I didn’t originally intend it, but I’ve been posting a tutorial from a piece of each of my Project Run & Play Sew Along outfits.  I’m a little late with this one, but I thought I’d share how I made the pin for the blazer I made 2 weeks ago.

Now I know there are a billion fabric flower tutorials out there, but why not one more?  I’m really sorry for the horrible pictures – I work at night in my poorly lit crafting area.

So here’s what you need:
Wool felt
Hot glue gun
Pin back
Scissors, thread and needle

You can definitely use different fabric or even polyester felt, but I LOVE wool felt for this pin.  It’s nice and thick and gives the flower great shape.

First you’re going to need to cut your felt into little 5-petal flowers.  These are actually going to be the petals.  You’ll need 4 that are about the size you want the finished flower to be.  Then you’ll need 2 that are slightly smaller.  You’ll also need 2 circles – one that is smaller than your flower pieces and then one that fits inside the pin back.

(ignore the finished flower, but you can see how the smaller circle fits perfectly inside the width of the pin back)

Here’s how I cut the 5-petal flowers shapes.  First I cut the felt into circles slightly larger than I want the finished flower to be.  Then I slowly go around the circle and cut 5 little divots to make the petal shapes.  If you want, you can draw the design on first and then cut slightly inside the line.

Before you start, you may want to thread up a needle and tie your knot at the end, so you’re ready to sew.  Now take one of your large petal pieces and fold it in half.

Then fold it in half again.  It should look like this (side and top view).

Take the larger of your two circles and place the tip of your folded petal piece in the center of the circle.

Starting from the back side, put through needle through the tip of the folded flower and stitch it in place.  Don’t tie off or cut the thread, continue using it for the entire flower.  Repeat with the other 3 petal pieces arranging them around the circle to cover the entire circle.  It should look something like this.

Now take one of your smaller petal pieces and place it on top (without folding).  Put the needle through the flower (from the back) slightly off center and then back down a millimeter or two over.

When you pull your thread tightly, it will pull the center of the flower in and the petals upward (because of the small space between the stitch).

Now, for the center of the flower, you’re going to take the last petal piece and fold it in half.

Then roll it into a cone.

Insert your needle back through the center of the flower and through the tip of the cone.  Pull the needle through the cone and back down the center of the flower.  Stitch it into place a few more times, then tie off the thread at the back of the flower and snip.

The back of your flower will probably look something like this, messy stitches and knots all over.  Heat up your glue gun and adhere the pin back to the center of the flower.

Take your smaller circle and hot glue it to the back covering the pin back (and all those unsightly stitches 🙂

At this point, I didn’t totally like the shape of the flower and it’s petals, so I took some scissors and trimmed it a bit.  Then you’re done!!  Add it to anything for a fun finishing touch.  I used it on this blazer, but I love that I can add it to any other coat, or a bag, or a headband, etc.

There you have it!  One more flower tutorial for ya!