Yesterday Pixie and Fairy had their dance recital. There was talent-a-plenty I can tell ya! This was Pixie’s first time on the big stage and Fairy’s third… a real professional! Both of the girls did great, and Pixie stole the show, with a prop mix-up, and her grace under pressure. Thought there was going to be a standing ovation for her! Truly exciting.
As in past years, I made the girls felt flowers, presented in a spray of baby’s breath. The idea being that instead of giving them flowers that will be thrown away in a few days, they have a permanent keepsake to mark their special days. By the time they finish high school they should have quite a lovely bouquet of memories! Fairy’s past flowers and tutorial can be found HERE.
This year I made a Fluffy Felt Flower… perhaps a bit Seussian in appearance… with dense yellow petals and this fluffy thingy in the middle. They wound up looking lovely. Here are the directions for making our Fluffy Felt Flower.
Felt Flower Tutorial Materials:
- gold wool felt for centers
- yellow wool felt for petals
- dark green felt for leaves
- strip of green cotton fabric 1/2″ x 36″
- 3 12″ pipe cleaners
- embroidery floss
- pattern
Felt Flower Tutorial Directions:
Make a copy of the felt flower tutorial pattern.
Cut out the felt pieces as follows:
- 1 flower center – gold felt
- 3 small petals – yellow felt
- 5 medium petals – yellow felt
- 7 large petals – yellow felt
- 5 leaves – green felt
Twist the 3 pipe cleaners together.
Fold flower in half along fold line on pattern. Using the pattern as a guide, clip beginning at the fold, being careful NOT to clip all the way through.
Place one end of the folded flower inside over the end of the pipe cleaners. Tack in place using 2 strands of gold floss.
Continue twisting and tack the inside around the pipe cleaners. NOTE: I often slip my needle between the pipe cleaners when tacking the flower inside to the pipe cleaners. Tie off the end of the thread and clip thread.
To add petals, begin with the 3 small petals. Attach 2 strands of yellow floss where the flower center touches the pipe cleaner. Sew a running stitch along the bottom of a petal.
Push the petal up against the pipe cleaners, gathering the running stitch, and tack.
Continue adding the other 2 small petals, spacing them so they surround the flower inside.
Do the same thing for the other 2 layers of petals, adding them slightly below the other layer of petals.
Switch to green thread and sew on in the same manner, gathering, placing and tacking.
At this point I embroider the girls’ first initial and the year with 2 strands of floss. You could embroider something more elaborate if you wish, just make sure you hide the stitches on the inside of the felt because the backside is visible.
To wrap the stem, rip a piece of green cotton fabric 1/2″ x 36″. Remove any loose threads.
Beginning directly under the leaves, tack the strip of fabric to the flower, slightly overlapping the bottom of the leaves. None of the pipe cleaner should be showing. Begin twisting and tacking the strip in place, overlapping the strips as you go.
When you get to the bottom, clip off any length you don’t need, turn the end under, and tack in place.
Felt Flower Tutorial Memory Bouquet Directions:
To present the flowers you will need:
- baby’s breath
- a cellophane flower sleeve
- wide ribbon
Nestle the flower amongst the baby’s breath.
Place the flowers in the cellophane sleeve and tie a bow with a wide ribbon.
They flowers are now done and ready to be presented to your tiny dancers or place them in a vase for their play kitchen.
Your girls are adorable. I miss recitals. Haven’t been in one in 3 years. I wish I had a memory bouquet. Someday if I have daughters, I will definitely do this.
Such pretty flowers. You make everything look so easy! The girls are adorable. Is it just me or does big brother look proud?
I love these fluffy felt flowers! Thanks so much, I’ll be linking.