I have always wanted to make a little bunting made of felt circles for Abi’s room.  The only thing standing in my way is the fact that I would need to speed FOREVER cutting out a billion little circles.  No thanks.

But just recently WeR Memory Keepers released a new line of cutting dies.  They’re called Punch Dies and they are awesome.  Instead of it being one circle cut out at once, it’s multiples with a single run through the die cutter.  In the case of these circles I could get 7 large circle and 10 small ones in a single pass.

Life.  Changer.

So here is the (now) quick and easy project.

First you need to gather your supplies:

Evolution (or any die cut machine you have access to)
Felt in desired colors (my fellow Lifestyle Studio team member, Benzie Design, has some great wool blend in fantastic color ways that I highly recommend – that’s where I got mine)
Circle Punch Die
Sewing Machine

The first step you’ll need to do is cut your felt sheets into strips.  I found that a 3 inch wide strip was perfect.  With the size of sheet I was using I was able to get three strips of each color.  However, I only ended up using 2 of each and that gave me a TON of circles.

Now just sandwich the stuff up on the cutting platform.  I did the Genius platform, the circle punch die, the felt then cutting mat ‘A’.  I’ve also heard that if you put a cardboard shim between the platform and the die you can get a cleaner cut.  I think I’m going to try that next time.

Then just run them through the machine.

Viola!  Now you should have TON of little circles that look so cute all stacked up that you’ll have a hard time actually using them.

Now you just need to decide on a length and the placement order of the circles.  Using two of those felt strips of each color I was able to get enough circle to make 6 buntings; 4 were every other large and small, and 2 were one large then 4 small.  

As for color order I decided to do my first one in the ombre effect and liked it so much I just did that for all of them.

Next just feed them through your machine.  I decided to leave a little bit of stitching (about an half inch) between each circle so that it would get some twisty movement when hung.

I loved watching my little pile of colorful happiness appear out the back of my sewing machine.

All that’s left now is to hang them up and admire your handy work!

And thanks so much to Made Shop in Cary, NC for letting me use their shop to take my finished product photos.  We’re moving into an apartment this weekend so there was no place of order for me to get good pictures.  If you’re ever in the area check them out (and let me know so we can hang out ).

And remember, you’re more than welcome to use my discount code for any purchases made through the WeR online shop.

Giveaway Closed

Now for the great part right?  The promised giveaway.  We R Memory Keepers and Lifestyle Crafts have made it a great one too. It’s retail value is $50 (!!) and includes:

1 Circle Punch Die (same as the one used in the above project)
1 Pennant Punch Die

It’s so easy to win and there are options (cuz who doesn’t like options?) or do all  3 for more chances to win!

1 – Like We R Memory Keepers on Facebook and leave a comment letting me know.
2 - Like MissyDear on Facebook and leave a comment letting me know.
3 – Tweet about the giveaway and comment with a link to the tweet. Here’s a sample tweet you can use:
Awesome punch dies giveaway from @weronthenet on @missy_dear this week! Makes multiple cuts so easy! http://missy-dear.com/pfbs

The giveaway will be open until March 12, 2013 at 10 pm eastern time and the winner will be announced on the 14th. So enter soon and let all your friends know to enter too!

If you’d rather just purchase the Circle or Pennant (or both!) Punch Dies and not try your luck remember to use the discount code MISSYDEAR for 20% off your purchase at www.shopwer.com.

The post DIY Felt Circle Bunting Tutorial // Giveaway {closed} appeared first on missydear.