Make seasonal felt fruit with Carolyn Letten's mixed media projects

What you need...

• Fabric: pink floral, green stripe, blue crosshatch
  Felt, assorted colours
  White embroidery floss
  Card blank, 13cm x 18cm
  Fusible interfacing
  Toy stuffing
  Felting needle
  Ribbon, green
  Adhesives

instructions

1. Berry Sundae Card - 1 Stick green stripe fabric across the bottom of a white card blank, 6cm deep, using an acid-free glue stick, folding over onto the back for a neat finish. Cover the rest of the card with pink floral fabric, folding over onto the back in the same way.
   
   2 Using the template, cut out a sundae glass in blue crosshatch and back with fusible interfacing. Machine stitch to the card front using darker blue thread. Draw
   the glass details with a water erasable pen, then stitch over the marks before dabbing with a wet paper towel.
   
   3 Cut out all the felt fruit and cream pieces. Machine stitch each felt shape onto white paper, leaving plenty of space around each one and adding the details with coloured threads. Trim so no paper shows, then assemble on top of the sundae glass, with three blueberries around the bottom, and stick in place with acid-free glue.
   
   4 Add glitter glue details to the sundae glass and cream. Stick two lengths of narrow green across on both sides of the sundae glass to separate the main fabric sections.

2. Strawberries - 1 Using the template, cut three in red felt, plus three leaf tops in green felt and three stalk pieces, 3cm square. Following the marking guide, place each red shape on scrap paper and machine stitch seeds across the surface in pale green, then highlight the seed edges in white, before removing the paper.
   
   2 Fold each strawberry in half, short side to short side and right sides together, then hand sew up the side, using a 3mm seam. Turn the strawberry out, then cut 3mm slits around the top. Make a line of running stitch, 4mm from the edge, then pull to gather the top section together. Stuff firmly, then fasten off the end.
   
   3 Place the green tops onto scrap paper and machine stitch leaf details onto each one. Tear the paper away, then cut a small hole in the middle. Roll each green stalk tightly and use a dry felting needle, working up and down, to create a solid stem. Poke each one through a leaf hole by 5mm, then sew by hand.
   
   4 Add a little PVA glue to the top of each strawberry, then attach the green top and stem. Once dry, use green thread to hand sew the undersides of the tops in place to cover up any glue or gathering stitches.

3. Raspberries - 1 Cut three fruit shapes from the template in pink felt and place on scrap paper. Using a dark pink thread, machine stitch the details to each one, sewing over the lines twice. If you prefer, trace the pattern onto white tissue, place over each shape and sew over the lines. Remove the excess paper.
   
   2 Using one strand of white embroidery floss, hand sew a single stitch onto every section of each raspberry. Fold in half, straight edge to straight edge and right sides together, then hand sew the side, using a 3mm seam. Turn each raspberry out, but take care not to push the bottom point fully out.
   
   3 Cut tiny tabs, 3mm, around the top and hand sew a line of running stitches, 4mm from the upper edge. Partly pull up the stitches to gather, then insert stuffing. Tighten the stitches, then fasten off. Use the same coloured thread to close the hole at the bottom, then bring the needle and thread up through the middle of the fruit and out the top.
   
   4 After preparing a green leaf top for every raspberry, push the needle up through the centre of it and back down to create a small stitch. Bring the needle back through the raspberry and out of the bottom, then pull tightly so the leaf sinks down to give each fruit its shape. Fasten off securely.

4. Blueberries - Cut a series of purple felt rectangles, 2cm x 9cm. Roll each one tightly and use a dry felting needle to bring the fibres together, working each tube into a ball. Make bigger berries by increasing the dimensions by 2cm. Hand sew a cross shape in lighter purple to the top of each one. CB