Felt Flower Pin by Becki

Long time no see!  It's Becki here for the last and final time being part of the Boss Kut Design Team.  I am sad that my term is over.   I have been working with a great company, top to bottom, and fabulous design team members.  You will all be sorely missed.  This project made me leave my comfort zone once again, and try out a new material - felt.  This is something I have never tried to cut before.  I am pleasantly surprised at how it turned out!

OK, Let's get to it.  Purchase a sheet of stiffened felt and a pin back from Hobby Lobby or your favorite craft store.  The felt usually comes in a big sheet.  Cut three circles in varying sizes (Five at 2", five at 1.5", seven at 1", and one at half an inch).  That brings us to 17 total circles.   The settings I used on my Gazelle were force 4, speed 3 with the deep cut blade raised to sit higher in the holder by stacking 25 post-its.  This helps the blade not drag over your material, and cause cuts where you don't want them.  It also helps to "punch" through thicker material to get a better cut.

Let's make the petals first. Lay aside two of the 1" along with the half inch circle.  We need to start with five of each of the sizes as shown below.

I used a hot glue gun for this project.  Hence, why it's a tad messy.  You can use whatever glue you feel will stick the felt together and keep it sturdy.  Glue the 1" to the 1.5" then the 1.5" to the 2" like this.  I didn't go all the way to the bottom because I wanted to see the inside petals better when it becomes folded. 

You should now have five petals stacked and glued, ready to be folded over.  Now to form the petal shape. Wrap the bottom half of the petal around your finger or a pencil to get your desired curve.  When you like how it looks, just place a small dab of hot glue inside the fold.  Be careful, the felt is thin and the glue hot.  It gets a little warm holding it.  But the good news is it dries super fast.

When you are done forming your petals, glue them together in a circular pattern.  You will see the flower shape appear.  Using one of the reserved 1", glue to the back.  This is a stabilizer so your pin has something to sit on when glued.  You can now glue the pin onto this piece.  Take your other 1", and glue the half inch on top of it.  The half inch can be the same color or an matching one.  Just anything adorable!

I wanted to add a little style without adding additional bulk.  I choose to glue very fine microbeads around the outer rim.  A simple button with bright, happy twine, and it's complete

Here it is in all it's glory attached to my Fifth Avenue purse in denim by Thirty-One.  Just an adorable accent to go along with my favorite purse.  Since it's felt, it should hold up really well if it gets banged around.  Especially with all hot glue I soldered onto it.  LOL

Thank you so much for coming along with me while I created with my Boss Kut  Gazelle.  A great machine with even better people.  Happy crafting! Becki Wagner