DIY Felt Floral Buds and Leafy Stems

Welcome back to day four of the five beginner felt flower series.

This is Lorrie Everitt from Make and Merry Co and today we’re going to create some leafy stems and floral buds. You’ll need two felt colours from the Cactus Bloom Premium Wool Blend Craft Felt Sheet Value Pack and an assortment of sizes of floral wire stems.

You will find the hand cutting template for the Floral Buds and Leafy Stems at the end of this post.

Gather your supplies

• Floral Buds and Leafy Stems template
• Premium Wool Blend Craft Felt
• Light pink (x1)
• Apple green (x1)
• Mini Wool Felt Balls
• 5/8” (1.5cm)
• Gold
• Pan pastels or eye shadow
• Yellow
• Bright green
• Floral wire
• 18-gauge wrapped
• 22-gauge
• Bright green floral tape
• Basic flower making tools
  Find my felt flower crafting recommendations in the Wildflower One tutorial

Let’s make a Leafy Stem

Step 1. Cut all felt pieces as per the template.

Step 2. Add some shape to the leaves by stretching and twisting the felt.

Step 3. Create leaf like details to the front and back of each leaf using green pan pastels or eye shadow using a sponge applicator.

Step 4. Position an 18-gauge floral wire near the middle bottom third of one small leaf and glue in place. Pinch the felt while the glue is hot to hide the wire.

Step 5. Repeat step 4 with all of the other leaves using 22-gauge wire cut into 4” lengths.

Step 6. Use floral tape to cover the six 4” wire stems.

Step 7. Start to cover the 18-gauge wire stem using floral tape. Add leaves on either side of the stem starting with the two smaller leaves, followed by the four larger leaves.

Step 8. Our Leafy Stem is now complete.

Let’s make a Floral Bud stem

Step 1. Cut all felt pieces as per the template.

Step 2. Bend an 18-gauge wrapped floral wire as shown.

Step 3. Create a hole in the centre of the bud petals using an awl.

Step 4. Insert the end of the floral wire into the hole of the bud petals and slide it to the other end. Glue the centre of the bud petals to the bent wire circle.

Step 5. Glue the small round centre to the top of the bent wire to conceal it.

Step 6. Add a small dab of glue to two of the bud petals.

Step 7. Fold the bud in half and pinch the petals together.

Step 8. To close the bud completely, add glue to two more petals and fold all of the petals towards the centre of the bud.

Step 9. Pinch the petals together and hold. Add more glue if necessary to give the bud petals some shape.

Step 10. Create a hole in the centre of the calyx using an awl. Add to the floral stem.

Step 11. Position the leafy ends of the calyx under the petals of the Floral Bud and glue in place.

Step 12. Twist and stretch the leafy ends of the calyx to give them some shape.

Step 13. Glue the middle of the leafy sections of the calyx to each of the petals.

Step 14. And the Floral Bud is complete.

Step 15. Let’s attach the Floral Bud stem to the Leafy Stem using floral tape. Add one or two floral stems to a Leafy Stem.

Step 16. These floral stems work well as fillers if you are planning to create a floral bouquet.

Download the Floral Bud and leafy stems template here.

Stay tuned for the fifth and final post in this series. We are going to make some Billy Balls and create our felt flower bouquet.

Just in case you missed the first three posts in the series, you can find them here:

1. Wildflower One
2. Wildflower Two
3. Lavender Stems