DIY Fall Sunflower – Bold & Bright Felt and Fabric Art

Find a selection of brown and black quilting cottons. They can be solids or patterns, and as many or as few prints as you like. I edited a couple of these out as I was working on it. (See variations below for other ideas if you don’t want to use quilting cotton) Iron your fabrics.

Using a rotary cutter, ruler and cutting mat, cut 1.5″ squares from each of your fabrics so that you have enough to make an 11 x 11 square layout (therefore, 121, or cut a few extras so you have options when laying them out).

Next, layout a random layout of the squares in an 11 x 11 square so that all patterns and colours are somewhat evenly distributed. I laid mine out on foam core so I could then easily move it to my sewing table. A piece of cardboard or even your cutting mat could work.

Finally, sew all the squares together, just like making a quilt, with a 1/4 inch seam allowance. I did horizontal rows and then pieced the rows together. I pressed all seams open with an iron. To speed up the process, you can chain piece pairs of pieces if you can keep the pattern in the proper order.

If you want to paint it, remove the inner hoop. I like to take a piece of string and run it around the clasp of the outer hoop, then use a piece of painter’s tape to tape the string to the edge of a table so that the hoop hangs freely. I place some newspaper or an old sheet underneath.

Using a small brush and acrylic craft paint, paint the outer hoop. It dries quickly, and I like to do 3 coats.

Then repeat with craft varnish if desired and let dry.

When the embroidery hoop is fully dry, cut a piece of cotton fabric a few inches bigger than the embroidery hoop. Place it between the inner and outer hoop. Push the outer hoop back on, pulling the fabric taut in all directions and tightening the clasp. Make any other tugs to the fabric so that it is taut and smooth but not overly stretched.

This fabric won’t be visible from the front, but you will see some of it from the back. If you don’t care about that then it can be any colour. I prefer white.

Cut out the sunflower petal template from the free template with paper scissors. I have found that a Sharpie is best for tracing onto felt. Taking the yellow felt, trace around the template 28 times (or a few more) with a black Sharpie. Note how I arranged my template to get them as close together as possible. I used two different shades of yellow for a little bit of variation, but they can be all one shade.

Next, using fabric scissors, carefully cut out the petals to trim off the Sharpie lines completely.

Cut out the smaller circle template (by just making one cut through the larger circle template) and lay it in the middle of the embroidery hoop. Take your felt petals and lay them so that the inner points come to the edge of the circle. Distribute the two colours evenly if you are using two. Switch up the directions that they overlap each other.

When you’re happy with the placement, glue the petals. Using tacky craft glue, lift the inner point of one petal and smear some glue in a small triangle at the tip, and lay it back into place.

Then lift up the outer edge of the petal and spread glue along the embroidery hoop and just onto any adjacent petals that lay behind that petal. Lay the petal back down in place.

Repeat with gluing inner and outer edges of all petals as you work around the circle until they are all glued. Let dry. Remove the circle template.

First, cut out the larger circle template (the inner circle template was already removed from it. I taped the cut ends where I cut through to remove the smaller circle.

Then pin the template to the brown and black fabric, centering it across the grid.

Next, using pinking shears, cut around the template, a little ways from the edge of the template. It is difficult to cut across the bulk of the seams, so move the fabric farther back on the blades to help.

Remove the pins and template.

Here I’ve test laid the centre on top of the petals. It should cover so that you cannot see any white spaces between the petals. Turn it whichever way you like best so that the top is aligned with the clasp at the top of the hoop.

Then flip up one half of the circle and run a little bit of tacky glue across the seams and around the outside of the circle. Press it down. Lastly, flip up the other half and repeat with glue and press it down. Let dry.

Using black or brown embroidery floss – I chose black – stitch the circle down near the edges. I wanted to keep the pinked edges looking sharp so I did a ring of small ‘x’s around the edge.

I also found 3 brownish buttons in three different sizes and sewed them on with an X of stitching in the top right.

To stitch the ‘x’s, I separated two long strands of floss (out of 6 strands), threaded a needle, brought the ends together and knotted them.

I came up from behind and made a diagonal stitch, brought my needle up again and crossed the first diagonal with a second diagonal.

Then I would bring the needle up a short ways away to make the next ‘x’. They are very imperfect, and I don’t mind.

First, flip the sunflower over and trim the excess hoop fabric so that there’s approximately 1.5 to 2 inches extra all the way around.

Next, cut a long length of thread and thread a needle, bringing the ends together and knotting them. Make large running stitches above and below the edges of the extra fabric all around the circle, pulling tight to gather it inward as you go. When you get back to where you began, make a few small stitches and knot your thread. If you run out before you get there, just knot it, and start a new thread.

Take your 1 sheet of acrylic felt (it’s not visible so the quality doesn’t matter) and lay out the bigger circle template again. Trace it with a Sharpie. Cut it out with fabric scissors, cutting off the Sharpie line.

Place your circle over the remaining gap on the back. Cut a length of thread, thread your needle, bring the ends together and knot them. Coming from behind the felt circle, make large whipstitches down through the fabric and up through the felt to join the two, working around the circle. Knot the thread when you get back to the beginning.

Cut out the leaf template with paper scissors. Then take 1 sheet of green felt and trace the leaf template twice with a black Sharpie.

Carefully cut out the green leaves with fabric scissors to remove the Sharpie lines completely.

Finally, decide on your leaf placement and use tacky glue to glue the leaves where they overlap with the back of the hoop.

You can hang the sunflower on a nail or Command Adhesive hook from the hoop clasp, or if you prefer, add a ribbon hanger. First, cut a length of ribbon and feed one of the ends under the clasp. Then tie a knot to the other end and trim the ends so that the knot and ends are hidden behind the sunflower.

Now it’s ready to hang!