How to make a Felt Starfish Crinkle Toy

Babies love crinkle. I don’t know why exactly but they do, luckily crinkle toys aren’t hard to make.  Follow this simple tutorial for a  fun crinkle starfish no baby on land or sea can resist.

Whip up and these little crinkle starfish to keep little hands occupied during any summer soiree.  Although they seem tedious don’t skip the little french knots, they add texture that babies love!

You will need:

 2 sheets 9″ x 12″ felt or 1/4 yard of felt per starfish

(Summer House, Ice, Buttercream)

Embroidery thread in black for face and contrasting color for raised spots

Lead and Phthalate Free Crinkle material (1 toy size yard should produce 6 or more starfish)

A sewing machine, pins, scissors, a needle and thread

Starfish template (at the end of post)

Cut:

2 Starfish shapes from desired felt color

Step 1:

Create eyes and spots with french knots, stitch in smile with a back-stitch onto one side of your star fish.

Don’t make any knots in the seam allowance area of pattern.

Step 2:

Place starfish pieces together with the face facing inward. Cut a square of crinkle slightly larger than your project and pin it to the wrong side (the part that will be inside of your piece. Sew along outside of starfish as marked on the template.

 

Step 3:

After machine sewing down cut off excess crinkle scrap, don’t throw it away –  you can place this into toys with stuffing for a less dramatic crinkle. Cut notches along the seam to help the curves lay flat. Be careful not to cut through your stitching.

Step 4

Turn the whole thing right side out.

Push out corners with a pencil or chopstick. allow the crinkle to lay on the side it was sewn pushing a pencil or chopstick into it could cause it to rip.

The crinkle will stick out from the open area trim it back.

Step 5:

Close up the starfish with an overcast stitch.

*Note I used wool blend felt for these projects and so only spot cleaning is recommended. For more tips on cleaning felt see:

How to Wash Felt

Happy Crafting!

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Scrappy Hobby Horse

Reblogged from Beauty All Around:

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Do you have piles of felt scraps floating around? Felt food, hair clips, fancy flowers, and a myriad of other felt crafting fun can leave you with quite a heap of felt bits floating around. Or, if you can’t get enough scraps, like me, you might purchase a big old box of scraps from some felt supplier. These scraps can come in handy, but I’ve found them hard to use in bulk, until now.

Read more… 202 more words

Look at what Rebecca, who lives in the Galapagos Islands, made from all her left over felt scraps! Check out her blog Beauty all Around for full tutorial.

Felt Friday – The New Kids

Now Now…I know you’re all excited it’s Felt Friday but settle down and welcome some new kids to the class!

First up is Griege!

A neutral blend of warm smokey grey and  beige taupe.

Gray’s are often cool colors the introduction of  beige, warms up this wool blend neutral.

As neutral as they come, Greige is the standard beige – with a modern twist.

Also new …Eggplant! 

Eggplant is a  warm purple with auburn undertones and a slight grey heather.

This deep ruddy purple is a perfect choice for felt flowers – the grey heather adds interest and depth.

Thick and sturdy wool blend felt.

Lastly please welcome

Pea pod

Sweet little Pea Pod – a muted mossy spring green.

A lovely muted green with a slight ash undertone.

Tones remincant of sea glass and aloe- a wonderful muted shade!

All colors are now available in high quality wool blend felt sheets.

Please welcome the new kids to our store:

Griege 

Eggplant

Pea Pod

Cutting Detailed Letters and Shapes from Felt

Letters and complex shapes can be difficult to cut from felt – when accuracy really counts. And pins are cumbersome to use on smaller pieces

Printable freezer paper also called quilters paper solves these problems and makes it a breeze to use up those smaller felt scraps. Quilter’s freezer paper also adds a rigidity that makes it easy to accurately cut small or complex shapes from amazingly small pieces of felt.

You’ll find it’s a life saver when  mass producing  felt items like party favors or making a felt flower bouquet.  All without damaging or staining your felt.

You might also want to check out Andie’s method for cutting small and detailed shapes without freezer paper for small projects.

 A quick freezer paper refresher:

Freezer paper is not the same as parchment, butcher, or waxed paper. 

 Printed sized quilter’s freezer paper is a must (we sell ours here as Felter’s Friend)

You do not want to use the rolled freezer paper sold at the grocery store for this craft for two reasons:

1: You will have to cut the paper into printer sized sheets and given the thinness and curl even with precision they may still jam.

2: Since these pieces will be handled a lot while you are cutting them out the curl of rolled freezer paper can cause the paper to dislodge more easily grocery store versions also adhere less strongly so you may find yourself getting very frustrated especially if you want to reuse the templates or cut intricate shapes.

Use the right tool for the job you won’t regret it.

Printer sized freezer paper

Plan out your templates in your favorite photo editing program.

 One sheet can be use on multiple colors so pack them in tightly and use every scrap of freezer paper. No need to reverse letters or shapes print your templates exactly the way you want your felt pieces to look. When choosing a font or a shape look for thick lines-  the thicker the better. . Felt less than 1/4″ thick can and will tear.

 To print on freezer paper

Print onto the matte (feels like regular paper) side NOT  the shiny side.

Since quality isn’t important print on the fast setting and save some ink.  Black and white prints will work for most projects however color printing is very helpful for layered projects (see more on this below.)

Ironing freezer paper to Felt

Cut your templates loose before ironing them onto to felt this makes it easier to position pieces and make the most  of your felt.

Letters can be broken up to fit onto your felt scraps.

Freezer paper will stick to acrylic felt however it may not adhere firmly enough for open centered letters; the synthetic setting on the iron doesn’t fully melt the freezer paper backing. Bamboo felt is very soft and it may be difficult to remove the freezer sheets once ironed on.

Wool or wool blend felt works best.

Iron freezer paper templates to wool/ blend felt using the wool setting.  (about 30 seconds)

Felt Cutting Tips

Once your templates have printed cut away extra paper around shapes or letters, removing bulk first keeps your cuts accurate.

Start slowly and cut inward you can always cut more but you can never cut less!

Cutting curves can be tricky it helps to cut deep lines to points on your templates. Then cut away in the opposite direction, this will make little triangles at each curve. Now move your scissors around the curves

 Consider using smaller scissors for tight spaces.

Cutting Open Centers from Felt

 If you cut your words straight you can easily curve them after they are cut which also helps save felt.

Cutting  layered template pieces from felt 

When cutting a layered piece it helps to print in color, no need to print each template piece separately!

Iron shape to first color, cut out felt and peel off.

Cut away the color you just completed and proceed to the next color.

Quality freezer paper sheets can be reused again and again for each color.

Each time it will adhere a little less firmly but I was able to use each piece up to 6 times.

Interested in more freezer paper/ felt magic?

Check out our DIY printed felt sheet tutorial or stop by the store!

If you like it then you should put a pin on it! We <3  Pinterest!

DIY printed (stenciled) felt

Lets face it felt is a pretty amazing medium to work in but  it does have its limitations chief among them is the lack of pattern.

Polyester patterned felt is available in very limited prints but what if you’re a felt purist or your imagination refuses to be constrained by commercially available choices? You have felt visions, nay dreams which you cannot ignore. You seem like a  free-thinker, I like that. So I’m here to help you… and I brought freezer paper!

Prepare to have your mind blown…unless you’ve seen this before in which case settle back down and don’t ruin it for the rest of the class!

You will need:

Freezer Paper AKA grease proof paper - Printer sized if you plan to use a printer

X-acto Knife or Scalpel & Cutting Board

Acrylic Paint & Textile Medium or fabric paint.

Wool or Wool Blend felt

Sponge Brush

A Vision (or templates)

Create stencil.

The first step is to create a stencil to work with. You will need to be able to cut away the area you plan to paint so simple outlines work best. Making the areas to be cut away a darker color will help keep your head from spinning when you try to figure out parts to cut later. Anything the freezer paper covers will stay the color of the felt. Whatever you cut away will become the print. 

The templates for these 6 patterns are posted free through our store if your interested in any of these styles. CLICK FOR TEMPLATES

Freezer paper can be bought in printer sized sheets or in rolls at the grocery store in the sandwich bag and plastic wrap isle. It is not the same as parchment, butcher, or waxed paper. The thinner, grocery sold freezer paper (rolled) is more opaque and will allow for easy tracing, but it also tears more easily and is a bit more cumbersome to cut.

Printer sized freezer paper sheets (quilters paper) , thicker and sturdier than rolled freezer paper.

If you are printing onto the paper I highly recommend buying pre- cut freezer paper meant for printers. Paper sold on rolls even when cut down tends to hold its curl and can jam up printers. Plus commercially available freezer paper sheets (often called quilters paper) is often thicker and adheres to the felt better.

To print on freezer paper make sure that you print onto the matte (feels like regular paper) side NOT  the shiny side. Print your design out onto the freezer paper sheets making sure to leave space around the edges to keep the paper intact after you get done cutting.  This is exactly the way your pattern will look when it is stenciled so don’t get all fancy and print your letters backwards or anything. Viola!

Now the real fun begins!  Lay your stencil down onto your cutting surface – You may want to tape it down to prevent shifting. Keep your cuts clean any cracks or extra cuts might result in areas you didn’t want getting painted onto your felt

And, we’re cutting…and we’re cutting.

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat!

Congrats your freezer paper sheet is now officially a stencil!

 Set your iron to wool lady friend because it’s time to make some magic!

Line up your stencil on the felt sheet shiny side down. The shiny stuff (technical term) will melt slightly and create a seal which won’t leave residue on your felt when you’re ready to peel it off. This temporary seal will need to hold a clean line so make sure to press firmly as you go paying close attention to edges and corners.  NO STEAM! Textile medium (also called fabric painting medium) is not optional if you are using acrylic paint. It magically transforms dull flaky, acrylic paint into a fabulous permanent washable fabric paint.

The textile medium also helps the paint become  more pliable which prevents, cracking, lifting, and fading.  Mix the paint with textile medium 2: 1. or as instructed. Mix well.

 Unless you get crazy with your paint and saturate through the entire thickness you shouldn’t need anything under your felt but this can be a messy process so you will need to protect your work area, a poster board is perfect for this.  Using a sponge brush paint over the stencil. One coat should be fine but if you want to do a second make sure your first layer is fully dry. 

Remove the freezer paper after the paint is set but before the felt is fully dry or cured.

(The paint on the paper is dry but the paint on the felt is still moist.) This is much easier than letting the paint fully set.

They will be dry to the touch pretty quickly but allow them to cure overnight.

To set the paint you will need to iron over the dried paint on the wool setting.

Use as you would any felt.

Check out what we made with the wood-grain felt!

 Now what to do with these guys… I am thinking coasters, maybe a notebook cover?

Any suggestions?

*Those of you who did not properly prepare to have your minds blown, I am sorry but I did try to warn you . 

* Handy Tips from your handy tipster:

* The textile medium worked fine on the synthetic felt but the freezer paper wasn’t able to make a solid bond on the appropriate heat settings for synthetics. It may have sealed at a higher temp but this isn’t Myth-busters and I risk my iron for no man!

* This technique didn’t work on the bamboo felt, the composition of the felt is so soft that it adheres a little too well.

* Painting with a sponge brush in light layers will help keep the lines clean.

* Don’t mess up- Paint is forever so be careful! If you didn’t over saturate your felt you should be able to flip it over and give it another try on the reverse side.

* Mixing textile medium with acrylic paint  is a way to get a large range of color choices without having to make an investment in each color of fabric paint.   Especially since you may only need a small amount paint. It also allows for easy custom tinting.

* You can also paint directly on the felt, which you would only do if you were better at it than I am, which isn’t that hard see…

The size of a sheet of freezer paper is pretty close to felt sheets we sell at American Felt and Craft and many other places so you know exactly what will fit.

Freezer paper is also great for cutting out templates with precision! (More on this next week!)

Happy Crafting!

~Andie

Lizzie Borden Baby Rattle

Lizzie Borden- Baby Rattle Tutorial Pattern

Help your favorite little one remind their parents who’s really in charge with this killer baby shower gift!

You will need

*Red felt (Lipstick)

*Grey Felt (Grey Flannel)

*Beige Felt (Toffee)

Stuffing

Rattle Insert

*Matching thread

 Template (at the bottom of post)

To make the wood grain on my felt I used a stenciling technique I’ll be posting about later this week.

Begin by cutting  2 axe head pieces from grey felt, 2 bloody edges from red felt, and 2 axe handles and one axe base from beige colored felt.

Stitch bloody edge to each side of the axe head.

Be sure to attach in mirror opposites so that they come together correctly.

Attach each axe head to an axe handle using a running stitch and matching thread

Place axe heads together and overcast stitch the sides together using beige thread.

(click here for more on these stitches)

Leave bottom of Axe open, over cast stitch up the other side.

Connect axe heads with matching thread and an overcast stitch along the outside.

Leaving top open.

Add rattle insert to axe head –  lightly stuff and stitch axe head closed.

Stuff axe handle until it is stiff and attach rounded bottom with an over cast stitch.

And there you have it…

Did you have your heart set on a killer baby shower gift?

With a few tweaks Lizzie’s rattle easily becomes a fireman’s Axe.

You will need:

*Red felt (Lipstick)

*White felt (White)

*Yellow felt (Lemon Meringue)

*Beige felt (Toffee)

Stuffing

Rattle Insert

*Matching thread

 Template (at the bottom of post)

To make the wood grain on my felt I used a stenciling technique I’ll be posting about later this week.

Begin by cutting  2 yellow fireman’s symbols, 2 axe head pieces from red felt, 2 axe edges and backs from white felt, and 2 axe handles and one axe base from beige colored felt.

Attach White accents and fireman symbol to each axe head in mirroring directions.

Assemble as outlined above.

I hope you enjoyed this felt baby rattle tutorial.

 Happy Crafting!  - Andie

Spring Petits Fours – Tea Party Cakes Felt Food for beginners

Felt food is so much fun to make and is a wonderful imaginative toy for children.

If you’re intrested in felt food making here’s a simple beginner friendly felt food tutorial to get you started.

Spring Petits Fours

You will need:

Felt Felt in colors of your choosing 5″ x 7″ per Petit Four

Sunshine, Sparrow, Honeydew, Pink Tutu, White, and Apricot

Ric Rack

Chocolate, Petal Pink, Hot Pink, White, Orange and Yellow

Felt glue

Coordinating thread

Begin by cutting one of each of the templates per Petit Four

Attach Ric Rac to the top of each tea cake as desired with felt glue or sew into place.

Pinch corners together and overcast stitch up the sides to make a box shape.

Flip over and overcast stitch bottom into place.

Ta Da!

Here it is faster

See super easy! 

Happy Crafting! 

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