(tutorial) box fold felt flower

My friend Kim asked if I'd make her a felt flower headband for her new baby, Lola.  I love it when people ask me to make something for them!  Here's how it turned out:

Look how sAsSy this little lady is already...i love her little pout!  

You can't have baby Lola, I already asked her mom, but you cAn have her headband.  

 If you want to make one, here's what you do:

Gather your supplies:

-felt or felted wool (2 colors...one for flower, one for leaf)

-thread to match

-needle

-highlighter

-button or pearl for center

-scissors

-stretchy elastic

-glue gun

Find a flower template that you'd like to use.  I found mine here and printed a 4x6 of it.I chose to use the larger of the three flowers.  If you want fewer ridges on your petals, use your marker to manipulate it to what you want!  (2 per petal is what I did for Lola's)

 cut out your flower template

 using a highlighter, (that's what I like to use, but anysort of pen that will write on felt will work) trace your template onto your felt.

 5 times...

 cut out your flower shapes, trying to cut on the inside of your highlighter lines...you'll want to completely get rid of all of these lines to make your flower.  

 Lay one flower down flat

 The other four flowers will be folded in house like so:

 lay the first one down on top of the first flat flower:

 Turn it, and lay the second folded flower on top of the first folded flower

 Turn it and repeat for the third folded flower:

 The fourth folded flower is why I think it's like a box fold.  Again lay it on top of the third folded one, as you did with the previous 3 flowers, but then slip it under the first one, just like you would fold a box.  Get it?

 Hold it in place just like that and begin to make 4 tiny stitches.  Start from underneath, so you won't see your knot

 come up to the front on one petal, and making the tiniest stitch, go back do in that same petal.  {note: if you're using a tiny pearl, as seen on Lola's darling head, make sure that your stitches are as close to the center as possible.}  Continue with 3 more stitches on the remaining 3 petals.  You should barely see them.  

 bring your needle back up through the center and thread your button or your pearl through and tack it down several times.  ending on the back and securing with a knot.  

 voila

 Now for the headband part...My information tells me that for a newborn's headband, you should cut the elastic at 13-14 inches.  

 sew it together using a close zig-zag stitch

 To make your leaf, cut an exaggerated tear shape (I just cut one out, I didn't use a template, sorry!)

 fold it in half

 and starting from the top, sew a straight line diagonally {see next picture}

 Then trim the fat

 open it up and you have a vein in your leaf

 make a headband sandwich...

small felt circle so it's nice on Lola's head, then headband, 

 then leaf...

 ...then flower...

 I must say that I like the teeny pearl better than the huge button, but whatever!

You can also play with different flower templates to get what you like!  

 {fabulous pictures of Lola courtesy of Tickled Pink Studios}

I linked this tutorial to these amazing blogs!