Alisha's take on felted flower hair clips

Since Ashley showed us a great way to use up some of her tulle and felt I thought I'd throw another idea at ya! When our brother got married in February Ashley and I were tasked with coming up with hair "pretties" for the flower girls (our daughters). I went to work and came up with a really fun design I think other would like to make so here goes..

Supplies:

Felt - I'm using purple for the flower and green for leaves
2 - alligator clips (I'm making a matching set for pigtails)
Buttons - these are optional but I think they really add charm to the flowers.
Scissors
Marking utensil (highlighter, fine tip marker, pencil)
Needle
Thread
Flower template







Your flower template can be free handed if you wish but since I'm a little anal I like to use a template. Here is the template I used for this tutorial: Felt Flower Template (I used the bottom left flower). After you're happy with the size of you flower trace your pattern on to the felt 10 times (5 for each clip). Each square on my cutting mat is 1" so you can get an idea of the size I used.

Once you're finished tracing you'll want to cut out each flower - be careful to cut inside your marked line otherwise you'll end up with marks on the petals of your flower clip.

You'll want to start this step by threading your needle and tying a know at the end of your thread. I'm using contrasting thread so you can see how I'm assembling the flower but you may want to pick a coordinating color with your felt. With all the flower pieces cut out you'll start assembling the flower. 1 traced flower will serve as the base of the flower and you'll use the other 4 to build the flower. Starting with 1 traced flower fold in half length wise and then fold in half again.

You'll end up with a quarter of a flower.

Place the quarter of the flower on the flower base and tack it down - I just took a couple stitches to secure it to the base.









Continue adding quarter flowers in this fashion until you wind up with a base full of petals. Now you might be wondering why I didn't use the glue gun to apply the flower petals. I want to be able to add a button center which I need to sew on - if I have a big clump of glue I can't sew the button on. Additionally, I feel like the flower is more secure if it's sewn down but that's just my preference - you can do what is good for you.

To finish the flower you'll want to sew the button to the center once all 4 quarters are attached. Mine are just a white pearl with a shank (the back says they are 1/4" or 7mm). I go through my button a few times (my daughter can be hard on stuff) and secure the thread in a knot on the back of the flower.

To secure the flower to your alligator clip go ahead an heat up your glue gun. You'll need to cut out a circle to go between the alligator clip and the flower - like a sandwich. If you want to add leaves you'll want to do that now. I cut mine freehand but you're welcome to find a template if you wish. Lay out the circle with the leaves positioned where you'd like them and place a drop of glue to secure them. Press them together to secure the leaves. The last step is to place another drop of the glue in the center of your felt circle and secure that to the top of your alligator clip - please check the picture for clarification.

Alternately, you can attach one leaf to the bottom of the flower so it covers the alligator clip when you glue on and attach the other to the bottom felt circle. **This is what I ended up doing**

Have fun! Alisha