A Year of Wreaths: August Felt Ice Cream Wreath Tutorial

This month’s wreath design is inspired by delicious ice cream, the trend for Instagram-friendly “unicorn food”, and the way we all share our holiday snaps on social media.

The wreath features a large, colourful felt ice cream topped with sequin and bead “sprinkles”, a pair of heart-eye emojis, an “OMG!” speech bubble, and lots of felt hearts.

If you don’t fancy making the whole wreath, the ice cream would look fab appliqued to a cushion cover or a bag, or worn as an awesome statement brooch. The emojis and speech bubble would also make cute brooches or patches - as well as stitching “OMG!” in the speech bubble you could also stitch “WOW!” or “YAY!” or other short words.

This tutorial originally appeared on The Village Haberdashery's blog - visit their shop for lots of crafty goodness! I'm sharing all twelve seasonal wreath tutorials here on my blog as the year progresses.

You will need:

The template sheets (click here to view, download and print the PDF)
A 30cm polystyrene ring wreath base
Half a metre of Kona cotton in Baby Pink (or other fabric of your choice)
Wool blend felt in the following colours: yellow, red, black, bright pink, white, light brown, light blue, light pink, and lilac
Sewing threads to match all the felt colours
Black embroidery thread
Embroidery thread to match the beige felt
Assorted sequins, bugle beads and seed beads in co-ordinating colours
Sewing scissors
Embroidery scissors (great for cutting out small or detailed felt shapes)
Sewing needle and pins
A small piece of semi-transparent paper (tracing paper, white tissue paper or baking paper) and a fine black pen, OR an air-erasable fabric marker pen
A glue gun and glue
A heat-proof mat for the glue gun
Newspaper to protect your workspace from any glue drips
Optional: a piece of co-ordinating yarn or ribbon for hanging the wreath

To make the wreath:

1. Use the template provided to cut out 25 pieces from your chosen fabric  for wrapping the wreath base. You may need to cut a few more strips later to finish wrapping the wreath, but it’s better to cut fewer strips to start with than end up wasting fabric!

2. Add the fabric strips to the wreath base one by one, using a glue gun to secure the ends at the back of the wreath. Overlap the fabric strips so there are no gaps where the polystyrene base can show through. For each fabric strip, add a dab or two of hot glue to the back of the wreath then carefully press the fabric into position. If required use the template to cut more fabric strips, adding them until the whole base is covered in fabric.

IMPORTANT: take care when working with the glue gun as the glue gets very hot! Always place it on a heat-proof mat when not in use, and use newspaper or other scrap paper to protect your workspace. Work slowly, squeezing the gun with care to control the amount of glue you’re using and keeping your fingers out of the way of the hot glue.

The wreath base will now look something like this:

3. Use the templates provided to cut out the emoji pieces: four yellow circles, four red heart eyes, and two black smiles. Arrange the small pieces on two of the circles, as shown, sewing them in place with running stitch and matching sewing thread. Then sew each decorated circle to a backing plain circle, joining them with yellow sewing thread and whip stitch.

4. Use the templates provided to cut out the heart pieces: six large bright pink hearts and eight small red hearts. Sew two layers of each shape together with whip stitch and matching sewing thread, making a total of three large pink hearts and four small red ones.

5. Use the templates provided to cut out two speech bubbles from white felt. Trace the “OMG!” text onto a small piece of white tissue paper, tracing paper or baking paper with a fine black pen. Position the text in the centre of one of the speech bubble pieces and pin it in place, sew it with large tacking stitches (avoiding the text itself) then remove the pins.

If you have an air-erasable fabric marker pen you can skip the paper pattern if you want and just write “OMG!” directly onto one of the felt pieces. 

6. Stitch the text with backstitch and black embroidery thread (using half the available strands – so, for six-stranded embroidery thread just use three strands). Then remove the tacking stitches and carefully tear away the paper.

7. Sew the decorated front of the speech bubble to the plain backing piece using whip stitch and white sewing thread.

8. Use the templates provided to cut out the ice cream pieces: one light blue top scoop, one lilac middle scoop, one light pink bottom scoop, and one each of the cone pieces from beige felt.

Pin all the pieces onto a large piece of pink felt as shown (any colour felt will do for this, but make sure to use the same colour again in step 9) then trim away the excess felt, leaving a rough border around the ice cream. The ice cream should be approximately 26 cm high.

9. Begin sewing the ice cream pieces to the backing felt, using matching sewing threads and sewing only along the inside edges of the shape (i.e. not where you’ll be trimming away the excess backing felt later). Whip stitch along the bottom edges of the top two ice cream scoops then sew the top edges of the cone with one stitch between each scallop.

10. Sew a crisscrossed design on the ice cream cone to create a waffle effect. Use backstitch and half strands of matching embroidery thread, sewing lines in one direction and then the other as shown. Sew the lines freehand (they don’t have to be perfectly straight!) or use an air-erasable fabric marker pen to draw guide lines for your stitching.

11. Decorate the top scoop of the ice cream to look as if it’s been covered in sprinkles. Add seed beads, bugle beads, and sequins, or use lots of different colours of embroidery thread to create stitched sprinkles. I started with large sequins, then added bugle beads and smaller sequins, and then filled in the spaces with seed beads.

12. Carefully trim the excess backing felt from around the ice cream, taking care not to accidentally snip any of your stitching.

13. Use the ice cream as a template to cut out a matching backing piece of felt (I used pink felt for this, as before). Pin the layers together then whip stitch around the edges. Sew each section with matching sewing thread, removing the pins as you sew.

You should now have a collection of felt elements ready to add to your wreath.

14. Arrange the felt pieces on the wreath as pictured and use pins to hold them in position.

One by one, remove the pins and secure the felt pieces with a dab or two of hot glue. To attach the large pieces, add some glue to the wreath base then carefully press the shapes down into position.  To attach the smaller pieces, add a dab of glue directly to the back of the felt shape then very carefully press it in position on the wreath.

Your wreath is now finished! Add a length of yarn or co-ordinating ribbon for hanging the wreath, or hang it directly from a hook or nail.


Enjoyed this free tutorial? Buy me a "coffee" and help support my blog!


P.S. Subscribe to my newsletter for a monthly free pattern and visit my crafty tutorial archive for lots more free projects.

This tutorial is for non commercial use only: you can use it to make as many wreaths as you want for yourself or as gifts, but please don't make any for sale. You may borrow a couple of photos if you want to blog about this project, but remember to credit me and link back to this page on my blog, and do not reproduce my entire tutorial / share my templates on your site. Thanks!

A Year of Wreaths: July Felt Pinwheels Wreath Tutorial

This month’s wreath is inspired by days at the seaside and those colourful spinning pinwheels you buy as a kid to stick triumphantly on top of your sandcastles.

The felt versions are super easy to make and would also make fab brooches or gift toppers. They don’t spin like the real thing, but I hope they’ll remind you of lots of happy days at the beach all the same!

This tutorial originally appeared on The Village Haberdashery's blog - visit their shop for lots of crafty goodness! I'm sharing all twelve seasonal wreath tutorials here on my blog as the year progresses.

You will need:

The template sheet (click here to view, download and print the PDF) IMPORTANT: wait until step 4 to cut along the dotted lines on the templates!
A 30cm polystyrene ring wreath base
Half a metre of Kona cotton in Turquoise (or a fabric of your choice)
Wool blend felt in the following colours: pink, orange, yellow, and green (or four colours of your choice)
Three coordinating buttons – I used some fun pink and white polkadot buttons
Pink sewing thread
Four paper straws
Sewing scissors
Sewing needle and pins
Scissors and sticky tape
A glue gun and glue
A heat-proof mat for the glue gun
Newspaper to protect your workspace from any glue drips
Optional: a piece of twine or co-ordinating ribbon for hanging the wreath

To make the wreath:

1. Use the template provided to cut out 25 pieces from your chosen fabric for wrapping the wreath base. You may need to cut a few more strips later to finish wrapping the wreath, but it’s better to cut fewer strips to start with than end up wasting fabric!

2. Add the fabric strips to the wreath base one by one, using a glue gun to secure the ends at the back of the wreath. Overlap the fabric strips so there are no gaps where the polystyrene base can show through. For each fabric strip, add a dab or two of hot glue to the back of the wreath then carefully press the fabric into position. If required use the template to cut more fabric strips, adding them until the whole base is covered in fabric.

IMPORTANT: take care when working with the glue gun as the glue gets very hot! Always place it on a heat-proof mat when not in use, and use newspaper or other scrap paper to protect your workspace. Work slowly, squeezing the gun with care to control the amount of glue you’re using and keeping your fingers out of the way of the hot glue.

The wreath base will now look something like this:

3. Use the square templates provided to cut out three outer squares from pink felt and one inner square each from yellow, orange and green felt.

4. Cut along the dotted lines on the templates, then use the templates to cut the same lines on your felt squares.

5. Place each small inner square on top of one of the larger outer squares, lining up the pieces neatly as shown.

6. Carefully fold one of the points of the pinwheel inwards, so the point slightly overlaps the centre of the square. Sew the point in position with one or two small stitches of matching pink sewing thread.

Then repeat this process three more times, folding every other point into the centre and sewing it in place.

7. Add a button to the centre of the pinwheel, stitching it securely with pink sewing thread.

Repeat steps 6 and 7 to construct the other two pinwheels. Make sure you fold the same points down on each pinwheel, so they match each other.

8. Arrange the pinwheels and paper straws on the wreath, pinning the felt pieces in place. For the central straw to reach across the middle of the wreath you’ll need to extend it slightly – cut a section from another straw and attach it with clear sticky tape. Make sure the extended end is hidden under the felt pinwheel!

9. Use a glue gun to very carefully stick the straws and felt shapes in position. Stick the straws first, adding a very small amount to the bottom end of each straw (so the glue won’t be visible) and a larger amount at the top (where the glue will be hidden under the felt). Then glue the pinwheels in place on top.

10. If needed, cut a length of twine or co-ordinating ribbon and knot it securely around the top of the wreath. Use this to hang the wreath in your chosen spot, or just hang the wreath directly onto a hook or nail.


Enjoyed this free tutorial? Buy me a "coffee" and help support my blog!


P.S. Subscribe to my newsletter for a monthly free pattern and visit my crafty tutorial archive for lots more free projects.

This tutorial is for non commercial use only: you can use it to make as many wreaths as you want for yourself or as gifts, but please don't make any for sale. You may borrow a couple of photos if you want to blog about this project, but remember to credit me and link back to this page on my blog, and do not reproduce my entire tutorial / share my templates on your site. Thanks!

A Year of Wreaths: June Felt Butterflies Wreath Tutorial

This month’s wreath is an ode to two of summer’s great joys – clear blue skies, and beautiful butterflies!

The wreath is wrapped in some gorgeous sky blue yarn and decorated with butterflies made from wool blend felt. For an extra special wreath, you could use embroidery thread to decorate the butterflies’ wings or add sequins for a bit of sparkle. You can also use the butterfly template sheet for other crafty projects: cushions, greetings cards, hair clips, and so on.

This tutorial originally appeared on The Village Haberdashery's blog - visit their shop for lots of crafty goodness! I'm sharing all twelve seasonal wreath tutorials here on my blog as the year progresses.

You will need:

The template sheet provided (click here to view, download and print the PDF)
A 30cm polystyrene ring wreath base
Wool blend felt in orange, bright pink, purple, pink, and yellow (or your choice of butterfly colours)
Matching sewing threads: orange, bright pink, purple, pink, and yellow.
Sky blue yarn (I used one skein of Manos del Uruguay Maxima in Status).
Sewing scissors (embroidery scissors are great for cutting out small shapes!)
Sewing needles and pins
Glue gun and glue
A heat-proof mat for the glue gun
Newspaper to protect your workspace from any glue drips
Optional: co-ordinating ribbon

1. Decorate the wreath base with your chosen yarn. Secure the yarn with a knot at what will become the back of your wreath. Begin wrapping the yarn around the wreath base, passing the ball of yarn through the hole in the centre of the wreath as you wrap the yarn around the outside.  Hide the loose yarn end under the yarn as you wrap, and make sure that you’re not leaving any gaps where the white wreath base shows through. Continue wrapping, gradually covering the whole of the wreath base.

Wrapping the wreath takes a while, so I highly recommend wrapping your wreath while watching a film or some episodes of your favourite TV show. 

Once the whole wreath base has been covered with yarn, tie a knot securely at the back and carefully trim the loose end so it won’t be visible when the wreath is hung up.

2. Use the templates provided to cut out the butterfly pieces. Each butterfly is made up of a top wing piece (marked A), a bottom wing piece (marked B) and a body piece (marked C). For each butterfly, cut two of each wing piece (flipping the templates over when cutting the second pieces) and two body pieces.

I cut my butterfliesn in the following colours. Butterfly 1 = yellow and bright pink. Butterfly 2 = pink. Butterfly 3 = purple and yellow. Butterfly 4 = bright pink. Butterfly 5 = orange. Butterfly 6 = purple, orange and pink.

3. Sew the butterfly pieces together, using sewing thread to match the felt. Use whip stitch to join the two body pieces – hide the knot between the two layers and finish your stitching neatly at the back.

Then arrange the wing pieces so they overlap slightly, with the top (A) pieces overlapping the bottom (B) pieces. Join the pieces together with a line of small stitches where they overlap. On the smallest butterflies you’ll just need a couple of stitches to join the pieces together.

4. Arrange the butterfly pieces on the wreath, using the photos as a guide. Leave a small gap between the wings for the body pieces. When you’re happy with the arrangement, use pins to hold the wing pieces in position and set the body pieces aside.

Tip: you may find it helpful to line up the body pieces in the order they’ll be needed on the wreath so you can make sure to match the correct body to each butterfly. 

 

5. Glue the wing pieces to the wreath. One by one, remove a wing and turn it over. Add a dab of glue in the middle of the wing then carefully place the shape back in position and press it onto the wreath.

IMPORTANT: take care when working with the glue gun as the glue gets very hot! Always place it on a heat-proof mat when not in use, and use newspaper or other scrap paper to protect your workspace. Work slowly, squeezing the gun with care to control the amount of glue you’re using and keeping your fingers out of the way of the hot glue.

Tip: you may find it helpful to test glue a couple of scrap pieces of felt before you start, so you can see how much glue you need to use to hold each piece in place.

6. Add the remaining butterfly pieces. One by one pick up a body piece, add a small dab of glue in the correct spot, and then very carefully press the felt piece in place on top.

7. Your wreath is now finished! Add a length of yarn or co-ordinating ribbon for hanging the wreath, or hang it directly from a hook or nail.


UPDATE: click here for a tutorial for making felt butterfly hair clips!

Enjoyed this free tutorial? Buy me a "coffee" and help support my blog!


P.S. Subscribe to my newsletter for a monthly free pattern and visit my crafty tutorial archive for lots more free projects.

This tutorial is for non commercial use only: you can use it to make as many wreaths as you want for yourself or as gifts, but please don't make any for sale. You may borrow a couple of photos if you want to blog about this project, but remember to credit me and link back to this page on my blog, and do not reproduce my entire tutorial / share my templates on your site. Thanks!

A Year of Wreaths: May Felt Foxgloves Wreath Tutorial

When I think of May, I always think of flowers and especially of foxgloves. They are such beautiful, striking flowers and it was a lot of fun designing a felt version for this month’s tutorial...

The felt foxgloves will take you a bit of time to make, but they don’t need any advanced sewing skills just some patience. I hope you’ll agree that the end result is worth it!

Don't have anywhere to hang a wreath? Instead you you could mount the foxgloves on some card and frame them in a box frame to make some lovely floral wall art.

This tutorial originally appeared on The Village Haberdashery's blog - visit their shop for lots of crafty goodness! I'm sharing all twelve seasonal wreath tutorials here on my blog as the year progresses.

You will need:

The template sheet provided (click here to view, download and print the PDF)
A 30cm polystyrene ring wreath base
Bright pink, light pink, and spring green felt
Sewing thread to match the feltcolours
Two paper covered floral wires (or other sturdy craft wire)
Sewing scissors
Embroidery scissors
Sewing needles and pins
A black permanent marker pen
A glue gun and glue
A heat-proof mat for the glue gun
Newspaper to protect your workspace from any glue drips
A small amount of toy stuffing
An orange stick or other narrow tool for adding the stuffing

To make the wreath:

1. Use the template provided to cut the felt strips for wrapping the wreath: cut eight strips from each felt colour.

2. Lay the strips on top of the wreath in colour order (bright pink, light pink, spring green), overlapping them slightly so that none of the polystyrene ring base will show through at the edges of the wreath. When you’ve added all the pieces and are happy with the arrangement, insert pins to hold the felt in position then turn the wreath over. One by one, wrap the felt pieces around the wreath inserting pins to hold the felt in place.

The back of your wreath will now look something like this:

3. Use a glue gun to secure the ends of the felt at the back of the wreath. Work on one piece of felt at a time, removing the pin(s) holding it in place and folding the felt back slightly. Carefully add a dab or two of hot glue to the wreath base then very carefully press the felt down into position.

IMPORTANT: take care when working with the glue gun as the glue gets very hot! Always place it on a heat-proof mat when not in use, and use newspaper or other scrap paper to protect your workspace. Work slowly, squeezing the gun with care to control the amount of glue you’re using and keeping your fingers out of the way of the hot glue.

Tip: you may find it helpful to test glue a couple of scrap pieces of felt before you start, so you can see how much glue you need to use to hold each piece in place.

Once the glue has dried, turn the wreath over and remove the pins from the front. The front of your wreath will now look something like this:

4. Use the templates provided to cut out the foxglove pieces. Cut six buds, nine large flowers and three small flowers from bright pink felt. Cut six buds and nine small flowers from light pink felt. Then cut 27 caps from spring green felt.

Tip: embroidery scissors are perfect for cutting out small felt shapes!

5. Add a random pattern of dots to all the flower pieces (the large and small pink pieces, but not the pink buds) using a black permanent marker pen. Test out the pen on a piece of scrap felt before you start decorating the flowers. The ink may soak through the felt, so place a piece of paper under the flowers as you work to protect your table.

6. Now it’s time to start sewing the flowers. Each small and large flower is sewn the same way, using matching sewing threads.

Begin by folding the flower so that the dots are on the outside, as shown. Sew along the straight edge with whip stitch in matching pink sewing thread. Start at the top and work down, leaving large gaps between the stitches.

Then sew back up again, sewing between the gaps and finishing your stitching at the top. Take care not to sew your stitches too tightly!

Then carefully turn the flower the right side out, flattening the seam to make a trumpet-like flower shape.

7. Thread your needle with green sewing thread, and pass it up through the centre of one of the green cap pieces. Place the cap over the hole at the top end of the flower (so the knot is underneath the cap).

Sew down through the centre of the cap, then up through the flower and cap as shown below.

Make a small stitch holding the “leaf” of the cap in place, then pass the needle back up through the centre of the cap.

Repeat this process for the other three “leaves” of the cap, sewing it in place around the end of the flower. You will need to pinch the end of the flower slightly (especially with the small flowers) to get the cap to fit neatly around it. Finish your stitching neatly at the top of the cap.

8. To sew the buds, use whip stitch and matching sewing thread to join two bud pieces together. Begin sewing from the top, stuffing the shape with small pieces of toy stuffing as you sew up the second side.

Tip: Adding the toy stuffing can be a bit fiddly as the buds are quite small. Use something narrow like an orange stick (the ones used for manicures) to poke the stuffing into the bud.  

Once you’ve sewn and stuffed each bud, add a cap piece to the top following the same method as in step 7.

9. When all the flowers and buds are finished, use the stalk templates to cut two stalk pieces from green felt: one long and one short.

Fold the long stalk piece in half and join the edges with whip stitch and matching green sewing thread, leaving one end unstitched as shown. Bend one of the floral wires, folding it in half. Insert the wire into the stalk and sew up the bottom edge with more whip stitches.

Repeat this process to make the short stalk, this time folding the wire in thirds.

10. Time to attach the flowers and buds to the stalks! This can be a bit fiddly, so take your time and do your best to keep the front of the foxgloves free from glue. Before you glue each piece, position it and look at the points of contact – i.e. where the piece you’re adding will touch what you’re gluing it to. Then remove the piece and add glue to those points, either on the piece you’re adding or where you’re attaching it (whichever is easiest at the time!).

Start by arranging the central flowers along the stalk, as pictured. For the large foxglove add three large flowers then a small flower on top. For the small foxglove, add three small flowers. Glue the flowers in position one by one, working upwards.

Then add the other two flowers in each row.

Finally, add the three buds to the top of the foxglove.

The finished foxgloves should look something like this:

11. Once the foxgloves have fully dried, position them on the wreath. When you’re happy with their placement, use the glue gun to attach them – adding a dab of glue at the top and bottom of the stalk where it will touch the wreath.

Hang the finished wreath with a matching piece of yarn or ribbon, or directly from a hook or nail. 

Enjoyed this free tutorial? Buy me a "coffee" and help support my blog!


P.S. Subscribe to my newsletter for a monthly free pattern and visit my crafty tutorial archive for lots more free projects.

This tutorial is for non commercial use only: you can use it to make as many wreaths as you want for yourself or as gifts, but please don't make any for sale. You may borrow a couple of photos if you want to blog about this project, but remember to credit me and link back to this page on my blog, and do not reproduce my entire tutorial / share my templates on your site. Thanks!