How to… assemble your brooch

Step 1

STITCH the design on evenweave so it’s easier to wrap around the card oval in step 2. Next, use a beading needle to add the beads on top using the chart. Stitch each bead from bottom left to top right, picking up the bead before pushing your needle back into your fabric.

Step 2

HOLD the design up to a window, place a sheet of white paper over the top, and draw around the edge of the design. Cut out the paper oval. Use this as a template to cut out several card layers and an oval from wadding. From green felt cut an oval 1cm (⅜in) larger than the template.

Step 3

TRIM your stitching, leaving a 2.5cm (1in) margin around it. Stitch a row of running stitches around the fabric edge. With the design facing out, place the wadding oval inside the brooch next to the design, then the card layers on top. Pull up the thread, so that the fabric closes at the back.

Step 4

PLACE the brooch on the felt oval. Using matching sewing cotton, make small stitches around the brooch edge to stitch it to the felt. Keep checking that the stitches are not showing on the back. Use an even tension without pulling the thread too tightly or the felt will pucker.

Step 5

CREATE a crimped edge around the brooch. Make a couple of stitches over the felt edge and down to the brooch edge. Pull up the thread to bring the felt into the edge of the brooch. Repeat every 1cm (⅜in) and carry on around the felt edge until it is completely crimped.

Step 6

ADD beads to the crimped edge using a long piece of matching cotton and a beading needle. Stitch a bead in each of the dips, moving onto the next, by taking the needle carefully through the brooch to the next crimp. Check as you go that the stitches cannot be seen on the back.