OK, before I get to the meat of this post, here are some linky loves that I must pass along. Tasha, of A Little Sweetness is giving away some of her personally designed fabric. It is SO CUTE, and if you don’t win, you can always pick some up in her shop! I think the Little Red Riding Hood on white is my favorite!
Also, if any of you are a Flea Market Fancy fans like myself (I still have a few pieces I’m hoarding!), go sign this petition to get Free Spirit to reprint the line (oh to dream!), and while you are there enter to win this selection of 29 FMF fat quarters and some great books. If you win, will you share a FQ with me?
Yesterday my daughter was invited to a birthday party of a girl from her preschool class. I always have a hard time buying gifts for families/girls I don’t know very well. Not everyone appreciates the homemade, and I don’t want to waste my efforts if they won’t be appreciated. Soooo, off to the big box store we went for some plastic Princess crap.
After getting it all wrapped up I felt guilty for A. Shopping at Target & B. Not making something…then I remembered all of the great felt I bought from the HB booth at Blissfest (you can also buy it online) and whipped up a little flower. Not only does it look great as part of the wrapping, but it’s a barrette for the little girls hair!
First, I strongly recommend that you use wool, or wool blend felt for this project. The cheap craft felt you can get at most craft stores will pill and stretch and not give you the lasting look you are going to want. Here is what you’ll need:
2 colors of felt
1 piece of green felt
1 metal snap barrette (or a pony tail holder)
1 coordinating button
thread/needle/scissors
any other trims that appeal to you
Here is the pdf with the pattern pieces I free handed for the above barrette. Cut all your pieces out, for the front circle, I folded it in half and cut little triangles out of it to give it the fringed look.
Layer the pieces as you’d like them to be, place the button on the top and stitch through all the layers. For the back, take the circle and cut 2 small slits in the back about an inch apart in the center, thread the pony tail holder through.
Attach the circle to the entire flower, stitching through all but the top layer. It should look like this when you’re done.
To do a barrette back, you can do it 2 ways.
You can measure your clip and cut out a piece of felt the length of your barrette, be sure to cut a small slit in it for the metal arm to go through. Then sew this to the back of your flower, sewing through all but the top layer.
Using the circle pattern provided for the back, you can cut a small slit for the barrette arm and then stitch the whole circle to the flower. The barrette side goes against the flower, the metal arm is what you should see when your barrette is finished.
I made this one to match one of my daughters shirts! Be creative, try different shapes, add embroidery, seed beads, ribbon anything that appeals to you!
AND, because you made it through this whole LONG post, I made a holiday poinsettia barrette to give away. Just leave me a comment telling me you’d like to win, I’ll pick a winner on Monday Nov 29th.
