How to knit or sew a Remembrance poppy
As a charity supporting thousands of ex-servicemen and women, the National Service of Remembrance is one of the most important events in our annual calendar.
On this page, we show you how to make your very own poppy to wear with pride in November, or even add to our stunning 'Field of Remembrance' display.
Watch our tutorial video
What you’ll need
- Red four-ply wool or red felt
- Size 4mm knitting needles or a crochet hook
- A black button
- Green felt
- A safety pin
- Scissors
- A large needle
- Red thread
- Glue
Step-by-step instructions
- Using the knitting needles and red wool, cast on 20 stitches.
- Knit a garter stitch until work measures 10cm x 10cm, or thereabouts.
- If you’re knitting, cast off and leave a long enough tail. Then thread the end with a large needle. For felt, thread a needle with red yarn.
- With the threaded needle, weave the needle in and out around the sides of the knitted or felt square.
- Gather in the sides by pulling in the yarn. This should create a round poppy-like shape.
- When you’re happy with the shape of the poppy, secure the middle with a few stitches then weave in any loose thread and sew the button on top.
- With the button sewn on and poppy nicely shaped, cut a leaf out of green felt.
- Glue or sew the leaf on to the back of the poppy.
- Sew the safety pin on to the back of the poppy.
- Your knitted poppy is ready to be worn with pride.
Tips for knitting with a vision impairment
Good lighting
Ensure you have adequate lighting. A headlamp or LED lamp can be particularly useful.
Thicker yarn and larger needles are easier to handle and feel, making it simpler to distinguish stitches.
Use stitch markers to mark the end of rows or pattern changes. You can buy them or make your own with items like paper clips or beads.
Keep your knitting supplies organized. Label your needles and yarn with raised markers to easily identify them.
![A large poppy blanket, made of up individually knitted poppies, decorating the front entrance of our Llandudno Centre of Wellbeing](https://bvuk-prod-hya9ascgaygsathh.z01.azurefd.net:443/media/hvzbp4u4/llandudno-poppies.jpeg?width=432&height=504&anchor=center&mode=crop)
![Two large long tables are covered in black netting and knitted poppies. Nine blind veterans are seated or standing around the table as they work to attach the poppies to black netting.](https://bvuk-prod-hya9ascgaygsathh.z01.azurefd.net:443/media/32fnca3u/members-in-the-creative-studio-around-a-table-knitted-poppies-to-black-netting.jpg?width=432&height=244&anchor=center&mode=crop)
![An array of knitted poppies attached to a black netting with a knitted Blind Veterans UK logo is hanging on the side of the Llandudno Centre building outside. In the foreground, there are also knitted poppies planted in the grass.](https://bvuk-prod-hya9ascgaygsathh.z01.azurefd.net:443/media/kgcjypd4/poppies-3-2.jpeg?width=432&height=244&anchor=center&mode=crop)
Veterans creating the poppy display for Remembrance at our Llandudno Centre of Wellbeing
How to get involved in our poppy project
Once your poppy is complete, we encourage you to send it to our Llandudno Centre of Wellbeing. We'll add your poppies to our Remembrance 2024 poppy display that our veterans and supporters help to create each year.
If you'd like to get involved, please mail your poppies by 14 October to:
2024 Poppy Display, Blind Veterans UK Llandudno Centre, Queens Road, Llandudno, LL30 1UT
Along with your poppy, you can include a message or question for one of our blind veterans. You're also welcome to include the name of a loved one who has passed away, and we will plant the name with your poppy in our field of Remembrance.
![The entrance of our Llandudno Centre of Wellbeing, with a green space decorated with poppies and a a blanket of poppies covering the front entrance](https://bvuk-prod-hya9ascgaygsathh.z01.azurefd.net:443/media/gkzdv1yf/1234.jpeg?width=959&height=542&anchor=center&mode=crop)
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