DIY Felt Wildflower One

Hello fellow felt crafters,

This is Lorrie Everitt from Make and Merry Co and I am super excited to share with you the first of five beginner felt flower blog tutorials.

If you have never made felt flowers before I hope that this series inspires you to try. I created all of the felt flowers and stems for this series using one of the new Cactus Bloom Premium Wool Blend Craft Felt Sheet Value Packs and two sizes of Wool Felt Balls. The Mini Wool Felt Balls are new and they are the perfect size for floral centres.

At the end of this series, you will have created a variety of florals that can be combined to create a beautiful felt flower bouquet.

Today we’re going to create one of the larger feature flowers for the bouquet which I call Wildflower One.

Gather your supplies

• Wildflower One template
• Premium Wool Blend Craft Felt
• Light pink (x1)
• Vanilla (x1) 
• Hunter green (x1)
• Pan pastels or eye shadow
• Dark pink
• White
• Bright green
• Floral wire
• 16-gauge
• 22-gauge
• Dark green floral tape

Basic flower making tools
This basic flower making tools list is the same for all of the posts in this series.

Cutting: Assorted fabric scissors - sharp 5” fabric scissors, 5” shears, 7mm scalloped edge scissors, rotary cutter, clear ruler and self healing cutting mat.
Note: the scalloped edge scissors are nice to have but not necessary. My pattern templates include the scalloped edge so you can cut them by hand.

Pattern Making: Pellon 830 easy pattern tracing fabric, mini sewing clips, pencil or fine tip marker.
Note: I trace my pattern pieces onto the tracing fabric to create my cutting templates. Using wax paper is another option.

Gluing: Fine tip hot glue gun, hot glue sticks and a silicone glue pad.

Coloring: Sponge brush applicators and assorted paint brushes to use with pan pastels and eye shadow.
Note: adding color to the flowers makes them a little more detailed and it’s a style choice. If you are just starting out you can omit the felt coloring steps.

Floral Wire Stems: Mini wire cutters and pliers.

Let’s make the Wildflower One

Step 1. Cut all felt pieces as per the template.
Optional: Cut the centre petal piece as a rectangle and cut the scalloped edge using 7mm scalloped scissors.

Step 2. Fold the centre length-wise and glue the edges together as shown.

Step 3. Snip along the folded edge to create the fringe.
Tip: Thinner snips will create a fuller floral centre.

Step 4. Add hot glue to the uncut edge and roll to create the floral centre.

Step 5. Use 7mm scallop scissors to cut a scalloped edge on the centre petal. Snip between the scallop valleys to create the petals.

Step 6. Color the tips of the petals, on both sides, with dark pink pan pastel or eye shadow and a sponge brush applicator.

Step 7. Wrap the entire length of the centre petals around the floral centre and glue into place as you go.

Step 8. Gently separate and fluff the centre petals.

Step 9. Add some shape to the large petals by stretching and twisting the felt. Repeat this on all of the petals before going onto the next step.

Step 10. Color the petals, on both sides, with dark pink and white pan pastels or eye shadow.
Tip: Blend the dark pink and white for a softer and more realistic effect.

Step 11. Glue the bottom of the first petal to the base of the floral centre. Continue adding petals so they are evenly space out and slightly overlap each other.

Step 12. Gently fluff each petal into place and add a small amount of glue to the petals, where necessary, to shape and hold them in place.

Step 13. Your petals should look like this.

Step 14. And the back of your flower will look like this.

Step 15. Add shape to the calyx and leaf by stretching and twisting the felt.

Step 16. Prepare to add a stem. Coil the end of 16-gauge wire stem and bend using pliers.

Step 17. Create a hole in the centre of the calyx using an awl, then insert the wire stem as shown.

Step 18. Add a generous amount of glue to the centre of the calyx and wire coils then attach to the back of the flower.

Step 19. Add a line of glue to the middle of each of the leafy sections of the calyx and glue in place to the floral petals.

Step 20. Attach a 7” piece of 22-gauge wire to the middle of the leaf using glue.

Step 21. To hide the wire, fold the leaf in half while the glue is hot and allow to dry.

Step 22. Open the leaf and press to flatten the centre seam.

Step 23. Color the felt leaf with light green pan pastels or eye shadow on both sides. Wrap the wire stem with floral tape.

Step 24. Wrap the wire stem on the flower. Attach the leaf stem about 2” below the calyx and continue wrapping.

And our Wildflower One is now complete.

Download the Wildflower One hand cutting template here.

Stay tuned for the second post in this series. We are going to make the Wildflower Two next.