DIY Felt Flower Broach

One of my favorite things to do is to spend an afternoon crafting, and this past weekend I felt the need to make a big ridiculous broach- I LOVE broaches and I thought it'd be a nice short project that I could do while binge-watching Netflix.

For this project, You will need: 
-Felt (assorted colors)
-hot glue/hot glue gun
-E6000 Glue/Decorative glue (optional)
-beads/sequins/decorative additions (per your discretion, as needed)
-cd and/or other sized circlular shape (for template)
-safety pins or pin backs

1. Pick your colors
I decided I wanted at least 3 flowers and some leaves on my broach, so I picked out my preferred colors from my felt stock- one color for each flower, and a green color for the leaves

2. Cut your fabric 
You need to cut your fabric in a circular shape, so find different sized circular shapes to create your pattern templates from. I used a cd, an oatmeal can lid, and a coffee can lid for my flowers. Once cut, I plugged in my hot glue gun to heat up, and I drew a simple petal-spiral pattern in marker to mark my petals (starting in the middle of the middle of circle and working outwards), as shown below:

3. Create your flowers 
Once the flowers are cut, simply start rolling them up, starting from the inside "petal." As you roll, apply hot glue in a straight line along the bottom/base of the "flower roll," do this continuously as you roll as each newly exposed area of the felt is exposed as you roll up the flower- you can roll the fabric as tightly/loosely as you like to create the shape of the flower that you like.

4. Arrange your flowers 
Once all your flowers are created, I arrange the finished flowers as you would like them to be on your broach (create/discard flowers as needed)

5.Support your flowers 
Cut a piece of felt the same color as you will use to create your leaves the same size/shape as the shape of your arranged flowers to use as a base of the broach, and also cut out some leaves to add to your broach to further support the flowers. Glue the base, flowers, and leaves together to ensure everything is secured and arranged to your liking. 

If you are using pin backs to secure your broach to your garments, add them to your broach at this stage. If you will simply be using safety pins, you may apply those when you are ready to wear the broach.

6. Decorate your broach 
Now it's time to decorate! I decided my broach needed a lot of flair, so I got out some assorted beads and used E6000 glue to attach the beads to the felt in the patters that I desired on the leaves and at the centers of the flowers. You may decorate your broach with anything from beads, sequins, stickers, feathers- anything! The sky's the limit! Once the E6000 glue base under the beads dried, I covered the beads in a layer of Mod Podge to help them stick (because is there anything more annoying than beads falling off your fashion?), and voila! I was all done! I attached it my sweater and went to the grocery store! 

Enjoy!