Fun With Felt: Flower Barrettes Tutorial

Secunda and I were brainstorming the other day, trying to figure out gift ideas that she could make for her friends for Christmas. An initial perusal of some kids' craft books showed me that most of those crafts are a bit below her skill level, so I headed over to Pinterest to find something more in keeping with our skill set. What we decided on was making felt hair accessories, and here is the tutorial for our first project, felt flowers!

Step 1 - This is all you'll need: six (6) small circles of felt (I used a glucose test strip bottle to trace the first one, then used it as a template to cut the others out), thread in a complementary colour, needle and scissors.

The glucose test strip bottle gave me a 1 inch diameter circle, which is the perfect size for this project

side-by-side comparison against a quarter and a ruler to show scale

They look like fuzzy grapes...

Step 2 - Petal Pusher. Take your first circle and fold it in half.

Then fold it in half again.

Step 3 - Putting it all together. Prepare your needle with a single strand of embroidery floss (or sewing thread), long enough to fold in half. Match cut ends up and tie a knot. Place your quartered circle on top of another felt circle and sew it down with a single stitch, coming up from underneath and back down through the folded felt.

Continue folding and securing felt circles in the same manner until you have four quartered circles sewn down.

I sewed mine down so that the folded edges were facing each other; I felt this gave it more fullness. But really, do whatever looks good to you!

Step 4 - Topping it off. Take your sixth felt circle, folding it in quarters like the others. Bring your needle up through the first circle secured, then through the point of the final circle, then back down through the point of the circle directly across from the first one.
 

Pushing the top felt circle to one side, repeat the securing stitch.

You now have a completed felt flower! But what are you going to do with it? Leave the threaded needle attached, because you're going to need it.

Step 5 - Sew it onto the barrette: Find a snap barrette (I found mine at the dollar store).

 Turning the barrette over, bring your needle up at the end of the barrette, as shown in the photo. Pressing the barrette against the underside of the flower, hold the barrette in place with your thumb, then make a diagonal stitch to secure it.

 Bring your needle back up in the other side of the barrette, as shown.

Do this stitch twice for each side, and up again at your starting point.

Push the needle down on the other side at the end, making a horizontal stitch, bringing the needle up at the top of the barrette.

 Make a knot. My method is to put the needle under an existing stitch, leaving a loop of thread.

 Then take the needle and put it through the loop, leaving a second loop of thread. Holding the needle, tighten the first loop down.

 Repeat this three times.

 Hold the thread down where the knot is forming with your fingertip or fingernail. Pull on the needle to tighten the thread down.

 Voilà - a knot!

Trim the excess thread close to the knot.

 And here is your finished flower barrette!

My lovely assistant Quarta models the finished product :)

 The finished product, shown here with a ruler and quarter for scale.

Thanks for looking through the tutorial - happy crafting! I'd love to see links to your own felt flowers in the comments section!