Tuesday 21 April 2015

Make A Felt Palm Tree

Make a room feel tropical by decorating with little felt palm trees. Or use the palm trees as part of a story board if you are a parent or teacher. Palm trees are one of the simplest trees to draw. Since the palm tree drawing is to be transferred to felt, there is no need to put very much detail into it. Instead, concentrate on the basic shape of the trunk and branches. Practice drawing a few palm trees on paper first, since it is cheaper than felt. Does this Spark an idea?

Instructions


1. Draw two straight lines parallel to each other, on a piece of paper. The distance between the two lines depends on how large a felt palm tree you are making. Remember, a palm tree's trunk is relatively narrow.


2. Draw approximately eight to 10 lines extending out from the top of the trunk. The lines swoop down and get shorter toward the center and longer at the sides. Each line represents one palm frond.


3. Broaden the palm fronds by drawing two lines on either side of the initial line. The frond should appear narrower where it comes off the trunk, wider toward the center, and then narrow again near the tip. Since the palm tree is being transferred to felt, there is no need to draw each individual leaf, just the frond as a whole.


4. Cut the palm tree out of the paper. Separate the trunk from the fronds. Place the trunk on a piece of brown felt and the fronds on a piece of green felt. Use a fabric marker to trace around the cutout.


5. Cut the trunk and fronds out of the felt pieces. Use a dark brown fabric marker to draw small, straight lines down the length of the trunk. Use a dark green fabric marker to draw wispy-looking leaves on each frond. There is no need to go into great detail, just make small green lines extending from the center of each frond to the edge.


6. Place a dab of fabric glue on the top front surface of the trunk. Place the fronds on top of the fabric glue. If you are making a coconut palm, draw two or three small circles to indicate coconuts. Place a dab of fabric glue on the back of each coconut and bunch them over the center of the frond piece.

Tags: fabric glue, fabric marker, palm tree, palm trees, each frond