DIY Felt Lotus Flower

Hello there! Here's my brief tutorial on how to make the felt lotus flower pictured below. ("Brief" because it's so stunningly simple.)

And, yes, I know it's aqua. It looked bluer in the shop. :)

Step 1: Start with a small felt square. Mine run anywhere from 3/4 of an inch to 2 1/2 inches. You'll be varying sizes throughout the project to get the flower's layers right, larger squares on the bottom and smaller on top.

Step 2: Make a small cut in the center of each side of the square. (Make sure the cuts don't meet in the middle!)

Step 3: Round out the edges of the cuts to get that pointed petal shape.

Step 4: Repeat this process at varying sizes until you have three or four petal layers.

Step 5: Stack the layers, largest on bottom, smallest on top, and secure them. (Most of the time I use a dot of hot glue in the center of each square. Sometimes I use strong thread. It's up to you.)

Step 6: Create the flower's center.

This is where you can go a couple of different ways. You can cut out a circle of yellow felt and try blanket-stitching it on for a cutesy little touch.

Personally, I take a small strip of leftover felt, roll it up, and secure it with hot glue. Then I glue it to the center of the flower so that when I fold the top layer of petals up, they have something to hold onto.

(If you look closely, you can see the top petals folded over the tiny felt roll. It blends in nicely, though, doesn't it?)

Step 7: Add leaf backing. Simply repeat steps 1 through 3 with a slightly larger square of green felt, then glue or sew it to the back of the flower.  And you're done!

This is one of my favorite felt flowers to make. You can attach them to headbands or give them wire stems for a bouquet, I think they look especially great hanging from a mobile, as pictured below.

And there you have it. Have fun, my felt-frenzied friends! If you end up trying it for yourself, feel free to share! I'd love to see!

Thanks for stopping by! More posts coming soon!

Millie

The Secret to Heart-Felt Mobiles: Lots of Felt and Lots of Heart

Hi there! My name's Millie. I'm one of those craftsy people. This is my introductory post.

A Heart-FELT Ode to My Material of Choice:

I love felt. It's so friendly. It doesn't fray, it has a delightfully sturdy feeling to it, it comes in all sorts of happy colors, and when you blanket-stitch bits of it together with some embroidery floss, BAM! Instant- auto- turbo- cute!

See what I mean? Felt just can't help being adorable!

 Projects in felt are low-key, low-risk endeavors because felt is so blessedly cheap. One of the things that keeps me from being my most artistic, artsy-crafsty best is the prospect of wasting resources, but with this stuff, it's okay to make mistakes and start over. You don't have to place each stitch as carefully as if you're disabling a bomb. You're free to play around and create your own critters, as pictured above, or stitch your little nephew's name in Elvish Script onto a felt One Ring, as pictured below.

It's a very chill medium to use. And if your hobby is making pretty things to dangle and flutter soothingly from nursery ceilings, chill is good.

So yes, welcome to my craft-crazed, felt-frenzied corner of the internet. More posts to follow. See the flower pictured above? Next week I'm going to step out the creation process. (Spoiler: it's embarrassingly easy.) Should be fun.

Thanks for stopping by!
Millie