Friday How-to: Making a Flower Barrette

I apologize for the multitude of posts today, but I really wanted to put up my first how-to!

Now that I've figured out how to make these barrettes, I thought I'd share :)

1) To start with, cut a square of felt a little bigger than the barrette you plan to use. You don't want the metal barrette to show from the front.

I will be working on two of these simultaneously in the pictures, so don't let the extra pieces confuse you--they're just there to show more of the process at once.

2) Cut off the corners to make the square into a circle--you can save a step if you have something that's the right size circle to cut around.

Yes, I could use a template but I find them actually more frustrating to cut felt around than doing freehand.

Cut 6 evenly spaced notches into the felt and then start cutting to delineate the petals.

3) Cut a second piece of felt as a "shadow" to your flower. You see both of the flowers I'm working on here--one with a shadow already cut, and one just pinned. The shadow will be the back that you attach the barrette to, so try to cut it pretty closely to match the front piece.

4) Next, sew a button to the front piece. I like to use a button with four holes when necessary (you can sew it even more securely), but any kind will do.

Here you can see my bird Edy "helping." He likes to chew on the felt and remove the pins.

5) Attach the barrette securely to the back side of the shadow/back piece by sewing through the holes in the metal. If you like, you can also put a little glue or Mod Podge between the barrette and the felt.

 
I also sew about 6 loops around the main bar part of the barrette to make sure it is really securely attached to the felt. Click on the pictures to see more detail of how I've done this. In the picture above you can see the back of the second barrette I'm working on as well.

6) Pin the front piece and back piece together. Using a coordinating color of embroidery floss, sew the two pieces together with a blanket stitch.

The parts near the barrette and the inside corners are a little tricky, so be extra careful and take your time on those. Knot the last end and sew it inside the flower and you're done!

Here's the finished flower, hanging out next to its unfinished sibling.

This is a pretty quick project--once I finished the first one and got the hang of it, I found that I can churn out several of these in an hour.

If you have thoughts/feedback/questions on my how-to, please let me know! I really enjoyed putting it together and making this barrette...

...and here is a picture of it on the holodeck:

Happy crafting!