Monday Project - Felt Bougainvillea Garland

Wow - lots of you out there have been hammered with ice and snow and it looks like more's on it's way for this week.  Stay warm!  We lived in frozen Montana for a few years and then rainy Oregon for a lot more and finally found our way to (usually) sunny Phoenix.  Even though it doesn't come near to touching what so much of the country is getting, we're having a fairly cold winter, too.  Last week we were below freezing for three nights in a row and even though we tried to protect our tenderest plants, the yard took quite a hit.  Most of them will come back from the roots and we're giving up on having hibiscus (after losing three in the last five years), but I'm sad about the bougainvillea.  Usually it's in full bloom during the winter, giving our yard a nice tropical look.  They'll come back up, but I still miss their flowers when I look out the kitchen window.  I decided to make a felt bougainvillea garland to add a bit of color.

Materials:
*felt - bougainvillea comes in lots of colors - fuchsia, light purple, white, gold, light orange, light pink, ...
you'll also need brown for a garland base, greens for the leaves, and white or off-white for the little flowers in the centers
*large yellow beads
*patterns 



1.  Cut out a colored leaf/flower with the patterns found here.  The colored part of bougainvillea is actually a leaf and the flowers are the little whitish centers.  Using a double strand of thread and running stitches, sew around the center in a large circle.

2.  Pull the two ends of the thread until you draw the circle up and crinkle the leaf/flower points.  Tie thread very tightly.

3.  Cut out three small flowers.  I found it easier to just free hand these, but I've included a pattern in case you have very small scissors and want to try it. 

4.  Sew onto the top by bringing a needle up through the bottom, through the flower, through a large yellow bead, and back down to the bottom.

Repeat this for the other two flowers.

5.  Cut a piece of brown felt about 3/4 inch wide and as long as you want your garland to be.  I had a 2 yard piece of felt, so that's how long I made mine.  If you don't have any long pieces, you can sew shorter pieces together.  Fold in half and zigzag along the edge.

6.  Cut two leaves for each leaf need.  Put the two leaves together and decorative stitch around the outside and up the middle.

7.  Place leaves on garland base and sew in place.

8.  Place a bougainvillea leaf/flower next to a leaf and sew in place on the back.

9.  Repeat for all the leaf/leflowers and dream of tropical places!

Happy Creating!  Deborah