*CTSB* - Summer Dahlia Wreath - Jo-Anna from A Pretty Life in the Suburbs

Welcome to my day of Cure the Summertime Blues!

Today, I'm going to show you how to make this Dahlia Wreath!

It's coming to that time of year, when the Dahlias are going to show their pretty faces to the sun!  

They are such amazing flowers!  

And because I love them so much, I thought they would look so nice on a summer wreath!

There are many tutorials out there on how to make these felt flowers,
but I thought I'd add my own, so you can have a one-stop place to create.
They are much easier than they appear!

So pretty!

Embellishing is my favourite part!

I love argyle, so I thought this touch was perfect!

Here's How-To:

What You Need:

• 3 sheets of felt:  1 fuschia, 1 turquoise, 1 gold
• 1 green styrofoam wreath base (I don't use the white ones anymore, because they are just too crumbly and delicate.  Get the compact green styrofoam ones.)
• 1 ball of yarn, I used a thick charcoal yarn
• embroidery thread (or you can use yarn), in fuschia, turquoise, gold (for the argyle finishing touch)
• glue gun
• scissors

Let's do it: (following the little chart above...)

1.  Cutting the dahlia petals:  

Cut the felt, first into squares:  (you may have to adjust the number of petals, depending on how close you glue them together.  Here are the numbers that worked for me:

• Large dahlia:  16 - 1.5 inch squares, 13 - 1 inch, 11 - 0.5 inch squares
• Small dahlia:  12 -  1 inch squares, 9 - 0.5 inch squares

Note:  I found that the smallest dahlia didn't need a 3rd set of petals.

Then, cut the squares into soft edged hexagons, as shown in the picture above in section 1.

2.  Using a glue gun, put a line of glue at the bottom of the petal.

3.  Fold over and pinch tight, until the glue holds.

4.  Putting the flowers together: 

Make a 3 inch circle of felt for the large flower, and a 1.5 inch circle for the smaller flower.

Glue the largest petals along the outer edge of the circle first.

5.  Then glue the next largest size of petals along the bottom of the first set of petals.  Repeat for smallest petals.

6.  Making the centre of the flower:

Cut 2 4 x 0.25 inch strips of felt, one out of the same colour as the flower, and one out of yellow felt.

7.  Snip along the edges of the strips, as shown in #7.

8.  Layer the 2 strips, and roll together to make a circle.  Then glue this into the centre of the dahlia.

9.  Making the wreath.
Wrap your styrofoam base with yarn.  I have found that the thicker the yarn, the less chance you need to double wrap it.  I also like the more rustic look the chunkier yarn gives.

For a full tutorial on wrapping the wreath, please refer to a previous post I did, here.

10.  Finishing Touches:

Using the embroidery thread, I just wrapped it around the finished wreath, in an X pattern.

Just adds a little touch of pretty to tie it all together!

11.  Finishing Touches:

I always like to make my own wreath hanger too.

All I did here was thread a loop of embroidery thread through the back of the wreath, tied a knot, and added a little flower embellishment.

Just simple, summery and pretty!

Thank you so, so much for stopping by!

Make sure to go on over to these great blogs to see what they are doing to Cure the Summertime Blues!

July 20th - Elizabeth from Simple Simon and Co.

July 21st - Melissa from Love Affair with my Brother

July 22nd - Anna from Ask Anna...

July 25th - Beverly from Flamingo Toes

July 26th - Tristin from Two Girls Being Crafty

July 27th - liZ from Simple Simon and Company

July 28th - Sunny from Love Affair with my Brother

July 29th - Shannon from Sew Homegrown

Have a great day!

 

Wow- thanks so much Jo-Anna!!!  Isn't that wreath just gorgeous?!

Be sure to go visit her over on A Pretty Life in the Suburbs!

Hope everyone has a great day!

xoxo

jessica