With so many vibrant colors of felted wool available, wool appliqué is a great technique for making ornaments, and this flower ornament can be for a holiday tree or displayed year-round. Felted wool does not fray, so you don’t need to turn under any edges or add fusible web to stabilize your appliqué pieces. Just cut and stitch! You can use craft felt, too, if that’s what you have. Great color choices are readily available. Apply the techniques in this article to any wool applique ornament.

Add texture and design elements with embroidery floss or Perle cotton in matching or contrasting colors. These little projects provide great practice when you want to learn a new embroidery stitch! Blanket stitch is the most popular, but you can use a wide variety of stitches for wool appliqué! I used several in the sample wool appliqué flower ornament, and you can find even more in our Embroidery Tutorials.

Here’s how to make a Wool Appliqué Flower Ornament.

Download pattern for wool appliqué flower ornament

One (1) Ornament

Wool Appliqué Flower Ornament

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Active Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 15 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Learn how to make a wool appliqué flower ornament with this step-by-step tutorial.

Materials

Appliqué Pattern Printed or Traced on Freezer Paper
Felted Wool, Wool Felt or Craft Felt in Colors to Match Your Project (I used hand-dyed felted wool)
Perle Cotton or Embroidery Floss to Match Your Project (I used size 8 Perle Cotton)
6-inch Piece of Ribbon or Rick Rack to Make Hanger

Tools

Chenille Needle Size 22 or 24
Appliqué Scissors
Paper Scissors (not shown)
Appliqué Pins (not shown)
Iron
Pressing Surface

Instructions

Download the pattern.

Gather your tools and supplies as listed above. Not pictured are small appliqué pins and paper-cutting scissors.
Cut out freezer paper templates along cutting line. Use them to rough-cut your fabrics - you will make precise cuts later. Notice that there are two pieces of the pink wool for the largest flower shape. Freezer paper templates can be used more than once, so I could get both of my large flower pieces using the same template.
Iron the freezer paper templates to the right side of your fabric. (With hand dyed wool, either side of the fabric can be the right side.) Notice the second large piece of wool. I ironed the template to it in the next step.
With your appliqué scissors, cut out the first large flower shape, clipping nice sharp inside corners. Carefully remove the freezer paper template so that it doesn't tear. But if it tears a bit, you can line up the pieces. Place the template (either whole or arranged like a puzzle if it came out of the previous step in more than one piece) on the second large piece of wool and press into place.
Cut out your second large flower and the rest of the appliqué pieces.
Stack the pieces in size order with 2 layers of the largest flower shape on the bottom. This is your chance to arrange the layers of petals so that they line up - or have a wonky vibe.
Thread your chenille needle with a single strand and knot the end. I used size 8 perle cotton. This is your appliqué thread that will be stitched on top of the center circle, so it should match or contrast with the circle fabric as you wish. I went with matching.
We will stitch two layers at a time, starting with the top two layers. Starting from the top will have us stitching through just two layers of fabric at every step - much easier than stitching through three or more layers! If you need help choosing which appliqué stitches to use, check out our Embroidery Tutorials. Lift the top two layers (circle and small petals) and pin.
Bringing the needle up from the back and appliqué the center to the smallest flower with your appliqué stitch of choice. For this layer, I chose the Lazy Daisy Stitch.
Secure on the back with a knot.
Pin the next largest flower shape to the two-layer unit you just stitched.
Select a thread and appliqué stitch to go around the edge of your already-appliquéd unit. I chose the Blanket Stitch for this layer. Blanket Stitch is used often for wool appliqué.
Pin one of the largest flower shapes to the unit you have just stitched.
Appliqué the stitched unit to the large flower. I chose to stitch French Knots around this edge. These French Knots were made with two thread wraps around the needle.
Line up the background piece (the second large flower shape) with the appliquéd flower unit and pin. Fold the hanging ribbon or rick rack in half, matching the ends. Tuck the ends between the wool layers and starting from the inside of the fabric sandwich, begin a stitch through the hanger and the background.
Take a couple of tacking stitches through all layers with the thread exiting the back of the ornament.
Begin your appliqué stitch for the outside edge of the ornament. Check out our Embroidery Stitch Tutorials for inspiration. I went with the Blanket Stitch again.
Embroider your chosen stitch all around the ornament.
After stitching all the way around, knot your thread and bury it. Trim the thread close to the fabric and brush it with your fingernail. The thread end will disappear between the fabric layers.
Here is a Wool Appliqué Flower Ornament ready to hang!

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What is wool appliqué?

Wool appliqué is a technique to stitch layers of fabric together using wool or felted fibers to form a design for a quilt or other decorative items such as ornaments and table toppers.

Can wool appliqué be combined with other fabrics?

Yes! Cotton prints make wonderful accents to wool appliqué projects! Think wings of birds, windows on houses, clothing on people and more. Linens, silks and even decorator fabrics add interesting texture and luster.

Can I wash my wool appliqué projects?

Yes, if your wool and other materials are washable. If you plan on washing your project, it’s best practice to prewash your materials so that you will know how they will behave after laundering. Hand dyed wools usually will not shrink because of the dyeing process, but the colors may bleed. You will want to be sure colors are set before starting your wool appliqué project. Hand dyed and felted wools typically do not fray along the cut edges.

How about wool appliqué on the sewing machine?

With so many decorative stitches on today’s sewing machines, you can definitely use your machine for wool appliqué. Test your stitch settings on scraps before stitching on your “real” project – unsewing machine stitches on wool is a tedious task. Check your machine’s stitch menu. It may have a section of stitches dedicated to appliqué!

How do I do wool appliqué with freezer paper?

Freezer paper is an excellent template material for wool appliqué. Because it temporarily adheres to the fabric with the press of an iron, it does not distort the appliqué shapes like paper templates and pins can. Freezer paper templates are reusable. The number of times depends on how much fuzz transfers to the waxy side of the paper with each pressing. It can be a challenge to find a temporary marking tool that will show up on fuzzy wool fabric. If you mark your appliqué shapes with a permanent marker, you must be very careful to cut away all traces of ink before stitching.

What are the best wool appliqué stitches?

The Blanket Stitch is most the popular stitch for wool appliqué because it’s an easy stitch to learn and it takes a nice bite into the fabric while defining the edge of the motif with thread.

What thread should I use for wool appliqué?

Embroidery floss and perle cotton are popular choices for wool appliqué. There are lots of colors to choose from, and you can vary the texture of your project by varying the number of strands of floss you use or the weight of perle cotton you choose. Size 8 perle cotton is the go-to for many stitchers, but you can stitch with a thread as bold as size 3 or as delicate as size 12 or 16. (With thread sizes, the higher the number, the thinner the thread.

What are the best needles to use for wool appliqué?

Needles are a personal choice, with every stitcher having a favorite. Embroidery needles that fit the size of your thread are a good choice. My favorite is a chenille needle in size 22 or 24 for stitching wool. It’s a sturdy, sharp needle that accommodates most of the sizes of floss and perle cotton threads that I like to use.

Browse through more appliqué projects and inspiration on Create Whimsy.

Check out more DIY ornaments on Create Whimsy.