A Stitching Odyssey: Felt rose tutorial

Following interest from Tasia and Lily, I decided to post a tutorial on making felt roses, which helped to distract me from the major fitting issues I'm having with Vogue 5510!

To make these lovely accessories, you will need some felt or some pre-shrunk wool (I used an old jumper that I washed at a really high temperature). You can use other fabrics too, although many of them are prone to fraying.

Step 1: Cut out 7 circles of fabric, approximately 7cm in diameter.

Step 2: Cut each circle in half, to make 14 semi-circles. Using a gathering stitch, sew half way along the straight edge of one petal. Then overlap the next petal and stitch through both layers until you are half-way along the next petal. Carry on until you've used all petals and stitch right to the end of the last petal.

Step 3: You should end up with all your petals layered on one piece of thread. Slightly gather the petals.

Step 4: Starting at one end of the string of petals, gently roll the fabric up. Take care at this stage to make sure that the stitched edges remain close together and that the middle of the rose doesn't start to spiral out of the top.

Step 5: Gently hold the rose upside down so you can see the stitched  edges. You now want to stitch from the outside of the rose to the middle and then back out again. Continue doing this all the way around (it's a bit like sewing spokes in a wheel).

Step 6: VOILA! You are now the proud owner of a beautiful felt rose! Obviously you can now sew a safety pin to the bottom so that you can pin it onto anything and everything that takes your fancy ;o)

I hope people find this helpful, but do feel free to get in touch if you have any questions.

Good luck!