From the rising temperatures to the saturated colors, everything is more intense under the summer sun. We're embracing that intensity with these vibrant felt zinneas from new Maker Team member Becka of @beckarahn. Create a stunning zinnia that can be tied onto almost anything in almost anyway! Our favorite part? The dazzling beaded center. Let's welcome Summer and Becka with her Zinnia Flower Tie tutorial.
Fresh flowers are beautiful, but this one lasts a lot longer. Stitch up a bright felt zinnia with a sparkling beaded center. This zinnia flower tie has a clever wired stem so it can moonlight as a gift tag, package topper, hair tie or floral decoration. It’s a beginner-friendly project that uses simple hand stitching and is inspired by the colorful zinnias that steal the show in summer gardens.
Skill Level: Beginner
Time: 1 Hour
Additional Supplies:
Zinnia Flower Tie Pattern (click to download)
3-in-1 Wire Tool
Iron
Directions:
1. Print Zinnia Flower Tie Pattern above. Roughly cut around paper pattern and pin to felt using a few sewing pins. Cut out pattern pieces along solid lines.
Marigold - Cut 1 Large and 1 Medium Petal
Carmine - Cut 1 Small Petal
Moss - Cut 2 Leaves and 1 Flower Base
On Petals, cut outer circle first and then make snips towards the center following radiating lines. Repeat for all three Petals. To cut out inner circle, fold Petal in half, make a small snip and then use cut to insert scissors and cut out inner circle.
2. On Petal, round ends of each tab by trimming off top corners. Refer to the photo to see the shape of the finished Petals. Set aside.
3. To make beaded pom center, thread beading needle with Sulky 1317 and tie a knot at end of thread. You’ll be stitching two rows of sequin-bead stacks in a line just above center of the pom. The imaginary line is shown as a dotted line in the photo.
4. Insert needle at bottom of pom and come out just above imaginary line. Pull thread through. Add a sequin and three beads onto the needle. Slide sequin and beads to surface of pom and then stitch back through the sequin only. The needle should come out on opposite side of pom, just above imaginary center line.
5. As bead cluster is pulled tight, sequin will lay flat against pom and beads will form a tiny loop that stands up from the surface. Repeat Step 4 to work around the center line of pom. This photo is looking down at the top of the pom, so you can see how the needle is placed.
6. When you complete a stitch, bring needle out to the side of previous bead cluster, working clockwise around pom. Make about 15 bead cluster stitches.
7. Complete another ring of bead cluster stitches in the same manner just above previous row. Make about 12 bead cluster stitches in this row.
8. To finish beaded stitches, make a stitch back down through bottom of pom and tie a knot.
9. Stack Petals with largest on bottom, then medium and smallest on top. Slip stack on bottom half of beaded pom, gently pressing pom into inner circles. Petals should stop at bottom of beading and that will hold them in place. Set aside.
10. Use wire cutting tool to cut a length of pipecleaner for the stem. A package topper might require a longer stem than a hair tie. This example uses an 8" length. Cut a piece of Moss felt that is 1/2" wide and just slightly longer than pipecleaner.
11. Fold felt in half lengthwise and tuck pipecleaner into the fold. Switch to an embroidery needle and two strands of DMC 580. Use a whip stitch to stitch around ends and long side of felt, encasing pipecleaner in the folded felt.
12. Match Flower Base to center of covered pipecleaner with pipecleaner parallel to notches.
Bend each notch so it wraps around pipecleaner and top corners touch. Make a few stitches to hold them together. Repeat on other side.
Flower Base will make a cup shape, with stem coming out of the sides.
13. To shape Leaves, set iron to a wool setting. Fold each Leaf in half lengthwise and press along fold to make a crease along center.
14. Add Leaves to stem near Flower Base and make a few stitches to hold them in place.
15. To assemble finished flower, add a generous dollop of glue to Flower Base cup. Place bottom of flower pom in cup. Use a couple of sewing pins to hold elements in place while drying.
When it’s all finished you can use the pipecleaner stem to wrap your zinnia around a ponytail, a package or anywhere to add a bright pop of color!
You can even make a whole bouquet to decorate for a summer party! Zinnias come in lots of colors - wool blend felt colors Flamingo, Magenta or Dandelion would be great choices.
Thanks to Becka for designing and writing this tutorial! You can see more of her work on Instagram @beckarahn and on her website. Stay tuned for more tutorials from the Benzie Design Maker Team!
