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It's graduation time! Whether it's preschool, kindergarten, high school, college, or anywhere in between, your graduate deserves to be celebrated! Benzie Design recently introduced an assortment of Bellwether Thick Felt that creates so many new opportunities for crafting. We snatched up the black thick felt and decided to throw a (tiny) graduation party - and you're invited!
Skill Level: Beginner
Time: 3 hours
Additional Supplies:
Hole Punch
Metal Ruler
Directions:
1. Each graduation cap requires the following from Black thick felt:
Top - (1) 3 x 3” square
Band - (1) 1 x 6” rectangle
Button – (1) small hole punch
Cutting the thick felt with a rotary cutter or precision knife and metal ruler will give you nice even cuts. Please exercise caution when cutting! The diagram below shows how you can best utilize the sheet of felt to yield 14 caps.
2. Gently roll the Band rectangle from both ends to “train” the felt. Draw a thin line of hot glue along one short end and glue ends together. This circle will be the Band of the cap.
3. Draw a line of hot glue along the circumference of the Band and attach it to the center of the Top square. Because hot glue dries quickly and doesn’t allow for much adjusting, find the center of your cap before attaching the Band. A trick for this is to place a large coin in the center that the Band will fit around.
4. Cut a 6” length of gold metallic floss and separate the individual strands. (There are 6.) Set aside.
5. Place the end of the remaining floss between your thumb and palm, so the end is just at your smallest finger. Loosely wrap the thread around your four fingers five times. Slide the loops off of your fingers, keeping them in the same shape.
6. Take a single strand of 6” floss and tie a knot through the end of the loops that has no loose ends. This forms the top of your tassel.
7. Take another single strand of floss and wrap it around the bundle close to the top. After wrapping it around several times, tie a knot. This part can be tricky and require a few attempts. Or another set of hands.
8. Clip the loops at the long end of your tassel. Use a comb to brush out the strands. Hold the ends together and trim to the desired length – about 1”.
9. Use a white marking pencil to make a dot on the top center of the cap.
10. Place a small dot of hot glue on the center mark. Place long ends of tassel across the glue so the body of the tassel falls at the edge of the cap. Place the small felt Button on top.
After glue is dry, trim any part of the tassel extending past the top Button.
11. Place a small dot of glue on the edge of the Top piece to hold the tassel in place.
You can move your tassel to the left because you’ve graduated from this tutorial! There are so many fun ways you can use this miniature cap from place cards to fascinators! If you’d like to string the caps for a garland, here are a few extra steps:
12. Thread your needle with embroidery thread. The length of your thread will be the length of the garland. Tie a loop in one end.
13. Put your needle into the Top of the cap right behind the Button. Slide the cap along the thread until it is close to the end of the garland. Bring the needle back up close to the entry point. You can adjust the caps along the thread later, but they do not slide easily due to the thickness of the felt and the angle of entry. This also means they will not slide out of place when the garland is hung!
Congratulations, Graduates! We celebrate you and all of your accomplishments. *Cue Pomp and Circumstance*
Thanks to Camille for designing and writing this tutorial. You can follow her on Instagram @notsomodernmillie or visit her website. Stay tuned for upcoming projects!
