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Felt flowers only look real once they have good leaves. The maker behind The Hardwood Forest sells felt flower bouquets, and in this video she walks through eight ways she puts a felt leaf on a wire stem. Some are faster. Some hide the wire completely. Some give the leaf a crease that reads as a vein from across the room. Knowing all eight means your bouquet stops looking like every leaf came off the same stamp.
| Method | Wire shows? | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Pinch | At the base | Speed, filler leaves |
| Sandwich | No | Large, bendable leaves |
| Cut in half | No | Pre-cut leaves, a center line |
| Fold-over vein | No | A crisp vein, roses and peonies |
| Double leaf | At the base | Leaf pairs at the top of a stem |
| Side grab | No | Several leaves down one stem |
| Bottom snip | At the base | Round eucalyptus-style leaves |
| Double-sided pinch | No | Tiny leaves running down a stem |
Wool blend felt is worth the extra cost. It cuts with a clean edge, takes a crease and does not pill when you handle it. Cheap acrylic felt is fine for practice. Buy several greens, plus a dusty blue-gray if you want eucalyptus. Mixing two or three greens in one bouquet looks far more natural than one shade.
For wire, 22 gauge suits single leaves and small stems. Use 18 gauge for a main stem that has to hold several leaves upright. Green paper-wrapped floral wire disappears against the felt better than bare metal.
Less glue is better. A big blob seeps through felt, leaves a shiny patch and makes the leaf stiff. A thin bead along the wire line is enough. A low-temp mini glue gun gives you more working time and is kinder to fingertips. Keep a bowl of cold water nearby for burns, and keep little helpers on cutting duty, not glue duty.
Tuck them around felt roses and peonies, wire a few into a wreath, or bundle a handful of eucalyptus stems in a small jar. Store finished stems standing up in a cup so the leaves keep their bend.
Pair these with a no-sew fabric flower or crepe paper flowers. Add them to a fall wreath, or use your felt scraps on felt acorns and a felt garland.
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Learn 8 ways to make felt leaves on floral wire: pinch, sandwich, folded vein, side grab and eucalyptus stems for felt flower bouquets. An easy project: about 30 minutes. Materials cost about $3 to $8. You need 9 things, including blue-gray felt for eucalyptus, 22 gauge floral wire and 18 gauge floral wire. The 8 steps start with glue a Felt Leaf to Wire With the Pinch Method and cut a Felt Leaf From a Glued Felt Sandwich.
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This is the easiest way and the one The Hardwood Forest uses most. Put a small dab of hot glue at the bottom of a cut felt leaf. Lay the tip of a piece of floral wire in the glue. Pinch the base of the leaf shut around the wire and hold it for a few seconds. The pinch gives the leaf a soft fold so it looks less flat.
Pinch right at the base. Pinching too high makes the leaf look like a taco.
Take two small squares of felt. Spread hot glue over one, lay a wire down the middle and press the second square on top. Now cut a leaf shape out of the sandwich with scissors. Feel for the wire through the felt so you cut around it, not through it. No wire shows anywhere, and you can bend the leaf any way you like.
Stop the wire short of the leaf tip. Cutting wire dulls fabric scissors fast.
Cut a pre-cut leaf in half down the middle. Run a thin bead of glue along the straight edge of one half. Lay the wire on the glue, then press the other half against it so the two edges meet over the wire. It uses half the felt of the sandwich method and leaves a neat line down the center that looks like a vein.
Line the halves up before the glue cools. You only get a few seconds.
Run a bead of glue down the center of a leaf and lay the wire on it. Add a second thin bead on top of the wire. Fold the leaf in half over the glue and pinch hard along the wire to set a crease. Open it back up. You get a sharp fold line down the middle, no exposed wire on the back, and a leaf you can still bend.
Watch your fingers here. The glue sits right where you pinch.
Pinch two leaves at the base first, without wire. Each pinch leaves a small flat spot. Glue the wire to the flat spot of the first leaf. Then add a little glue and set the second leaf right beside it on the same wire. The pair sits like the top of a real stem, with the wire sandwiched between the two pinched bases.
Use two slightly different sizes. Real leaf pairs are rarely twins.
Start with a pinched leaf on the top of the wire. To keep going down the stem, put a dab of glue lower on the wire and pinch a second leaf onto it, flat against the stem. Before the glue sets, rotate that leaf outward. Now it branches off to the side while still attached to the same wire. Repeat for a longer stem.
Alternate sides as you go down. It looks more like a real branch.
She jokingly calls this one the bend and snap. Make a small snip into the bottom of a round leaf. Put a thin bead of glue along one side of the cut. Lay the wire there, add a touch more glue and rotate the other flap over it. The leaf cups slightly, which suits eucalyptus. Bend it back, or leave it flatter.
Keep the snip short, about a quarter of the leaf. Longer and it falls apart.
Feed the wire through to the bottom of a small double-sided leaf. Add a dot of glue, then pinch both sides around the wire. That gives you the classic eucalyptus shape. Keep adding leaves the same way all the way down the stem. Use pliers to trim the wire and bend the stem once the last leaf is set.
Blue-gray felt sells the eucalyptus look better than any green.
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How to Make Felt Leaves - 8 Ways to Wire Felt Leaves
E6000
E6000 Craft Adhesive, Clear (3.7 oz)
The industrial-strength craft glue that bonds glass, wood, ceramic, metal, fabric, and concrete. The one adhesive most craft projects reach for.
Gorilla
Gorilla Dual-Temp Full-Size Hot Glue Gun
Dual-temp so it handles delicate florals and heavy materials alike. A precise nozzle and built-in stand make it the everyday craft-table gun.
OLFA
OLFA 18" x 24" Self-Healing Cutting Mat
The pro-standard cutting surface. Gridlines for square cuts, self-healing so blades never leave grooves, and big enough for paper, fabric, and leather.
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