How to: Earthy Flower Cushion

Yay! I finally set aside some time to blog! I have been creating 'stuff' and 'delectable delights' for years, and have have told myself so many times, 'you should blog this Kitty!' (Yes, I do talk to myself :-)
So here is one of my lastest creations, nothing that hasn't been done before but still very easy and lots of fun!

You will need:
One cushion (mine was $5 from Kmart and I chose a neutral colour to complement the felt)
1/2 metre (20 inches) of felt of your chosen colour ($2.50 from textile traders)
Paper, pen, scissors, pins, ruler or measuring tape
Glue gun
Glue sticks (around 6-8, depending how generous you are)
Something to embellish the centre, I chose a strip of hessian

Start by making yourself a template for the petals, I have 4 different sizes! You can choose to make the petals rounded but I made mine pointed, and you can make them to your own size or use the sizes I did: (measurements in inches)
16 - 5" x 3"
16 - 4.5" x 3
8 - 4" x 2.5"
8 - 3" x 2"

Make sure you use your felt very sparingly as it will take the whole lot. I used a half template and folded the felt so that Both sides of petal were the same. Cut out the above amounts, (this is the longest part of the job, so make yourself a cuppa and put the music on)

Take a petal and glue gun and place a tiny amount of hot glue on each bottom corner and turn them into the centre to form more of a petal look. Do this to the first 16 largest petals. Once done, place a petal at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o'clock positions with a pin onto your cushion, make sure they fit 3 more petals in between those 4 main petals before you glue. Now take the 12 o'clock petal off and place a strip of glue on back bottom half of petal and place back in position holding down for a few seconds to make sure it is stuck. Place a pin at the front and middle of petal so that it dries firmly in place and then do this to the other 3 main petals.

Now you can position and glue the rest of the first 16 largest petals into the first outer circle. Now start the process again with the next 16 petals. Once they have the curled petal look, take the pins out of the first circle and then glue the next 16 positioned slightly down and in-between each of the first petals, only pin these at the end. Now do the next 8 and position in a circle slightly down from the second circle, finish this layer and do the same with the 4th and final layer.

For the centre I rolled and glued a strip of hessian fabric to embellish the flower centre, but you could use beads, sequins etc... I have put another example just below that my 15year old daughter made with beads in the centre.
Hope you enjoy making your very own flower cushion!