Embroidered Felt Cactus (free printable pattern)

It’s no secret that I love to doodle, and lately I’ve been looking for ways to take my drawings off the page and turn them into other types of projects. One of the first things I came up with is this adorable Embroidered Felt Cactus, and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. Here’s how you can make your own.

Image contains a wooden embroidery hoop with a piece of white fabric inside and an embroidered felt cactus with a smiling face.

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How to Make an Embroidered Felt Cactus

You’ll only need a few basic supplies to create this project, and I’m hoping to make it extra-easy by giving you a free printable pattern. Of course, you can freehand your own cactus if you like, but if you want to use my doodle as your guide, I’ve got you covered! Just grab the materials listed below, and let’s get started.

Image contains a wooden embroidery hoop with a piece of white fabric inside. In the center is an embroidered felt cactus with a smiling face.

Materials

6” embroidery hoop
white fabric
felt: green, brown, pink, and/or any other colors you choose
embroidery floss: green, brown, pink, black
small black beads
scissors
embroidery needle
free printable cactus pattern

Instructions

Secure the white fabric in your embroidery hoop.

To do this, unscrew the hoop and separate it into two pieces. Lay the smaller circle down and place your fabric on top of it, right side up. Slide the larger circle down on top of the fabric and the smaller hoop. Tighten the top screw to hold the hoop in place.

Print out the cactus pattern and cut your felt pieces.

The pattern is sized to fit an 8.5”x11” sheet of paper. Print at 100%, then your cactus will fit inside the 6” hoop. While I recommend green for the cactus and pink for the cheeks, feel free to use any colors you like for the base and rim of the flowerpot.

download the free pattern here

Image contains a bamboo embroidery hoop with white fabric inside, sitting on a white table. Pieces of cut felt sit on top; a green cactus, a brown pot and rim, and two pink ovals.

Position the cactus and embroider a running stitch around the edges.

Place your cactus in the center of the hoop, making sure to leave enough space for the flowerpot. If you like, you can use a few straight pins to hold it in place. Then, using two strands of green embroidery floss, go around the edges of the shape with a simple running stitch.

Image is a closeup of the green felt cactus stitched onto white fabric in an embroidery hoop.

Use a reverse chain stitch to embroider texture lines inside the cactus shape.

I did two lines in the center, and one on each arm of the cactus. If you’re not familiar with the reverse chain stitch, you can do a backstitch instead. Or, you can skip this part entirely and move on to the next step.

Image is a closeup of the green felt cactus stitched onto a white fabric background. Two texture lines made from reverse chain stitches run through the center of the cactus.

Position the base of the pot, then embroider a running stitch around the edges.

I used two pieces of tan floss, but you can use whatever color matches your base. The base of the pot should slightly overlap the bottom of the cactus.

Position the rim of the pot, overlapping both the base and the cactus, and embroider a running stitch.

I chose to use a blue rim to add an extra pop of color to my project, but feel free to use your favorite color, or the same color as your base.

Image contains a closeup of a green felt cactus in a brown and blue felt flowerpot stitched onto a piece of white fabric.

Sew two black beads onto the cactus for eyes.

Alternatively, you can use french knots to create the eyes, but they won’t be as large.

Stitch the cheeks in place below the eyes.

Image contains a green felt cactus in a brown and blue flowerpot stitched onto white fabric. Two black bead eyes are sewn on, as well as two pink felt cheeks.

Use a backstitch to create a “u” shaped smile.

I used two strands of black embroidery floss.

Image contains an embroidery hoop sitting on a pink tabletop with a piece of white fabric inside. In the center of the fabric is a potted felt cactus made from green, brown, blue, and pink felt and black bead eyes.

Trim the excess fabric close to the back of the hoop.

Or, if you prefer to display/use your cactus in a different way, you can remove the fabric from the hoop and work with it as an 8” square. This could be turned into a pillow, a pouch, or anything else you like.

Image contains the finished felt cactus project propped against a faux plant in front of a white wall decorated with large pink paper flowers.

Crafting Tips

Try making a larger or smaller version of the same project by using a different size hoop and adjusting the size of your felt pieces.
You can use any fabric you like as the background! Try experimenting with a different color or a fun print pattern.
For even more personalization, add words using a fabric marker and/or embroidery. I think, “hug me” might be a great saying for a cactus, don’t you?

Image contains the finished embroidered felt cactus project propped against a white wall.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I do a running stitch?

This is the easiest of all the embroidery stitches. Here is a quick tutorial.

How do I do a backstitch?

Here is a great backstitch tutorial.

How do I do a reverse chain stitch?

See a full tutorial here.

More Felt Projects

If you enjoyed this craft, here are some other fun and easy projects you can create using felt!