Simple Felt Flowers

I've seen these felt flowers all over the Internet. I've found a couple of different tutorials on how to make them. I found this one to be the most helpful.
I've made a couple then I put my own tweaks on it to make it easier for me.


What you will need:

felt
scissors
needle and thread (to match, optional)

The cutting of the felt:

I used some freezer paper to cut out the felt.
Cut out about 5 circles of the same size.

 I cut out two different sizes just to play around.

I found the larger the petals, the easier it was to hold. But after a few of the smaller ones, those became easier too.

 When I pulled the paper away from the felt it had some nasty static cling, but the felt did not. So, I ended up flinging some little circles in the air to get them off my fingers.

Make sure that you have the end of the thread in a very thick knot so the thread doesn't pull all the way though. I tied mine about fours times around.

The assembly:

 After you cut out the circle fold in half as shown.
Then stack all five folded circles nice and neat together.

 Take the needle and push it through one end of the half circles. The next picture shows the placement of the needle better.

 Then fan out to resemble a flower.
As you do so, it may give you a little trouble to stay looking like a flower. (the first couple of flowers really tried my patience) I found that just playing with the placement of the petals before and while you are sewing will help get the best results.

 I also found that gripping the flower like pictured helped with the petal placement. Then I wove the needle and thread through all the petals again and pulled thread taunt for the flower to hold its shape.
Next, tie a knot or two to finish off the flower. And you're done!

Here is a picture of my 1st (on the left) one and my second (on the right) one. Again, the more I made, the easier (and prettier) they got.
The first one is very flat.  The second starting to show the curve of the petals.
Practice makes perfect!

Basic (beginner) Cross Stitch

I've been wanting to posts like this for a very long time. Years, actually.

I haven't done any cross stitch for a few years. I'm switched to hand embroidery, I feel you can be a little freer. And with the design already on the fabric is a lot neater, meaning not as much of a cluster of supplies as cross stitch. But in reality, it's just as much materials minus the paper chart. But now I'm just rambling.

On the the stitches!

 Materials include:

Aida cloth
a small sturdy wooden embroidery hoop
blunt embroidery needle
small pair of sharp scissors
thread of different colors

Start off with the cloth nice and smug in the hoop. This helps keep the cloth taunt thus making it easy for the needle to enter the tiny holes.
Start on the back side, poking the needle up from underneath. Pull the floss all the way through, but making sure that you have enough of a tail to secure it so it don't pull completely through while stitching.

The holes in the cloth create square boxes, these are the boxes that you make in the same size X on.

Then poke the needle through the next hole that is diagonal to the first hole, creating parallel short lines. It's important to remember to not tug hard on you floss or you will create uneven stitches.

 Now to make sure that your floss doesn't pull out while you make your stitches, hold some excess floss (the tail), and when stitching make sure that you stitch over the tail, like so above.

 To complete a proper cross stitch, poke the floss up through the hole directly above the last hole you poked the needle through. Then cross it over the the opposite hole parallel, pushing the needle through to the underside.

 If doing a large block of color (several lines next to each other) do that area in that color like this.

 When you are done with that block of color, the back of you work should look like this. It's kind of important that the back of your work is smooth so when you go to mount and frame your work it's nice and flat and not lumpy.

 To finish off the row of stitches, poke you needle behind the back side row of floss to anchor it. Make sure that the floss is not visible on the front side, you don't want to poke through the cloth.

And once your floss is through the row, cut off the excess floss, neatly.

Here is a photo of what the back side would look like with other color added. It's nice and neat so when I go to finish it in a frame it will be nice and smooth.

I hope that these steps were easy to follow. I  also hope to do more tutorials like this in the future.

The Wonderful World of Freezer Paper (tutorial)!

I love to sew. And believe it or not, I like to hand sew (I use to hate it with every fiber of my being!).

But most of the time I hand sew is small things. Those are mostly stuff made out of felt, and the ones that are not turned inside out and all the "markings" are hidden.

I will draw out what I want to make and cut out my patterns and tape them to my felt and start cutting. 

The thing about doing that is well, it sucks. The tape is too sticky and causes the felt to "fluff" and distort when I peel it off.

And if I would trace a marker around the pattern, it would show, all the edges would be a different color and, and, ...  A HUGE MESS!

Example:

SO when I read about freezer paper, I got my hopes up.

 This thing is HUGE

And now I will sing praises and do little dances to show my love for this wonderful stuff of wonders!

I thought that I would show you how awesome this stuff is.

I tried it out on my dolls.

Worked perfectly!

 First of all:

Freezer paper has two sides, a paper side and a plastic-y/waxy side. 

The latter side is the side that temporarily adheres to the fabric. 

I had a pattern ready to trace on the paper side of the freezer paper.

 Next, lay the pattern on the piece of fabric, pattern facing up with shiny side down.

 Now with a hot dry iron, press the paper to the fabric and hold for a moment. 

All of the ones that ironed, took under a minute to adhere, test it by trying to peel the paper off the fabric, if it sticks, it's ready.

 

 After I cut out my shape, the paper stayed suck to the felt.

 With almost no effort, the paper easily peeled away!

No residue, nothing!

This last picture is to show the difference between the ones I used the freezer paper and traced directly onto the felt. The top one you can tell by the orange maker left on the edges.

So I can't say enough about how happy I was with this technique. I will NEVER go back!

Yoyos, yo?

I've always seen these little things here and there, I never knew what they were called. A while ago my sister mentioned that we should make some. I said sure, but that were quickly forgotten. 

But then I saw them on the Internet and that re-sparked my interest. 

I can't believe how easy they are to make.

They take very little fabric and thread to make. I put a little tutorial together to show how easy they are.

You will need: 

5 x 5 inch pieces of fabric

needle 

thread

pencil

a circle template (I used a Spiderman tin)

scissors

 

I started out with a 4 inch diameter circle. (I just used a tin lid, because it was the perfect size and convenient)

 

 Trace the circle onto the fabric using a pencil or what ever you prefer to use.

 

 Then cut out the circle, like sew, ha ha, get it? sew, so, um yeah...

  

I use a lot of scraps I had saved, worked out very well.

 

Next, fold under about a quarter of the fabric and then take your needle and thread and tie off the end, large enough that it won't slip right through the fabric and start a running stitch around that quarter inch fold. Kinda like a hem.

 

 Try to make sure that the stitches are small and even.

 End you last stitch right next the first stitch, but don't tie it off, you then firmly grip the thread and GENTLY pull on it.

Then it will start to gather. 

 

 It will now have soft pleats as you gather the edge. Sew a stitch or two to hold the gathers in place, then knot (a couple of times to make sure it stays) and cut off the end of the thread.

  

 This should be what they look like when you are finished.

A little under three inches.

You can adjust the size of you circle if you want larger or smaller yoyos.

 I ended up make few, after I got the hang of it, it went pretty fast.

Now I have to think of what I want to put these on. My sister said she wanted to make a quilt out of them. That's A LOT of yoyos! But it would look adorable.

I'm thinking more along the lines of a necklace or a headband. Much easier.

Bunting: The Tutorial

I made yet another bunting.

 This time for a baby boy. 

This project is simple enough that I felt comfortable with making a tutorial.

Here is what you need:

various pieces of fabric, for the front and back 

(around half a yard each, your stash would work great)

scissors

ruler

pencil

paper

At least 3 yards of extra wide double fold bias tape

thread 

(sewing machine)

needle

pins

dressmakers pencil or chalk

iron 

ironing board

 

 

 

Here we go!

Start out by making a simple pattern from card stock or any think sturdy piece of paper. 

I made my isosceles triangle 8 1/2 x 9 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches. I folded my paper in half so I only had to cut two sides. So when the paper is folded in half only cut half the length on the top (4 1/4 inches instead of 8 1/2 inches)

 

Then choose fabric to your liking (I used a cottons and some flannels). 

Cut out 8 triangles using your pattern for even pieces.

I found that 8 is a good number for the spacing for the bias tape length.

  

The backing fabric can be whatever you want it to be. I used a solid because it will most likely be hung on a wall. And the backing makes it a little sturdier and lay flatter.

  

Then cut out 8 pieces of the backing.

Then pin together.

Right side together on the inside.

  

Then using a 3/8th seem allowance, sew the two longer sides together. Leave the top open.

  

Then cut the tip of the triangle, and fold the triangle right side out.

(this helps flatten and "sharpen" the tip)

  

Once the right sides are out, use a pencil tip to poke out the tip to a point.

Then it's ironing time!

  

Press!

  

Try to not have the back fabric showing after pressing it flat with the iron. It can be a little trying, but some patience and care, you won't have the back showing.

  

The front of the flags after ironing.

  

The back sides.

Now here's the fun part. (not really, it's just tedious)

 

 I use the whole 3 yards of double fold bias tape. It's a pretty good length and you don't need to add any extra to it.

Now, line up where you want to put your flags at on the tape. I spaced mine out 5 inches, it gave it a nice spacing between the flags and doesn't look crowded.

Then I pinned them into place in between the fold of the tape, so the rough edge will be sandwiched in and out of site.

Start at the very beginning of the tape and sew all the way to the end to seal the edges and sealing the tape closed.

This is the easiest part.

To hide the raw edges of the tape, sew a bottom to the end so nothing is left hanging out.

Finished!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. It's the second one that I have done and it's a little lengthy. But I hope that the instructions where clear and not confusing. If there are any problems or question about this tutorial, please let me know. :)
I would like to make more in the future and share with everyone.