Handmade 3D: 2011

I know I have been absent a lot this past year and I do apologize. But can you believe my little Zoe turned 1 year old today! This has been one of the best years of my life. And to end it off, I wanted to create a growth chart for my little flower. I have seen cute ones at stores and online, but they are either too expensive or I think "I could do that!" Well, now you can too. :) I made this over a couple of days, but if I had uninterrupted time I could have probably done the entire thing in one afternoon. But other moms out there know that uninterrupted time is not a luxury!

What you’ll need:

½ yd of green felt by the yard 60”

Fat quarter for center of flower

Scraps of fabric for petals (about 3 fat quarters)

Polyfill Fiberfill

Water Soluble pencil

Sewing Machine

Rotary Cutter and Rulers

Thread

Scissors

Pins

** I use an embroidery machine to create the leaves but you would use any type of machine or applique or write the markings by hand.

Creating the stem of the flower:

1. Cut a strip of 6” x 60” of the green felt.

2. Using your water soluble pencil and ruler, draw 1 inch markings along the right side of the vertical length of the stem.

3. Mark every 6” with a pin.’

4. Using a dark green thread, stitch a line at every marking

a. For the inch markings, stitch a 1” inch line

b. For the ½ foot markings, stitch a 1 1/2” inch line

c. For the foot markings, stitch a 3” inch line

Special Note: With the measurements given you should be able to create a growth chart starting at 6” at the base going to just over 6’ tall. I am only 5’4” so I imagine my daughter will be around that height. If you have a taller family, you may want to mark the bottom as 1 foot or even 1 ½ feet tall. You will need at least five inches at the top of the stem to attach and overlap the flower.

5. Mark the 1 foot increments with numbers. You can use your embroidery machine or applique.

Creating the leaves:

1. I created 12 leaves in hope that she will still let me mark her growth at 12 but who knows! I would rather have too many leaves than not enough. I also changed the directions for every other leaf to be on the opposite side of the stem.

Machine Embroidery:

a. Load the vip embroidery file into your embroidery software. Add the years with your text functions. Depending on your hoop size you may be able to create more than one leaf at a time.

b. After stitching out the designs, cut out the leaves.

3. By Hand:

a. Use the attached template to trace the leaves on to your excess felt.

b. After cutting out a bunch of leaves use whichever method you like the write the ages on the leaves

Creating the Flower

1. Create the 12 petals out of scrap fabrics.

2. From your extra felt, cut a 6” circle and a 4” square. This will be the back of the flower and a pocket.

3. Stitch the 4” square on top of the circle.

4. Cut a 5” x 2” strip of fabric. This will be the hanging loop.

5. Fold the strip of fabric in half lengthwise, twice. Stitch along the edge to create the loop.

6. Stitch the loop to the top of the pocket circle.

7. Cut a 12” circle out of your yellow fat quarter. This will be the center of the flower.

8. Stitch a long loose stitch around the edge of the circle.

9. Using the thread, hold one end and gather the circle so the edge folds over itself about 2”.

10. Lay out your 12 petals along the raw edge of the inner circle.

11. Whip stitch the petals to the circle to keep them in tack.

1. Using your sewing machine, use a zig zag stich to secure the petals to the center.

2. Place fiberfill in the center of the flower.

3. Cover the hole with the stem and the felt pocket. Hand stitch the three layers together.

You are done! Measure carefully on your wall to hang. Measure your little flower and place the leaves at her mark!

I apologize for the odd spacing of this post. If you would like a pdf version of this tutorial, as well as the VIP embroidery files for the leaves, please email me at 'ellen@3doodle.com'

It's almost Easter so we decided to take Zoe to see the Easter Bunny. She will be four months old next week, I can't believe how fast time has gone by! She is our big little girl and is absolutely wonderful. She was so happy with the Easter Bunny, I am so happy with her picture! My maternity leave is over but I had such a wonderful time off with her. Only the past month or so was I able to get any actual sewing done. It took us a while to develop a routine. But I loved every minute of it. I made some soft books for her and joined the Stuffed Team. Below is my contribution to our calendar which will be coming out later this year.

I am currently in the Stuffed Bunny show in St. Pete at the Eve N Odd gallery. I also have work hanging for the "Hip to Be Square" show at the Bricks in Ybor. Local peeps check it out! During my maternity leave I started experimenting with my 3D modeling, printing on fabric, and quilting. I think it turned out great, we'll see if it sells!