To make each biscuit brooch, you will need:
- the template sheet provided at the bottom of this post
- felt in your chosen colours (two colours per biscuit)
- biscuit-coloured felt
- matching sewing threads
- a brooch clasp or safety pin
- a needle and pins
- embroidery scissors
1. Use the template provided to cut out one "icing" piece and one "biscuit" piece.
2. Cut a straight edge along a piece of felt in your second colour. Use the embroidery scissors to snip out little triangles a short distance apart along the straight edge, so the felt looks like this:
Then carefully cut along the edge of the felt, as pictured, to create a narrow zig-zagging piece of felt a few mms wide.
3. Snip the long felt piece you've just cut out into sections, and arrange them on the "icing" biscuit shape. If you need to, repeat step 2 to create extra zig-zag strips.
Using embroidery scissors (which have small, sharp blades that are perfect for cutting out small/fiddly shapes) and cutting slowly will help improve the neatness of your felt strips. But if you have real trouble cutting out these narrow felt pieces, you can always use embroidery thread (floss) in the next step and sew the zig-zag pattern onto the felt with backstitch.
4. Use matching thread and small running stitches to carefully sew the zig-zag pieces in place. Take care not to pull the strips as you might tear the felt.
5. Turn the front of the biscuit over, and trim the overhanging pieces of felt.
The front of your felt biscuit should now look something like this:
6. Turn over the backing "biscuit" piece of felt and add a brooch clasp or safety pin. If you're adding a brooch clasp (as pictured) use a double-thickness of matching sewing thread to secure the clasp.
If you're using a safety pin, use matching thread to sew a small piece of felt over the fixed bar of the pin, holding it in place.
7. Then place the front and back of the brooch together, and sew around the edges with whip stitch. You can use thread to match the main icing colour for this but I prefer to use cream thread (to match the pale biscuit back). Finish your stitching neatly at the back.
These biscuits also make cute Christmas ornaments - just add a loop of narrow ribbon to the "wrong" side of one of the biscuit shapes in step 6 instead of adding a clasp. The biscuit design would also look great appliqued on felt gifts like purses, or lavender sachets.
Remember not to give these brooches to / leave them within reach of any small children who may mistake them for actual food!
Click here to view the template sheet in another window/tab, and print it at 100%.
This tutorial is for non commercial use only: you can use it to make as many brooches, etc, as you want for yourself or as gifts, but please don't make any for sale. You may borrow a few photos 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 tutorial on your site. Thanks!
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