Felt Rose Tutorial

My knee is healing slowly and in between physical therapy, icing, bandaging, and taking care of my family in a slow, crippling, crutch carrying way...I've been working with my stash of felt.

Today I'm going to show you a little something I've been cooking up. 

What you need to make a felt rose:

one piece of felt 

(scraps will do)

needle and thread

Start by cutting one strip of felt measuring 1.5 inches x 12 inches.

(12 inches is the length of most pieces of felt sold at craft stores)

You are going to start from one end of the felt strip and cut out your petals.

They are about 3/4 inch wide from the bottom to the top of the petals.

Don't try to make them perfect, the imperfections will add to the character of your rose.

They should look something like this:

Now turn your strip over and cut a smaller length of petals. 

They should measure approximately 1/2 inch wide from the bottom to the top of the petals.

Now you will have two sets of petals: BIG and medium.

The leftover is going to look like this:

but don't throw it away....we're going to use it!

Carefully cut off all the points on one end to make a straight edge.

Now round off the points to make very small curves.

This is your small strip of petals.

Start with your small strip of petals and begin rolling it up tight, keeping the straight edges lined up.....like this:

Now take your needle and thread 

(I used contrasting thread so you could see it clearly.)

You can use a similar color to your felt to better hide your stitches.

 You are going to stitch straight through the bottom (straight edges).

Start on one side and pull the needle straight through to the other side. 

Do this a few times while you are rolling up your small strip to secure the center.

After you feel the center is solid and won't fall apart, start only stitching the sides as you roll starting from the center....like this:

When you are done rolling the center, you will have a tiny rose.

Now add your medium and large strips of petals, one at a time, continuing to stitch the sides together to hold it tight just as you were doing with the small strip.

I tried to keep all my straight edges lined up as I went along, but as my rose got bigger, the more the center sort of collapsed in. 

If that happens, no worries. 

Just make sure all the petals are secured with your stitches and you'll be just fine.

When you are all done, tie your thread in a knot.

Your rose should look similar to this...

Every one of the roses I made came out looking different so don't get frustrated if your rose doesn't look just like mine...they are all uniquely beautiful!

If you want to change the size of your rose, just add or subtract strips of petals.

Experiment with different shaped petals to change the shape and style of your rose. 

Just have fun! 

This is a quick and easy craft that can turn into LOTS of different things!

I'll be showing you one tomorrow! 

See you then!

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