The bow would make a great gift topper. Tie a gift with co-ordinating ribbon then attach the brooch to “top” the parcel. Once the gift is unwrapped, the bow can be kept and worn as a brooch or used to decorate more gifts in future.
I made this brooch with felt from docrafts. This tutorial didn't make it into their magazine, so I'm sharing it with you guys instead! Yay!
You will need:
- The templates provided at the bottom of this post.
- Felt.You need felt that will keep its shape and not flop so avoid very thin and soft felt. 100% wool felt would be perfect for this but thicker synthetic felts would also work well and is what I used to make my bow.
- Matching sewing thread.
- A brooch clasp.
- Sewing needle and pins.
- Sewing scissors.
To make the brooch:
1. Use the templates provided to cut out the following pieces from your chosen felt: 1 x bow, 2 x ribbons, 2 x brooch backs and 1 x centre circle. Turn over one of the ribbon pieces so you have a left and right ribbon.
2. Arrange the ribbons and bow on one of the backing shapes. The tops of the ribbon pieces should overlap each other slightly then be hidden behind the bow piece.
3. Fold the ends of the bow piece so the ends meet in the middle and the 3D bow shape is created. Hold the four pieces together firmly in one hand and sew all the layers together. Use matching thread and keep your stitches in the centre of the bow so they’ll be hidden under the circle piece in the next step.
4. Add the circle to the middle of the bow. Sew it in position with a double thickness of matching thread, sewing two stitches in the centre to form an X shape.
5. Turn over the second backing shape and attach a brooch clasp. Sew the clasp securely in place with a double thickness of matching thread.
6. Place the front and back of the brooch together. Use whip stitch and more matching thread to join the edges of the backing shapes.
Click here to view the template sheet, make sure you're viewing it full size then print it at 100%.
This tutorial is for personal use only: you can use it to stitch as many brooches as you want for yourself or as gifts, but please don't make any for sale. You may borrow a photo if you want to blog about this project, but remember to credit me and link back to the original source, and do not reproduce my entire post or share the pattern itself on your site. Thanks!
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