Fleece Flower Project 

Part 2

• Next step, you will work with the Heat n Bond to make the leaves and stems for your tote.

• Using your patterns that you sketched, place the Heat n Bond shiny side down, over your pattern.  Trace the 3 stems, 2 large leaves, and 4 small leaves. 

• Cut out the Heat n Bond (NOT on the lines!) outside of the lines with a little extra (approximately 1/2 to 1/4 inch)

• On your ironing board, lay your cotton fabric RIGHT SIDE DOWN.  (You will press the Heat n Bond pieces onto the WRONG side of the fabric.)

• As you can see, I am using scraps of my fabric, left over from other projects.  Place the Heat n Bond pieces with the shiny side down onto the WRONG side of the cotton fabric.

• Press with medium hot iron for 2 to 3 seconds.  (Do not "iron" by moving back and forth! - simply press down so that the adhesive surface melts to the WRONG side of the fabric)

• Cut out the pieces by cutting on the line - through both the paper and the fabric.

• Your pieces will look like these in the above picture.

• Peel away the paper backing.  Now you have a shiny side on the WRONG side of the pieces.  

• Place the stems and leaves, shiny side down, onto your tote bag in whatever arrangement you like.

• Again, using the pressing movement, press each piece in place for 2 to 3 seconds.  Check to make sure that the pieces are adhering to the fabric.  You may need to turn your iron's temp up a bit.  Each iron varies.  My iron doesn't get as hot as I like in the medium setting, so I turn it to high.  Test your iron and see what you need to do to make sure the adhesive melts and adheres well.

• For those of you who have sewing machines and would like - you can do this additional step.  I used an overcast blanket stitch and stitched the edges of the stems and leaves.  I personally like to have contrasting thread so that the stitching shows.  For those of you who do not have a sewing machine.  You can simply leave the leaves and stems as they were when you finished pressing them.  Or, if you prefer, you can use a needle and thread and sew the edges by hand.  If anyone would like further instructions how to do the overcast stitch by hand - comment on my blog and I will include separate instructions for that, if you wish. 

The instructions for attaching the flowers will be included in Part 3.