HAPPY GARDEN HOW TO:)

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So..do you want to make your own painted calico cheerfull-ness?

Well let's get going.

What you will need:

• calico
• felt scraps, ribbon, buttons etc
• wadding/filling
• acrylic paint - I used Jo Sonja colours
• paintbrushes, embroidery thread/needle
• wooden skewer
• sealer/varnish
• access to a sewing machine

Getting started:

Here's the project again...

Start by downloading and printing off the pattern sheet which contains a couple of flower shapes as well as the house and heart shape. Download the pattern template here.

Grab some calico and fold it in half.  Slip the pattern sheet in between the layers of calico and using a pencil, trace around your shapes.

Don't cut your shapes out yet.

Using scissors or a craft knife cut a small slit along the centre of ONE layer of the calico. This will be our 'turning' hole and also will be used to insert the wadding.  Make the slit about 2.5-3cm long.

Use a couple of pins to hold the two layers of calico together to keep them secure. We are now going to machine stitch each shape. Take your time, use a very small stitch length ( I used about a 1.5 stitch length) and ease the needle slowly around each shape.

This is quite a time consuming step but worth the extra effort.

Trim your threads. Using sharp scissors cut each shape leaving a .5cm margin..be careful not to clip into your stitches:)

Now, the tricky part. Using a skewer or a blunt pencil turn your shape out through the slit we cut earlier. The more intricate your shape, the more time consuming and harder this step is. The house and heart shape were easy!! The flower with all the petals..not so easy.

I made a couple of shapes with the 'turning' method BUT decided to make my last little flower a little differently. With so many petals on this flower I DIDN'T want to have to fiddle around trying to get this shape turned out SO I decided to trim to size and leave it as it was. Raw edges exposed!!!

Because we paint the shape, the paint acts as a sealer to prevent the raw edges from fraying.

Either way is fine..It just gives a slightly more shabby finish by leaving the raw edges exposed!

Now its time to fill our little shapes with wadding/filling. I use the filling/stuffing from a pillow. Don't try and stuff your shape too quickly..take your time and use small balls of wadding rather than trying to fill your shape with a big chunk of wadding in one big go.

Use the slit we cut earlier and gradually fill your shape.

Use a blunt pencil to force wadding into all the petals etc.

Once your shape is filled you are ready for the FUN part!!! Grab out your paints!

I love the Jo Sonja acrylic paints. They come in a great range of colours and mix well with white to create great new shades. Use a round paintbrush to paint in your colour/designs. Try stripes, spots, blocks of colour or other little details and designs. Have fun with your shapes and designs!!

Use a hairdryer to speed up the drying process.

Now, we can add  in some detail. Firstly let's address the issue of the BACKS of each shape. Theres some wadding going on there..all hanging out and looking messy!!!

For the flower shapes we will actually cover up the messy back with some felt for the flower centre BUT for the heart and house shape let's handstitch the opening using embroidery thread. It doesn't matter if your stitching is messy OR the thread colour doesn't match your paint! We will paint over everything anyway.

Paint over your stitching...

And now we can add some felt and features to the FRONT of our shapes!

For the house I painted in a door and stitched a felt heart in place as shown. Before you add any felt details you may want to seal your calico shape with some sealer/varnish to protect and add some shine.

Don't forget to sign the back (or front) of your creation.

Paint a skewer and insert into the bottom of your shape. The wadding helps to keep the skewer supported and secure.

For your flower shapes we can add a felt heart for the flower centre. Use a long length of thread and sandwich your flower shape between two circles of felt.

Bring your needle right through the entire flower, securing the felt circle centres to the front AND back of your flower. Work your way around the entire circle centres as shown.

You can leave the back of your flower unpainted or use a solid all over colour OR paint each petal the same as for the front of your flower.

Insert a skewer into the base of each shape. Add some ribbon or any finishing touches you want to include and then stand back and admire your creation. Cute hey!

   

I hope you enjoy making your own little calico cheerful flowers and shapes:) And we would love to have you come along to our Mother's Day Market Stall where you can check out even more fun ideas!