Wednesday 16 September 2009

How To: Appliqued Succulent Sachet

I'd totally meant to space these tutorials out over the coming weeks, but I'm feeling impatient! So, this week is tutorial week :)

My little sister has just moved into her first non-student flat and I was thinking about housewarming gifts to buy her... and how potted plants are a really common gift... and somehow this ended up with me making a lavender sachet decorated with a felt succulent! There's logic in there somewhere, I'm sure.Lavender seems to be having a bit of a revival at the moment - it's an attractively old fashioned, organic way to keep your clothes fresh and keep the moths away from all the treasures in your wardrobe. Don't like lavender or can't get hold of any? Stuffed with fabric scraps this design would also make a great pincushion, or make a great decorative detail on a cushion / throw pillow. To make this design you will need...

Dried lavender (or fabric scraps)
A teaspoon
Green felt to make your succulent's leaves (I used a soft sage green)
Felt for the plant pot - I used terracotta, but your pot could be any colour you fancy
A third shade of felt to use as the main shape for your sachet (I used a soft pink)
Matching threads, needle, pins, scissors

I've not drawn templates/patterns for this project, as I think a lot of the fun is cutting your own leafy shapes and building up a unique and organic design from them... but I have done a few sketches (not to scale!) which I hope will be some help.

1. First, cut out two rectangles of felt to make your sachet - mine measures approx 5 inches by 3 and 3/4 inches. Then cut out the two shapes to make up your plant pot. You can cut these freehand or draw a paper pattern first.2. Stitch the two plant pot pieces to the lower half of one felt rectangle, so they overlap (making the 'lip' of the plant pot seem to overhang slightly).

3. Cut out an assortment of leaf shapes. Depending on your favourite kind of succulent, these may vary but to make one like mine you need squashed teardrop shapes with extra 'stems' like this:4. Gradually layer your leaves on top of each other on your felt rectangle, so they seem to be growing out from your plant pot. When you're happy with the arrangement, secure each leaf with one stitch to keep them all in place.5. Stitch along the centre of each leaf, sewing them onto the felt backing. This stitching is practical - keeping the leaves in place - but also adds great extra detail and gives your plant a great 3-D look.

6. Pin both of your felt rectangles together, with your felt applique facing outwards. Sew both pieces together by sewing round the edges, a few millimetres in. Leave a gap for stuffing your sachet (make sure your teaspoon can fit through this gap!) and stitch back again filling in the spaces so you make a neat line of secure stitching.
7. Now remove the pins and stuff your sachet with lavender. Spoon the buds in through the gap one teaspoonful at a time, using the handle to make sure they go right into the corners. Once your sachet is nice and full, sew along the gap and back again to close it up neatly.
This tutorial is for non commercial use only: you can use it for as many succulent sachets as you like for yourself or as gifts for friends but please don't make any for sale. Please feel free to borrow photos if you want to blog about this project, but remember to credit me and link back to the original source, and do not reproduce my tutorial on your site. Thanks!


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22 comments:

Dizzy Broad said...

Love this! Beautiful AND practical! Thanks for sharing the tutorial. - gigi

Fércművek said...

I love it! :)

Unknown said...

Does this lovely tutorial mean you would like me to keep this year's supply of lavender for you?

S

Denise Felton said...

LOVE it! I just put a link to this post on my blog. I hope it brings you a little extra traffic.

Denise
http://needlework.craftgossip.com

treaclezoo said...

cool! I love lavender and I have my own succulents forest on the windowsill where I work... hope your sis. likes them too :o)

Gina said...

Awesome design! I'm sure your sister will love it!

Rachel@oneprettything.com said...

Yay for tutorial week! This is beautiful, I can't wait to make one. I'll be linking too.

Pato said...

Hello, Everytime I see your tutorials I tell myself it´s time to start crafting with felt! You are very talented and have some fantastic taste (at least for me!)
My thing is paper but because of you I think I will have to try felt too!
Thanks for the tutorial!

cupotea said...

I love it!

Pragya said...

How very cute!

JennyTheArtist said...

this is just GORgeous! I may have to actually try this!

ArtPropelled said...

Hi Laura, for some reason my message wouldn't go through on your website. I hope you don't mind that I used photos of your work on my blog with credit and links to your site. There have been positive comments if you would like to check them out.
Robyn

Anonymous said...

Hi, I hope you are not offended by the liberty of posting your pics on my blog, but I was inspired today by Sew Mama Sew posting a link to your fab tutorials and so I told my little world about them. I hope you get a little extra traffic and maybe some sales... I love your ideas, can't wait for some time to try them out, am a big fan of felty things.

http://fionaeason.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/other-crafty-ideas/

NennyS said...

Hi, thanx for the tut. Lovely blogys, hope you get well soon. When you sew, how do you do it? with sewing machine or hands?

Bugs and Fishes said...

All my sewing is done by hand (I don't actually own a sewing machine!)

Matti said...

Wonderful concept. I have thought about crocheting a staghorn fern in such a manner, and this succulent stitch is awesome! Matti

Koshka Lu said...

What a wonderful thing! Many thanks for the idea and the tutorial.

Marina
http://koshkalu.blogspot.com/

araleslump said...

ciao ho copiato la tua idea... se ti va passa a vedere il risultato grazie mille per l'idea

Caitlin at Salty Oat said...

thank you for the fab tutorial! i used it to make a pincushion: http://saltyoat.blogspot.com/2010/05/pincushion-swap-what-i-sent-new.html

Adriana said...

Good afternoon, I am Portuguese and live in Portugal and to see your blog, I was delighted with the beautiful things I saw.
I am also not afraid to share, what makes him a great person.

I will return more often

Adriana

becky said...

Very nice tutorial Thank-you for sharing this and all your tutorials found a few to make especially butterfly ones Thank you again

Bugs and Fishes said...

No problem, Becky! I hope you'll have fun making lots of felt-y things :)