The Sycamore Gap Tree - Free Felt Ornament Tutorial

Sew a felt ornament to commemorate the beautiful (and now sadly felled) Sycamore Gap tree on Hadrian's Wall!

The shocking news has prompted such an outpouring of love for the tree, and for our connections with nature and the landscapes that mean so much to us.

I thought it would be nice to design a felt ornament to celebrate and remember that specialness!

The step by step sewing tutorial includes templates and instructions for making three different Sycamore Gap ornaments - a sunny summer's day, a sunset scene, and a night-time scene with a starry sky.

Choose the design you prefer, or make the whole set!

Click here to find the free downloadable Sycamore Gap pattern on my Patreon.

FREE Felt Tampongate Ornament Tutorial & Happy Tampon Embroidery Pattern

This Coronation-inspired project definitely isn't everyone's cup of tea but the idea popped into my head and I simply could not resist making it!! Sorry!! :)

Sew a very silly, VERY CHEEKY ornament to celebrate the Coronation, the classic Royal scandal that was Tampongate, and the relationship between our King and Queen* 

 

 

(*I think The Tampon Conversation is actually a very cute and funny example of how well suited they are for each other!) 

As well as templates and instructions for sewing a Tampongate ornament, I've also included an embroidery pattern version of the design which fits neatly in a 3 inch embroidery hoop.

There's also an embroidery pattern of a cute little tampon on its own, and of course you can leave off the felt crown and just make a felt tampon ornament for any occasion!

 

A little felt tampon ornament would be fun to stitch as a first period present, to fundraise to help women and girls in period poverty, or just to help promote more open and relaxed conversations around the topic of periods. 

And the happy tampon pattern would look very cute stitched on a pouch for storing your period supplies!

Click here to find the free printable PDF pattern over on my Patreon!

Click here to read more about my Patreon pattern library and to get a preview of some of the many projects you'll get access to as a subscriber. 

These projects are for personal or fundraising use only: you can use them to stitch as many ornaments or other items as you want for yourself or as gifts, but please don't make any for sale unless all the proceeds will be donated to an appropriate charity. Thanks xx

Enjoyed this free project? Subscribe to my Patreon, or buy me a "coffee" and help support my creative work!

P.S. Visit my crafty tutorial archive for lots more free creative projects!

Visit my shop to buy my printable PDF sewing patterns and lots more:

Join My Pattern Club For All This Crafty Goodness (& More!)

I am absolutely loving having a Patreon and sharing easy-to-print PDF embroidery patterns and felt craft tutorials with my subscribers, but I find it a little frustrating how all the images are blurred out for non-subscribers so you can't easily browse and preview what you're signing up for. 

Sooo... I decided to make a page here on my blog with snazzy little collages of lots of the projects I've added to the pattern library so far. That way I can link people to the page to show them what they'll get when they sign up, and I can easily keep the page updated by making a new collage every time I've added a whole bunch more projects.

Well, that's the plan anyway! :)

In the meantime, I thought it would be nice to pop all the collages in a blog post here on my main feed as well because GOSH IT IS NICE seeing all these projects together!

If you're interested in joining my Patreon, it's just £3 (+VAT) (or your local sales taxes if you're outside Europe) per month and you'll be supporting my creative work while getting access to all this crafty goodness and an email in your inbox whenever I add something new.

 

Click here to visit my Patreon and sign up! xx

Felt Craft Brooch Kits for Hawthorn Handmade

Some nice freelance news - I've designed some more felt brooch kits for Hawthorn Handmade! 

I've been working with Hawthorn Handmade for a while, creating lots of fun DIY sewing kits with different themes: flowers, wildlife, dogs, and insects. 

Last month they launched two new themes, which I'm excited to be able to show you guys!

First up: a trio of crafting-themed brooches.

There's a sewing machine brooch...

 ... an embroidery brooch...

 

... and a knitting brooch, with a lovely basket of yarn!

 

Which one's your favourite?

Click here to shop the whole range of felt craft kits.

Felt Insect Brooch Craft Kits for Hawthorn Handmade

Some lovely news - I've designed some more felt craft kits for Hawthorn Handmade!

Last year they launched wildlife brooch sewing kits and flower brooch sewing kits, then this year they've added dog brooch kits to the range... and now insect brooches, too!

There's a Bumblebee...

... a Dragonfly...

... and a Butterfly, all perched on pretty felt flowers!

 

I really enjoyed designing these and I am delighted with how they turned out. I've been a bit slow blogging about them so I'm thrilled to say I've already seen photos of people's finished brooches popping up online and it is an absolute JOY to see them. 

If you make some, do let me know :)

Click here to shop the whole range of felt craft kits.

Subscribe to My Patreon for Lots of Crafty Goodness!

I've been gradually adding lots of old newsletter projects and other crafty goodness to my Patreon pattern library.

If you subscribe you'll get access to all the PDF patterns I've added to the library so far, then you'll be notified via email whenever I add new ones. 

Here are some of the projects you can make when you subscribe...

Fun felt fondant fancy pincushions:

A felt duck brooch (there's a matching embroidery pattern, too!).

Nautical textile art:

A felt tree stump brooch:

 Floral hoop art celebrating staying inside and making stuff, and going outside to get inspired:

 A felt raincloud brooch:

 Felt fox and badger brooches:

Daffodil and narcissi embroidery patterns:

Christmas house embroidery patterns (a detailed and a simple version, both with a blank space so you can update the year or add your own custom text).

 And a decorative retro rag doll!

Click here for a preview of more of the many projects available in my Patreon pattern library!

Click here to visit my Patreon page and sign up.

Tutorial: Sew Felt Spring Tree Brooches

Spring is coming! Celebrate the return of all things green and glorious - or just your love of trees - with today's sewing tutorial: a step by step guide to making a felt tree brooch.

These trees started off life as part of a tutorial for some autumn leaf and tree cards...

... then I couldn't resist doing a spring version, so I made some spring tree textile art...

... and shared some spring tree embroidery patterns:

Obviously I had to make some felt tree brooches, too! :)

You could also add ribbon loops to create little tree ornaments, or sew lots of trees for a spring forest garland. These would also make sweet motifs or patches to add to larger projects.

How to make a felt tree brooch:

1. Follow the steps in my spring tree textile art tutorial to sew your chosen tree design, using the templates linked to in that post. 

Instead of sewing the tree pieces to a piece of felt in an embroidery hoop you can just sew them to a piece of loose backing felt, but you may find having the felt held in the hoop makes it easier for you to add the embroidered details. If you're sewing your tree on loose felt there's no need to use tacking stitches to hold the tree shape in position, just use a pin instead.

If you're planning on making a few trees, try it one way then the other and see which method works best for you!

2. Remove the felt from your embroidery hoop (if you've used one) then cut out the tree shape, leaving a narrow border of the backing felt.

3. Use the tree shape as a template to cut out a matching matching shape from more of the backing felt. This plain shape will become the back of your brooch (or ornament, etc).

4. Turn the back of your brooch over, and add a brooch clasp. Sew it with a double thickness of sewing thread to match the backing felt.

5. Then hold the front and back of the brooch together and use more of the same thread to join them together, sewing flush around the tree shape with running stitch. And you're done! Arboreal felt goodness to pin to your jumper (sweater) or jacket this spring.

This tutorial is for non commercial use only: you can use it to stitch as many trees as you want for yourself or as gifts, but please don't make any for sale. Thanks xx

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