How to Make A Felt Hydrangea Flower Pin or Hair Clip

This step by step tutorial will guide you through making your own felt hydrangea pin or hair clip.  By far, my most popular design has been the felt hydrangea.  They are beautiful in many different color combinations and are fairly simple to make if you have the time and patience.

Materials Needed

• High quality felt - I use 100% wool felt from Holland - it is very uniform (no irregular bumps or plant matter mixed in with the wool) and has a nice smooth finish.
• Sharp scissors - I can't emphasize enough that they must be SHARP - I'm talking the kind of sharp where if you slip, you may need stitches.  You won't be able to get clean edges on your petals without the right tools.  I use Gingher, and they are wonderful.
• Embroidery floss - I use a lovely spring green, but you could use any color you fancy.
• Bar Pin or Hair Clip - However you want to wear your hydrangea, you'll need some kind of hardware to attach it.
• Pattern Pieces - I use a 2.5" circle (as you can tell from the photo, it gets used ALOT) and a flower shape that I made.  You could also free-hand your petals for a more organic look.

Step by Step

After you have all your materials ready, you'll need to start cutting out your pieces.  I trace my flower pattern onto my felt using a fine ball-point pen.  I used 2 different colors to add interest to my hydrangea.  You'll need about 20-30 flowers depending on the size of your pattern pieces and how dense you like your flower.

Tip:  try to cut just inside your pen line so you won't have pen remnants on your flower petals!

When cutting the green circle for the backing, I use the circle as a guide, but then free-hand cut some leaves attached to the circle (then you don't have to stitch all the leaves on at the end).

Here are all the pieces completely cut out.  You can see the green backing piece with the free-hand leaves attached.  I've also cut 2 leaves from a contrasting green felt to add on later.

After the pieces are cut, it is time to start stitching!  Using the round circle as a base, select your first flower.  Separate your embroidery floss - I use 3 strands.  Knot your thread and position your flower near the center of the base.  Bring the needle up through the flower near the center, but not quite in the center because you want the middle of your X to be centered.  You can also do additional stitches so that it looks more like an asterisk * instead of an X.  I've done both.

Now select a second flower.  I used the 2nd color this time. Interlock the petals so that there isn't green showing between them and the petals kind of tent giving a nice 3-D look.  Stitch as with the first petal.

Continue to add petals, alternating colors as you like.

Once your base becomes full, look for any areas where there might be a lot of green showing through.  You can add petals.  I tend to add some around the edges to make it rounded and let the petals overflow the base circle.

Now my petals are done.  You can see that you really cannot see the green base at all.  I am ready to attach it to the leaves and pin or hair clip.

I've chosen to make this hydrangea as a pin.  If you were going to make a hair clip, you would attach the hair clip here instead of the bar pin.  

Again select 3 strands of embroidery floss and knot the end.  Come up through the back and securely stitch your bar pin in place using the holes drilled in the bar.  Do not tie it off or cut your thread.  End your last stitch so that your needle goes through to the back.  Flip your leaves over so you are looking at the stitching.

Now grab one of your loose leaves and position it next to an attached leaf.  Make sure the base of the leaf will be contained within the body (as pictured).  With your needle, make a stitch down through the leaf to anchor it in place.  Make your stitch right along the circle edge.  This will be your first stitch toward connecting your flower.  

Now, position your flower over the leaf base so that the circles line up.  The flower top may bunch a bit from all the flower stitches, but you'll be able to stretch it as you go.  Push the needle through the flower circle - be careful not to grab any petals with your needle.  You want the stitching to be hidden under the petals.  I use a running stitch, but you could also use a whip stitch.

Continue around the circle until you come to the other leaves.  Grab your last loose leaf and insert it between the attached leaves.  Make sure the base of the leaf is well within the circle so that your stitches will securely anchor it.  Hold it firmly as you continue your stitches, going through all layers to enclose the new leaf.

Once you are about 1.5 inches from completing the circle, you can choose to stuff your flower if you like.  Stuffing the flower will make the flowers appear more rounded, like a real hydrangea.  I chose to stuff this one with wool.  You could use batting or even fabric scraps.

Evenly stuff the flower so there aren't any lumps or empty spaces.  Don't over-stuff - it will be difficult to stitch closed if there is wool hanging out!

Continue your stitches until you have completed the circle. Your last stitch should come up under the petals.  Securely knot your thread on the top-side, hidden under the petals.  Knot it really well!  You don't want all your hard work to unravel!  Snip the thread ends.

The petals can get matted down while sewing, so I like to fluff the petals back up when I'm done.  Pull up on the ends of the petals to make them stand up nicely.  You can even arrange them to a certain extent, interlocking the petals together.

Time to find the perfect sweater to pin it on!  Questions?  Comments?  Please let me know if this tutorial was helpful or needing further explanation in the comments section.  Happy crafting!

~Pammy

Gingher Scissors     Scissors Sharpening

   

How to Make Waldorf Doll Dresses

Looking for an easy and inexpensive way to clothe your Waldorf doll? I dug through a sack of old baby clothes and found some dresses with cute hemlines that I upcycled into doll dresses. Very simple, cheap, and took very minimal time since the bottom edges were already finished.

I used this tutorial from Inditutes to give me an idea of pattern shape. The sizing was a bit tricky however. The first dress was a bit tight on the doll, so I increased the pattern size by about a 1/2 inch all the way around and the second dress was much better fitting and easier to get on the doll.

Materials: old children's clothes or light-weight fabric, 1/4" elastic

Measure your doll, and using the tutorial, create a simple block shape pattern. Be sure that your arm and neck holes will be sufficient to allow the doll to be easily clothed by a child.

Position your fabric or old clothes so that the hemline will be utilized (and you won't have to add a hem on either the sleeves or the dress) by placing the bottom edge of both pattern pieces along the hemline.

Following the tutorial, stitch it all together using 1/4" seams, make the neckline casing for the elastic, and voila! A quick and easy dolly dress.

I made some little matching panties using a simple rectangle of matching fabric. If you have anymore hemline available, cut the rectangle along the hemline so you'll only have to finish one edge. Fold the rectangle in half and stitch. Add an elastic casing at the top for 1/4" elastic. In the center of the rectangle, tack the bottom to create 2 leg openings. They are more of a boxer-short shape than panties, but are very simple and quick.

How to Start a Hair Clip or Bow Business - The Best Felt and Hair Clip Supplies

Whether you only make hair clips and bows for your own daughter or you want to sell them online, going to Michaels and Walmart (or JoAnns, or wherever) for your supplies can get old, and EXPENSIVE.

When I first started my online business, I went to Michaels and Walmart for my supplies because I wasn't sure how my business would grow, and I didn't want to invest a bunch of money all at once. However, I would find that the supplies I needed were not constantly available, and I was paying for the "middle-man" mark-up, and all the extra packaging that went along with it.

Maximum savings is always achieved in BULK. Storage is definitely a factor - where will you put all your extra supplies? My office is a bit over-crowded, much to the chagrin of my lovably OCD hubby. So investing in a storage system is a good idea.

The categories of supplies you'll need are as follows:

❀Tools

❀Raw Materials

❀Hardware

❀Packaging

Assuming you already have the tools you will need for crafting (good sharp scissors, needles, etc.) your next basic materials will be your raw materials and hardware.

What kind of hair clips/bows will you make? Basic craft store felt is easily available (and pretty cheaply) at the craft store, but it is not very durable. Recycled and synthetic vegan felt is also available, but I haven't researched where to purchase that particular type of felt. I find that 100% wool felt is my choice, but there are also some excellent wool blend felts available in many lovely colors.

Some sellers on Etsy have done the bulk purchasing for you, and offer reasonable prices, but you are sometimes limited by quantity. However, it is a good option for someone starting up.

My favorite suppliers of felt are right here in the USA, small businesses with awesome customer service, and very fast turn-around. Weir Dolls has lovely felt, and also low shipping costs.
If you request it, they will send your package via first class mail, and refund you the extra shipping charges. I always go here first to save on shipping. Their color options are not very wide, but they have a decent selection. You can also find thread, wool roving, fabrics and other great supplies here while supporting another small business.

My second choice for felt supplies is another USA small business.
A Child's Dream Come True has a great selection of lovely wool felt, roving, you name it, but the shipping costs are a little high. When I need felt, I make sure I purchase many squares at once to spread the shipping cost out over a larger number of squares. If I need just one square of felt, I would use Weir Dolls.

Hardware choices are many, but I go for simplicity in ordering when I'm looking to purchase my supplies. You also want to make sure you aren't buying some nasty lead-coated metal clips or something.

I went through the expense of having these hair clips XRF tested, and they have been certified lead-free. I sent 3 sizes of snap clips and 3 sizes of French barrettes from Trimweaver and each came back as having NO LEAD at all. They offer bulk discount on hair clips, ribbon, and many other supplies.

After you've made your lovely creations, and are fortunate to have a sale, how are you going to package and ship them? I started out using some little boxes from Oriental Trading, but they were a bit irritating because I had to fold and glue them before I could mail out my packages. I discovered craft boxes from Paper Mart to be the best deal I've seen. You'll need a place to store them because they come in bulk, but the plain brown kraft jewelry boxes are 100% recycled content, and make packaging secure and gift-ready.

Bubble mailers from places like Office Max and Walmart are ok if you want to pay a bit more, but we're talking about something your buyer will potentially throw away - so I wouldn't want to spend too much. There are instructions online for making your own bubble mailers, but who has time for that??

I found Shipping Supply Co. has excellent prices and you get it FAST. The only problem is storing a huge box of bubble mailers. If you can work out where you will store your supplies, this place is a great one-stop for your shipping supplies.

Hopefully my trial and error will be helpful to other mommies wanting to start up a hair clip business, or just make fun clips for your family and friends. Happy crafting!

How to Make a Custom Felt Hair Clip

Feeling crafty? You can create your own felt accessory to match any outfit.

Basic materials needed:

-design with multiple copies

-small craft scissors (sewing scissors are best

- they need to be SHARP)

-pins

-embroidery thread

-needle

-bar pin or hair clip

-felt (wool or wool blend are best, but craft felt can also be used)

Simple designs are best, the more intricate the design, the more cuts you'll need to make. You can use clip art or draw your own. I like to sketch my own designs and scan them so I can shrink and enlarge as needed. If you're making a hair clip, keep in mind the size of the hair clip you'll be using when you create the design. You'll want to have a finished product about 1/4 to 1/2 inch larger than the hair clip.

I began with sketching the squirrel, then scanning it and printing multiple copies. You'll want a copy for each piece you need to layer. Cut out each individual piece and decide which color felt you want to use for each. You may choose to embroider the details rather than cut felt. Be creative! Try using buttons, sequins, or fabric for additional details.

Once the pieces of your design are cut, pin each piece to the felt and carefully cut them out using the sharpest, smallest scissors you have. I like to use small Gingher scissors. Be sure to have a back and front to sandwich the hair clip between.

Before you begin to stitch the pieces together, check to make sure they fit together neatly. Start by stitching the detail pieces to the top of your design.

Once the front is completely stitched to your liking, including embroidery and embellishments, you are ready to attach the hair clip or pin.

Decide which direction you want your clip to open and make a small slit to slip the bottom prong of the hair clip through. If you are using a bar pin or French barrette, you'll need to flip the piece over and stitch the pin/French barrette securely to the back of the design. Stitch across the clip to hold it in place.

Lastly, stitch around the outside of your creation. Knot your thread carefully; you don't want it to unravel in your child's hair!

Voila! A completely unique hair clip or pin for you or someone you love. Feel free to leave comments if you need clarification on any of the directions listed here!

To purchase the squirrel, please visit Pammy Dawn!

Squirrel design Copyright Pammy Dawn 2009. No reproduction without permission.