Three Dimensional Felt and Bead Ornament

As with many ideas I found this craft on Pinterest, but couldn't locate any directions in English. I deconstructed the project in my head and deliberated how to best instruct my coworkers on how to make these felt and bead ornaments. As with any craft, there are many ways to get to the finished product.

Here are the materials you will need for this week's craft:

felt (cut in 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch wide strips)
beads
pins
needle and thread
scissors
string to hang your craft
1/2 inch grid paper
pen or pencil
*optional towel or bowl for your beads

I bought all of my felt at my local Jo-Ann Store. There is different types of felt; some is made out of polyester and comes in a wide variety of colors and comes in widths of 72 inches (less expensive), and felt made of wool and rayon (different percentages of each) which is available in 36 inch widths. The polyester felt is thinner and more flexible and also comes in more colors while the wool felt is available in mostly natural colors, is thicker and more rigid. Our example is made from wool felt.

I used my rotary cutter and mat to cut the strips. It was challenging to cut through many layers of felt at the same time. It seemed easier to cut the wider strips-but aesthetically the thinner strips seemed to look better.

Once the strips were cut I measured 1/2 inch in from one end and placed a pin. Then you need to decide how big you would like to make your ornament. Our example was made by measuring 4 inches, place a pin and then 4 inches again. Continue to pin the felt with the following measurements:
1/2 inch, 4 inches, 4 inches, 3 1/2 inches, 3 1/2 inches, 3 inches, 3 inches, 2 1/2 inches, 2 1/2 inches, 2 inches, 2 inches, 1 1/2 inches, 1 1/2 inches, 1 inch, 1 inch.  Your felt will look like the example below.

For this size ornament you will need ten beads-larger ornaments will require more beads. Also-depending upon the method you use to secure the bottom bead you might need an additional smaller bead.

Next you will need to take a length of thread and double up the thread and make the knot at the end really big (3-4 knots on top of each other).  Begin sewing by going through the felt at the 1/2 in pin at the one end of your piece of felt. Pick up one bead with your needle and here is where you can choose one of two methods to anchor the bead. 1-if you have an extra bead that is as large as the hole at the bottom of your first bead you can string it on next and go back up through the hole you came down and the bead will be anchored at the bottom.

2-if you do not have a bead to anchor the bottom-you can go back to the same hole you came down around the outside of the hole. If you stop here and proceed-your bottom bead will be on a 90 degree angle compared to the rest of the beads. One solution to fix this is to go back down the middle of the bead  and again up to the original hole on the opposite side. This will straighten out the bottom bead.

As added precaution, I always go through the knot before I move onto the next step.

Once you have anchored the bottom bead go to the next pin and sew the felt (making sure not to twist it) for the 4 inch mark, and again for the second 4 inch mark. Then place your next bead. Repeat this pattern (two loops then a bead) until you get to the end of your pins.

Once you get to the top of your tree-cut a piece of twine and tie a loop in the twine. Run your needle and thread through the loop in the twine and back down through two or three beads. Putt your needle through the ornament and cut your thread at least 4-5 inches long. Split the thread so that it will go around either side of the existing threads and two two knows with the cut threads. Trim the threads and you should be ready to hang your ornament on the tree.

Enjoy!