Felt Tudor Roses

Spent a lovely afternoon this week with a Year 5 Class making felt Tudor Roses. It's the fourth year I've done it and the above display was last years class.

Here's a few images of the roses made this year.

The children made a temporary display!

So for the past two years the children have used a template based on the traditional Tudor Rose and so produce quite similar roses.

Two years ago (when my son was in the class) the children designed their own Tudor Rose and made them from either merino wool or prefelt on a square background or as a brooch.

Some were in a more traditional style.....

And some were more individual.

Some of the brooches.

Here's my sons lovely rose.

I've come to the conclusion that using prefelt is perhaps the quickest and most reliable way to make the rose. The children can either use the same template or design their own.

So here's how we did it this year.

Trace over a tudor rose to create templates, pin them onto the felt and cut out.

Lay down a tea towel with either a piece of bubble wrap or thin plastic on top.

Position the felt pieces on a square background - ours was 13cm square.

Make sure everything is in the right place, then sprinkle with warm soapy water.

Cover with a piece of thin plastic and gently rub in circular motions for 5 minutes, turn and rub the back for another 5 minutes ( add more water if there are dry bits on the back).

Roll up the bottom of the tea towel to form a roller and roll up.

Roll backwards and forwards for 20 rolls, unroll and turn the felt a quarter of a turn, roll up again and roll for another 20 rolls. Repeat twice more so that you have rolled from each side - this will help it stay square and stop it shrinking too much in one direction.

Turn over and repeat the above.

Hopefully the felt will have shrunk to around 12cm - if it hasn't continue rolling for a bit longer. Then rinse under a tap and pat dry on a towel.