Poppies for Remembrance

When I made these knitted flower brooches last winter, one of the girls at work suggested they would make good poppies for Remembrance Day. It seemed a good idea and I agreed to make a poppy for each of us. However, when the time came, I didn't feel like making the same pattern again, so I started to look for an alternative which would look more like a Remembrance poppy.

I searched the internet for free knitted or crochet patterns but the instructions were either difficult to follow or just didn't look right. Back to the drawing board but this time I searched for felt or fabric flowers instead. And that's when I hit lucky with this pattern by Tally. I've adapted it slightly by adding a leaf but as you can see from the components it's really simple and her instructions are very clear.

Ta-dah! This is the finished poppy. The hardest part was getting a decent photo. It must be something to do with the way the light bounces off the felt but I just couldn't get a true representation of the colour. In reality they're a much richer red than this and the green is a dark forest green.

The girls were really pleased and wanted to pay me for the cost of the materials. However, by coincidence, the day I handed them over was the launch of the Poppy Appeal so I asked them to give a donation to the Appeal instead.

The idea of using layers of felt shapes to make flowers was so simple and so effective that it's got me thinking of ways to adapt it for other flowers. In fact, there's a celebration in a couple of weeks for which it would work beautifully and I've already started making a sample. Fingers crossed it turns out ok and I'll reveal all - watch this space!