Felt Badger Brooch Tutorial

This month's freebie for my pattern newsletter subscribers will be a tutorial for sewing a cute felt badger brooch!

 

I stitched lots of these badgers for my online shops a decade ago (how time flies, huh?!) and am really looking forward to revisiting this pattern to share it with you guys.

I've always loved badgers but have had a particular fondness for them in recent years after getting to see lots in real life, visiting my parents' garden for some peanut snacks. You can see a few video clips of them over on my Instagram, if you're interested, just follow the links: one, two, three, and four. 

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I'll be sending out the badger brooch tutorial later this month (June 2019), and you'll also receive last month's project: a felt barn owl mask tutorial.

Click here to visit my tutorial archive for lots more free patterns and project ideas.

Make All The Things! Felt Cushion / Pillow Tutorial

Last weekend my To Do list read "MAKE ALL THE THINGS!!!"

I took this a bit literally, and decided to decorate a cushion with this exact phrase ... to help me remember to make more time for being creative, to not let admin take over my schedule, to do more making and less faffing about worrying about what project I should start next... and, well, just generally to encourage myself to make all the things.

Here's the finished cushion...

... I love it! Honestly this cushion makes me smile every time I see it, it's an awesome addition to my studio. 

To make your own, you will need....

- A plain cushion (pillow) cover.  I used a canvas cushion cover bought at H&M (affordable and available in lots of different colours, hurrah!) that measures 40 x 40 cm (16 x 16 inches).

If you want to you can, of course, make the cushion cover from scratch. There are plenty of cushion-making tutorials available online or in sewing books :)

- Felt in a constrasting colour to your cushion (you'll need two or three sheets/squares of felt)
- Sewing thread to match the felt, and a contrasting shade for tacking
- A needle and pins
- Sewing scissors (I used embroidery scissors, which are great for cutting out felt shapes)
- The templates provided at the bottom of this post. If your cushion is larger or smaller than mine just enlarge or shrink the templates as needed.


To decorate the cushion...

1. Use the templates provided to cut out the felt letters. 

 

2. Arrange the letters on the front of the cushion cover (or the fabric you'll be using to make your cushion) and carefully pin them in place. Note how I've left space around the edge of the letters, to allow for the 3D shape of the cushion.

Take care not to pin the front and back of the cushion cover together when pinning on your letters!

 

3. Use a contrasting shade of thread and large stitches to tack the felt letters in place, removing the pins as you sew. The tacking stitches will hold the letters in place and make the cushion much easier to handle (no getting pricked by pins when sewing!). Make sure you don't sew through both layers of the cushion.

 

4. Use matching thread and whip stitch to sew the felt letters to the cushion cover. This is nice and easy if you're sewing onto fabric-to-be-turned-into-a-cushion but sewing on the front of an already-sewn-together cushion can be a bit fiddly so take your time... and, again, make sure you're sewing through just the front layer of the cushion!

 

5. If you're making your own cushion, now's the time to take your appliqued fabric and follow the cushion-making instructions. If you've used a ready-made cover like me, all you need to do now is add the cushion insert and ta da...

 

... one slightly bossy cushion to put on your sofa to remind you to make stuff! :)

Click on each template sheet to view it in another tab or window. Make sure you're viewing the image at full size, then print it at 100%.

 

This tutorial is for non commercial use only: you can use it to make as many crafty cushions as you want for yourself and 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!

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Guest Post: Embroidered Felt Cat Hoop Tutorial

Today I'm sharing a cute sewing tutorial from Rebecca, who blogs at Hugs are Fun.

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To make this embroidered felt cat hoop you'll need -

Wool felt - I used mustard yellow and tan for the cat, but feel free to customize to match your own furry friend!
Matching embroidery floss (thread)
6" wooden embroidery hoop
Background fabric

Print out the template and cut out all the pieces. Stitch each piece in place with a whip stitch around the edge, using three strands of embroidery floss.

Using a backstitch, stitch whiskers and a mouth.

Tighten the fabric onto the hoop and position your cat onto the fabric. I found it easier to pin the cat so it didn't shift, but it's not absolutely necessary.

Trim away the excess fabric, trimming the fabric as close to the edge of the hoop as possible. You can cut a circle of felt to glue to the hoop, but this also isn't absolutely necessary. Add a ribbon for hanging or just hang the hoop directly on the wall.

Click here to view the template sheet full size and print at 100%.   

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Rebecca blogs at www.hugsarefun.com about her cross stitching and other craft exploits. She is the mom of two young girls and has a background in illustration and design.


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Free Tutorial from Christmas Crafting In No Time: Pompom Decorations

As I mentioned yesterday, today I've got a lovely free project to share with you guys from Christmas Crafting In No Time by Clare Youngs - pompom decorations!

Templates for the decorations are included at the bottom of this post. If you've never made pompoms before, you may find this tutorial helpful.

Pom-poms are enormous fun to make and a great way to introduce children to craft. These decorations have a homespun, folky appeal, but are brought bang up to date by using cool colors in cream, pale blue, and green. Pom-poms in bright colors also make a lovely addition to gift-wrapped presents.

MATERIALS
Cream wool yarn
Pencil
Scissors
Air-erasable pen or dressmaker’s pencil
Scraps of felt
Cream embroidery floss (thread)
Embroidery needle
Pom-pom trimming in matching color
Felt balls in matching and contrasting colors
Sewing needle and matching thread

1. These instructions are for the heart-shaped decoration. To make the other shapes, use different combinations of pom-poms and felt pieces. Make some pom-poms using cream yarn. For the heart-shaped decoration, make a small pom-pom, approx. 3⁄4 in. (2cm) in diameter or use pom-poms from a length of trimming.

2. Copy the heart template on page 163 and cut out two heart shapes from felt.

3. Use an air-erasable pen or a dressmaker’s pencil to draw the embroidery design on one felt heart, following the guidelines on the template.

4. Using embroidery floss (thread), embroider the design on one of the hearts.

5. On the other felt heart, pin the pom-pom trimming to the inside of the heart, all around the edge. Sew in position with small stitches and matching thread.

6. Thread a small pom-pom taken from some trimming onto some embroidery floss (thread) and thread on a felt ball. Take a couple of small stitches (without going all the way through the felt) across the heart with the pom-pom trimmed edge. Bring the needle out at the top of the heart.

7. Thread on some more felt balls or homemade pom -poms. Take the needle back down through the last pom-pom on the thread, leaving a loop to hang the decoration. Secure the thread.

8. Place the embroidered heart shape on the back heart shape, wrong sides facing. Sew together with small stitches all around the edge.

To print the templates - right click on the image and select to view it in another window or tab, then click again (if necessary) to view them full size and print.

Christmas Crafting in No Time by Clare Youngs is published by Cico books at £14.99 and is available from all good bookshops. All images are © Cico Books

DIY Snowflake Scallop Bunting

Time for another easy snowflake-themed craft project today - making scallop bunting decorated with paper snowflakes!

You could make some of this bunting for a Christmas party, or hang it as part of your seasonal decor.

You will need:
- the scallop bunting flag template at the bottom of this post
- white paper
- a compass or something circular to use as a template
- a pencil
- a glue stick
- black card
- baker's twine or other string, ribbon, or yarn for hanging the bunting
- a large, sharp sewing needle or a holepunch

First, use the template provided to cut out lots of scallop shapes from black card.

Then make lots of paper snowflakes using the method in yesterday's post. If you're using my scallop bunting template at actual size, your paper circles will need to be approx 9.5 cms in diameter. Use larger or smaller circles to fit larger or smaller bunting flags.You will need one snowflake per scallop.

 

Stick the snowflakes onto the scallops. Use a gluestick to stick one snowflake onto each card, making sure any pencil marks at the edges (from drawing the circle) are on the side you cover in glue! Place the snowflake face down on a piece of scrap paper and carefully cover it with glue. Then slowly peel it away from the paper (any excess glue will be left on the scrap paper), turn it over and lightly position it on the scallop as pictured. Then smooth the snowflake down so it's stuck firmly in place.

Next, cut a length of bakers twine / yarn / ribbon etc long enough for all the scallops plus extra at each end. Depending on the thickness of the twine etc you're using, either punch a hole in each of the top corners of the scallops... or use a large needle to poke holes through the black card.

Then thread the twine / ribbon through the holes, so it passes across the top of each scallop at the back of the bunting. The scallops should be evenly spaced and there should be a length of twiner / ribbon left each end for tying the bunting in place.

And you're done! Now you just need to hang the bunting wherever you fancy :) 

To print the template - right click on the image and select to view it in another window or tab, then click again (if necessary) to view full size and print at 100%. I've added a scale so you can check if your template has printed out correctly, but you can make it larger or smaller than mine if you prefer.

This tutorial is for non commercial use only. You may borrow one or two photos if you want to blog about my projects but remember to credit me and link back to the original source, and do not reproduce entire tutorials on your site. Thanks!
 
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