for working with the templates.

Make reusable templates. Place a piece of parchment or freezer paper over a template and trace it. Cut out the paper shape and trace it onto cardstock. Cut out the cardstock shape, and you have a reusable template to trace onto felt over and over. You could also cut the template pages and shapes directly out of the book—be sure you don’t lose them!

Make iron-on templates. Place a piece of wax or freezer paper over a template and trace it. Iron the paper directly onto your felt wax side down. (Important! Test the iron on your felt first. Wool or wool-blend felt can be ironed, but others may melt under the heat.) After ironing on the paper, cut through both the paper and the felt to cut out the shape.

Use the templates as a visual guide. Most of the petals and leaves are made from basic shapes that you may be comfortable drawing freehand. Use the templates to get an idea of the size and shape of the pieces and draw them yourself. A great way to get uniform shapes is to cut multiple pieces at once following the technique.

Cutting Multiple Felt Pieces

When cutting multiple leaves or petals of the same shape, this technique will save you time and hand fatigue! Rather than cutting each piece individually, you can cut multiple, almost identical pieces at once. You can use one of the templates provided as a guide or cut freehand.

SUPPLIES

Felt

Scissors

STEP 1: Prepare the felt. Cut a long strip of felt that is about as wide as your leaves or petals are long. Fold over the felt to double or triple it so you will be cutting through multiple layers (make sure your scissors are sharp!). Cut the felt into rectangles about as wide as your leaves or petals will be.

STEP 2: Cut the leaves or petals. Stack two or three rectangles together and cut out the leaf or petal shape. To quickly cut leaves, round off the top right corner, then rotate the rectangles 180-degrees and repeat. Continue cutting leaves or petals from the remaining rectangles.

Easy Rolled Rose

If you’re a complete beginner, this simple yet beautiful flower is a great place to start—it was the first flower I ever made! After you learn how to make this rose, you’ll learn how to make a rolled mum, and then how to combine the two.

You’ll make this flower from a square of felt. The size will depend on how large you’d like your flower to be. I find that my finished roses tend to be one-quarter the size of my felt square. However, depending on how you cut your flower (we’re doing this freehand!) and your felt’s thickness, your finished flower may be a different size than mine.

SUPPLIES

Felt square

Scissors

Hot glue gun and glue sticks

ROLLED FLOWERS

Rolled flowers are so easy to make!
Here’s a look at a few you’ll learn here and in the coming pages.

STEP 1: Round the corners. Round off the corners of the felt square (you don’t have to make a perfect circle).

STEP 2: Cut a spiral. Cut the felt into a spiral. Cut into the side of the square and continue cutting around and around in a circle until you get close to the center. To give your petals dimension, vary the thickness of the spiral as you cut. I made some parts of the spiral very thin and some parts as wide as 1˝. Leave a small circle of felt at the center of the spiral.

STEP 3: Roll the end. Starting with the end at the outside of the spiral, roll up the felt. Be sure to keep the roll very tight without any space in the middle so your rose doesn’t end up with a hole in the center. If you have trouble getting the roll started, try slightly dampening your fingers.

STEP 4: Glue. Once you have a bud about ¾˝ to 1˝ in diameter, add some glue along the bottom edge of the flower. Press down the next section of the felt strip. (The bottom of the flower is the flat end; the top will have more height variation.)

Step 5: Finish. Continue rolling and gluing the felt until you reach the circle at the end. Add a generous amount of glue to the bottom of the flower and press the circle onto it to finish.

Easy Rolled Mum

This flower uses a similar rolling technique to the rose, but we’ll trim the edges of the felt to create the look of individual petals. This makes an adorable mum and is also perfect for flower centers. You’ll make this flower from a strip of felt. I used a 1˝ × 9˝ piece, but yours can be longer or shorter depending on the size of the flower you’d like to make.

SUPPLIES

Felt strip (I used a 1˝ × 9˝ piece)

Scissors

Hot glue gun and glue sticks

STEP 1: Fold the felt. Apply a small line of glue along one of the long edges of the felt strip. Fold the felt in half lengthwise, pressing the edges together. Continue adding glue and folding the felt in sections until you reach the end.

STEP 2: Cut the felt. Cut slits in the folded edge of the felt. Make them about ³/₁₆” to ¼” apart, cutting about halfway across the strip. Be careful not to cut all the way through the strip.

STEP 3: Roll the flower. Starting at one end of the felt strip, apply a small line of glue along the bottom (uncut) edge. Fold the end of the felt onto the glue and begin rolling up the strip. Continue adding glue and rolling up the felt in sections until you reach the end. Your mum is complete!

Open Rolled Flower

This flower combines the rolled rose and the rolled mum to make a beautiful bloom with a textured center.

SUPPLIES

1˝ × 9˝ felt strip in the color of your choice

6˝ × 6˝ felt square in the color of your choice

Scissors

Hot glue gun and glue sticks

STEP 1: Prepare the pieces. Follow the steps for the Easy Rolled Mum to make the flower center. Follow Steps 1 and 2 for the Easy Rolled Rose to cut the felt square into a spiral for the flower petals. Leave a circle of felt at the center of the spiral that’s large enough to cover the flower center.

STEP 2: Wrap the flower center. Add some glue to the edge of the flower center and attach the end of the felt spiral to it. Continue adding glue and wrapping the felt spiral around the flower center, working in sections until you reach the circle at the end of the spiral.

STEP 3: Finish. Add a generous amount of glue to the bottom of the flower and press the circle onto it to finish. If there is excess felt on the base of the flower after you’ve glued the circle in place, trim it off.

Attaching a Stem

SUPPLIES

Finished flower

Finished calyx

18˝ of 18-gauge floral wire

Needle-nose pliers

Wire cutters

Scissors

Hot glue gun and glue sticks

STEP 1: Make a coil. Using a pair of needle-nose pliers, shape the wire into a flat coil. For most flowers, a ¾˝-diameter coil works well, but you may have to make the coil larger or smaller depending on the size of your flower.

STEP 2: Make the stem. Bend the wire at a 90-degree angle to the coil to form a stem. Push the coil over so it’s centered above the stem.

STEP 3: Attach the stem. Add a generous amount of hot glue (a bit larger than your coil) to the bottom of your flower and press the coil onto it.

STEP 4: Add the calyx. Cut a felt calyx large enough to cover the wire coil. Cut a slit in the center of the calyx and slide it down the stem to the base of the flower. Press the calyx into the glue, covering the wire coil. Glue down any loose edges.

Wrapping a Stem

For an extra-special touch, this is a beautiful way to finish the stems of your flowers.

SUPPLIES

Finished flower with a stem attached

Green felt strip (about ½˝ × 12˝)

Hot glue gun and glue sticks

Scissors

STEP 1: Attach the felt. Pull on the ends of the felt to stretch it out a bit. Put a small drop of glue on one end of the felt and fold it around the top of the stem, right against the base of the flower.

STEP 2: Wrap the stem. Wrap the felt around the wire, gluing as you go. Try to keep the felt pulled tight as you wrap to keep it smooth.

STEP 3: Finish. When you get to the end of the stem, trim away any excess felt and glue the end down.