Crafting for the Not-So-Crafty: DIY Fabric Flower Necklace Tutorial

The lovely Vanessa is our resident crafter here at Chiquita Moms. You have probably seen her creativity and crafty talents shine in her Chiquita Banana Welcome Wreath tutorial, or her super fun post about homemade toddler toys. While I am a competent crafter myself, I do not have the creativity and eye for crafting inspiration like Vanessa does. I do like to dabble in craft projects when the opportunity arises, and have a passionate love for my sewing machine. When I talk to other moms about crafting, I tend to hear one of two things – a long list of all the fabulous crafting projects they are working on or have ideas for (So jealous!), or an adamant “Oh, I don’t craft.”

Finding time to craft and create is usually a mom’s biggest obstacle when it comes to crafting, and if this is the case for you, then I completely understand. But, if you don’t craft because you think you don’t have a crafty bone in your body, then there is hope for you! ANYONE can be crafty! Just because you may not know how to use a sewing machine, or get ‘crafter’s block’ (similar to writer’s block) when trying to find inspiration, never fear. There’s so much more to crafting than having skills like sewing, knitting, painting, or crocheting. And as far as ideas go… that’s what the internet is for. I can’t tell you the last time I actually came up with my own idea. Between blogs, websites, and Pinterest, there is a never ending supply of crafting inspiration and tutorials!

So, in the spirit of National Craft Month, and in the hopes that I can inspire some of you to pick up your hot glue gun and ‘get your craft on’, here’s a simple tutorial for creating a chic NO SEW Fabric Flower Necklace.

Items Needed:
Coordinating fabric scraps and felt
Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks
Necklace Chain (found at most craft stores)
Necklace Clasp (found at most craft stores)
Small Needle-Nosed Pliers
Fabric Scissors

The necklace basically consists of several circles in varying sizes. For this necklace, I used templates I created by tracing graduating circle cookie cutters onto cardstock, in three sizes – 1 1/2″, 1″, and 3/4″.

Next, I cut one circle of each size out of felt, and then a second felt circle in each of the smaller two size circles. So, one 1 1/2″ felt circle, two 1″ felt circles, and two 3/4″ felt circles. Set the extra felt aside for later.

For each felt circle, cut 6-10 circles of the same size out of your coordinating fabric. For this tutorial, I cut six fabric circles for each felt circle, but the more circles you have the more full your fabric pom-poms/flowers will be. Your circles don’t have to be perfect circles. You can save time by doubling or even tripling your fabric over on itself to cute more than one circle out at a time. Also, keep this in mind, you can use this same flower/pom-pom tutorial on a variety of projects from headbands to even embellishments on shirts or handbags. The larger the base circle, the more fabric circles you will need to get a full look.

Now it’s time to use your trusty hot glue gun. I use a high heat glue gun, but the low heat will work just fine for this project if you’d rather not risk burning yourself. I do recommend using a small hot glue gun for a project like this where you are making small sized flowers. Fold one fabric circle in half, and then in half again as pictured below.

Then, glue the tip of the folded circle onto the felt circle of the same size.

Work your way around the edge filling your flower with ‘petals’ (folded fabric circles), being sure not to forget to place one ‘petal’ in the center of the circle. Use as many ‘petals’ as you feel makes your flowers look full enough, cutting more if needed. When you are done, you should have a flower/pom-pom that looks like this.

Do the same thing for each base felt circle that you cut. For this necklace, you should end up with a 1 1/2″ flower, two 1″ flowers, and two 3/4″ flowers.

On the leftover felt, arrange your flowers how you would like them to look on your necklace. This picture is not at a good angle, but the flowers should make a “V”, placing the largest flower in the center, the two 1″ flowers on each side of the largest flower, and then the two smallest flowers on the end. Once you have the flowers arranged like you would like them, start hot gluing them down to the sheet of felt as a base for the necklace, making sure you bunch the flowers close together without leaving gaps in between them.

Before you glue the smallest flowers to the base felt, glue the necklace chain underneath them.

Then, with your scissors, clip around the edges of the necklace, cutting off the excess felt.

Lastly, attach the necklace clasp, and you’ve got your own handmade, super chic necklace that will make all your mom friends jealous!