- To create the flowers, lay out two layers of red roving in approximately 4-inch diameter. Now tease out the orange roving and lay two thin layers of it on top of the red. Tour goal here is to create a blended watercolor effect for the insides of the flowers. Pull off a tuft of yellow riving and create a cobweb that covers the pile. Tear off a small piece of orange roving and add it to the center. Finish off the pile with cobweb ring of yellow. Remember, there are no rules here; it’s simply a matter of personal taste. Keep in mind that the center of the flower will be covered by a tuft of brown, so plan your layers and spacing accordingly. Turn the pile over onto your wet felting surface so the yellow side is face down, and red in face up. Tear off a small piece of green roving, twirl it into a flat, round dot, an place it onto the back center of the red pile.
Wet sand the layers, checking often o make sure the green center piece hasn’t slid out of place.
Once you are happy with the shape of your flower, rinse it thoroughly in cold water, towel dry, and reshape
Use the green dot as a guide for the center point, and carefully trim away the unfinished edge so that it’s approximately 2 inches from the center of the flower. Remove a little at a time. Re-form the flower, and leave to dry. Repeat for the remaining 6 flowers.
Once the flowers are dry, you can needle felt small tufts of brown roving into the centers. It doesn’t take to many pokes with the needle to keep them in place and keep their appearance fluffy versus completely felted.
ASSAMPLE THE NECKLACE
Cut the loop end of the button clasp so it’s 1½ inches in length. Now set the small green felt ball next to the rest of the remaining green coil and trim off a piece so that, including the felt ball, it equals 1½ inches in length.
Thread flexible beading wire through a large upholstery or tapestry needle, and string on a green felt ball. Place two leaves side by side so that they both curl away from each other, and string them on the needle, followed by another large felt ball.
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Put the needle through the green dot on the back of the poppy and through another large felt ball. Continue stringing this patern until you have strung the last large green felt ball.
Remove the needle and string one crimp bead onto the wire. Replace the needle and string the non-loop green coil piece. If there is an end on the green coil that is thicker, string that end onto the needle first. Then, take a small stitch through the bottom of the edge of the small felt ball and put the needle back through the green coil. Remove the needle and put the end of the beading wire through the crimp bead( figure1 ).
Crimp the bead with crimping pliers. Trim away any excess beading wire.
Go back through the necklace and adjust each piece, making sure to remove gaps or sections where the pieces fit together too snugly. The goal is for the overall necklace to be able to move freely, but not have any gaps.
Trim the beading wire, leaving a 3 to 4 inch tail. String one crimp bead onto the wire. Replace the needle and string the loop end of the clasp, coil and first, onto the needle and then pass the needle back down through the coil (just next to where the wire came up, see figure2 ).
Remove the needle and put the tail of the wire through the crimp bead. Adjust the tension, and crimp the crimp bead. Trim away the excess wire.
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