How to Make Felt Flowers: Beautiful Blooms That Never Wilt!

Step 1:

Spray your squares of felt on both sides with spray stiffener, and allow to dry. This will help your flower pieces have a cleaner edge and a stiffer finish.

Step 2:

Take 4 lengths of green floristry wire, cut each to 30cm long, and wind them together with green floristy tape. Secure the end with a little hot glue.

Step 3:

Cut a rectangle of pale pink felt, and fold it in half lengthways, securing it with a line of hot glue along the bottom edge.

Using embroidery scissors, snip all along the folded edge little cuts parallel to the edge, approximately 4mm in length, and 1-2mm apart.

Step 4:

Using hot glue, stick the end of the wound floristry wire to the edge of the felt, just below the snipped edge.

Run some hot glue along the length of the felt and start to roll the felt around the end of the wire.

Step 5:

Cut some lengths of red felt 3cm wide, enough to form a total length of approximately 50cm. Using your scissors, trim the top edges to form a rough scalloped edge. Try to be even, but don't worry about imperfections, as these will add to the natural look of the finished flower.

Using hot glue, roll the red felt around the pink felt, lining up the bottom edges, so that the scalloped points sit just above the pale pink felt at the centre. Keep rolling and adding new bands on until you have about 6 layers of red felt around the pink centre.

Step 6:

Cut some red felt strips 2.5cm wide. Trim the felt along the length to make small petal shapes as pictured above. You will need between 30-40 petals for the next step.

Step 7:

Using hot glue, stick the small red petals around the edge of the felt so that about 1/3 of each petal is sticking above the scalloped red felt. Repeat for a second layer.

Step 8:

Cut some lengths of dark red felt 7cm wide. Repeat step 6, but this time only curve the felt shapes at the top. Trim the top of each petal to round off the shape. You will need approximately 60-70 petals.

Step 9:

To stick the petals to the flower base, apply a small amount of hot glue to the bottom 3cm of each petal and lay onto the red felt centre, lining up the bottom edge with the bottom edge of the red felt.

Overlap each petal slightly. Complete the layer of petals and then repeat twice more so that you have three layers of dark red petals.

Step 10:

Gently feather out the petals flat away from the centre of the flower. If you have any petals that stick out a lot further than the rest, trim off the excess length and reshape to a rounded point. Similarly, if there are any huge gaps between the petals, stick additional petals on to fill the gaps. You are looking for a fairly even full circle of petals all the way around the centre.

Step 11:

Turn the flower over and trim away the edge of the base of the felt to create a more rounded bottom.

Step 12:

Cut a 7cm square from dark green felt. Trim off the corners to form a rough circle.

Fold the circle into quarters and trim a very tiny amount off of the point. When you unfold the circle again there should now be a tiny hole in the very centre.

Step 13:

Fold the circle in half and snip along the folds towards the centre, finishing approximately 10mm from the hole. Refold in half in the opposite direction, and repeat the process. Snip again in between each cut to create 8 sections.

Trim off the corners of each section to create a flower shape with 8 round petals.

Step 14:

Slide the green felt shape over the end of the florist wire and push down towards the head of the flower. Cover the base of the flower in hot glue, taking care to put a line of hot glue around the rounded edge you trimmed in step 11. Press the green felt down over the glue making sure it adheres to the rounded edge. Bend the stem to a right angle near the head of the flower and your gerbera is complete!