Mittens – DIY felt ornament

 

Winter is here! Time to pull out those mittens and get to frolicing in a winter wonderland, or at least that’s how I assume it’s done.

Being an Arizona native means I don’t have much experience with snow but that doesn’t mean I don’t still find mittens adorable!  Craft up some little felt mittens with this super easy pattern, regardless of climate. They can be made in any color or pattern of felt you can imagine (we’ve got over 200 suggestions  www.feltandcraft.com) Adding the snowflake sequins is optional you can easily create a felt cut out, use buttons, an initial or keep them sweet and simple. 

You will need:

6″ x 8″  felt in your choice of colors I used Blueprint, Poinsettia and Grey*

 

 

Scrap of Fur Felt in white*

Cord or ribbon for loop 4″-5″

Snowflake Sequins(optional)

*matching thread

Cut:

Four cuffs from fur felt and 4 mitten shapes from color of your choice.Stitch sequin or shape onto one mitten shape, add to second mitton shape making sure the thumbs face opposite directions. (No one needs two left gloves) Sew mitten cuffs to base of mittens. Repeat for each piece. Fluff fur over stitches. Just make sure your pieces are mirrored so they will sew together correctly.Place mitten shapes together and sew together using an overcast stitch and matching thread. Insert ribbon or cord into base of cuff before stitching over it with a running stitch and overcast stitching around the outside of mitten. And that’s all it takes to make these fun holiday felt mittens! Happy Crafting ~Andie

Felt Mitten template print at full page size

 

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Low sew fall leaf felt pillow

Bring fall indoors with these SUPER easy fall felt pillows. How easy you ask? You don’t even need a sewing machine to create a mountain of fall leaf pillows and there’s a good chance you have everything you need in your house right now.

These pillows make easy and fun fall crafts. It’s surprisingly easy to bring fall in your living room you’ll be jumping in piles of leaf pillows in no time.

You will need:

Standard size pillow case. I used an old standard size bed pillowcase.

Pillow insert, – these work better than stuffing because they create a smooth appearance for your pillows. You can buy them premade or simply chop a bed pillow to your desired size.

Felt scraps to cut leaves in fall colors the number you will need will depend on the design you choose. I used

Saddle Brown, Mustard, Egg Yolk, Hot Chocolate, Fresh Cut Grass, Autumn Leaves, Tangerine, Darkest Ruby, Chocolate, Poinsettia, Wine and Penny

Needle and thread.

First decide on a design you like, as you can see the options for this easy fall felt pillow are endless.

Cut the felt leaves from the leaf shaped pattern template. The number of leaves you will need depends upon the design you choose. If you need some tips on cutting small or difficult shapes check out THIS POST.

I am going to make the striped pillow case but they are all made in basically the same way.  Stuff pillowcase with pillow and fold extra fabric behind the pillow for now.

Mark out where you want your design to be. For the circle shape you can trace a plate if needed but the leaves on this DIY fall decor hack are very forgiving if you want to wing it. Measure out a 3.5″ – 4″  past the end of your pillow and trim off the extra fabric. Lay out your leaves where you’d like them to be. Pin down if desired. Sew felt leaves down with a  few stitches into each with a neutral color or consider using a few permanent markers.  You can attempt this with the pillow in place with small shallow stitches or you can remove the case and sew then sew the felt leaves to your pillowcase.

Small stitches are fine the leaves will flop naturally so there is no need to sew each felt leaf shape down completely.  Continue until your design is sewn down.

Fold cut edges of the pillow case  inward and pin folded ends together. Overcast stitch along the side of the pillow with matching thread to close. 

And that’s all it takes to make a pile of felt fall leaf throw pillows.

Happy Crafting

~Andie

Fall Flower Fairy Finger Puppet

Who else is on the edge of their seats waiting for the first days of fall?  I simply cannot wait for the cooler shorter days, the smell of a fireplace and an an added reason for a good cuddle.  SIGH! Perhaps this fairy can help move things a long with a little fall magic. 🙂

To create your own little fall fairy finger puppet all you need to do is print out the template, cut from felt and sew up some autumn vibes. This cute little fairy is easy to customize with any skin tone, eye color or hair shade. She features a crown of leaves and double sparkling felt fairy wings. Not only does this fairy make a charming fall craft but adding a simple loop to the top turns her into an adorable ornament, a magnet glued to the back will allow her to watch over your seasonal baking you can even place one on a bottle of wine for a charming hostess gift this fall.

You will need:

Felt in skin color of your choice I used Pastry*

Green for dress I used Granny Smith

White glitter felt for wings*

A small amount of stuffing

Felt scrap in hair color of your choice; I used Fire Engine Red*

Felt scraps for leaves I used Granny Smith, Autumn Leaves, Beet, Sunshine, Hot Chocolate, Orange Juice, Chocolate Moose

Embroidery thread in, brown, pink and color to match skin toned felt.

Felt flower fairy pattern (at the end of post)

Sunflower cutout

Flower sequins (optional)

*matching sewing thread

Cut

2 Head shapes, 1 body shape and one torso shape from skin tone felt

2 Dress shapes and 2 shoe shapes from green felt

2 wing shapes from glitter felt

10- Large leaves from fall felt colors

12-15 Small leaves from fall felt colors

Mark face placement lightly on felt with a pencil. Add eyes with eye color embroidery thread and french knots. Stitch smile from a single length of pink embroidery thread and a nose with a single stitch of skin colored embroidery thread. Stitch torso to body shape stuffing as you go. Stitch closed along the stomach area.Overcast stitch around the outside of the face, stuff as you go. Fit face onto neck and sew into place with matching thread. Add shoes to both sides of feet. Set doll aside. Sew bigger leaves to dress under the arm area with two or three longway stitches so the leaves can “poof” out along the dress, check to make sure dress sides are going the correct direction (mirror image front and back) before adding more leaves to the back in the same way you did the front. This will be covered up on both sides so thread color isn’t important.

Lay dress on either side of felt fairy puppet. Sew along the tops of the dress arms around the fairy’s body with an overcast stitch and matching thread.

Sew dress together along sides with an overcast stitch and matching thread. Leaving the bottom open for your finger.

Sew sunflower to secure, stitch through the torso and knot at the fairy back., you will cover the back with wings.

 Overcast stitch the hair back and front together around the outer edges only with matching thread and an overcast stitch.

Fit fairy head into hair piece, attach small leaves in a ring around her head. Stack both wings so that there is glitter facing both ways and stitch through the center and torso of the puppet the knot can be hidden under the sunflower on the front of the fairy dress. Add flower sequins if desired.

Sew a loop and your finger puppet does double duty as an ornament.

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I hope you love your felt fairy as much as you love fall!

Happy Crafting

~Andie

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Crinkling fall leaves

Fall Leaf wall hanging

Felt Cloud Bow Holder

Avoid the chaos of lost bows and clips while creating an adorable puffy cloud wall hanger. Best of all no hammers or screwdrivers this fluffy friend can be hung up with a simple tack.

This cloud bow holder is the cutest way to keep those little bows, barrettes and clips organized. Just in time for back to school. If you’re short on time using stick on felt for the cloud face can cut the time down considerably but you can easily just stitch the details into place too. I’ve included an option for raindrops if stars don’t coordinate with your space.

You will need:

White Felt 1/4 yard or 2 – 9″ x 12″ sheets*

Scrap for face I used stick on felt in pink and black.

Colored Felt 9″ x 5″ scraps

I used Lavender, Aqua and Orange Whip *

1 yard 1/4″ wide blue ribbon for hanging stars or raindrops cut into 3 lengths. (9″, 12″ and 15″)

7″ – 1/2″ wide ribbon for cloud hanger – I used a rainbow print ribbon.

Stuffing

*coordinating thread

Cut

Two cloud shapes from white felt. Two cheeks from pink stick on felt and two eyes and smile from black stick on felt. Cut 2 stars (or raindrops) of each of the three colors. Blue ribbon to 9″, 12″ and 15″ lengths.

Attach  ribbon to one of each of the different colors of star shapes.

Place star shapes together and overcast stitch around the edges with matching thread.

Stuff as you go.

When you reach the ribbon area sew the pieces together with a running stitch to close. Repeat with the other two stars and set aside.

Peel off sticky backed felt and press face into place on one cloud side. You can also sew these pieces down if you’re using standard (not sticky backed) felt.

Find the perfect shade of blue for your next project.

Attach rainbow ribbon at the top of the cloud as marked on the pattern.

Overcast stitch the cloud together stuffing as you go.

Attach the ribbons as marked on the pattern by sewing them in with a running stitch. Sew remaining stars into place.

Hang and add clips.

Happy Crafting

~Andie

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12 back to school supplies for felt crafters

If you’re anything like me the sight of sharpies on sale makes your heart skip a beat. Sure the back to school season heralds in shorter days, the promise of new friendships and crisp autumn afternoons but mostly it’s all about the amazing sales on school supplies.

You may not consider the back to school isle to be a treasure trove for crafters but with a closer look and you’ll see endless possibilities all at great prices. Take advantage of the back to school sales and stock up on some unexpected “back to school” items perfect for felt crafters. Here’s our top 12 in no particular order.

12.  Plastic Storage Containers

Store your felt treasures in air tight comfort with a new plastic tub. Small and mid sized tubs aimed at departing college students are often on sale at unbeatable prices this time of year.

Stick with smaller sized boxes (around 6qt or less) so your items are snug and easy to sort, opt for a clear tubs to make finding ornaments and toys simple. Store your tubs  in  a larger plastic light tight opaque storage tub for safety and easy garage storage. For more tips on storing felt items see: How to store felt stuff

11. Rulers

Since most felt projects are rather small a standard ruler can handle most if not all your projects. This time of year you’ll usually see a great assortment of fun sizes, materials and themes. Stock up, now’s your chance to pick them up at a fraction of what they will be in 2 months.

10. Sketch Book

Stock up on plain sketching paper.

Nothing beats a good hand sketch to get the juices flowing. Having a stack of clean white sketching sheets at the ready is a must! Interested in making these cuties here are the free tutorials Gumdrops, Snowman

9. Scotch Tape

Clear tape is the magic that makes cutting small shapes a breeze! Simply cut closely around your pattern, tape to felt and cut! For more tips on cutting with tape see our post on Cutting Small Felt Shapes.

 

8. Pencils

Take advantage of fall sales and pick up a pack or two of #2s. A good quality freshly sharpened #2 will write on wool blend felt with ease making freehand pattern making or template tracing super simple.

While #2 pencils are the industry standard snatch a set of #1s for a softer lead or if you’re really lucky you may pick up a sketching pencil (#’s 5B- 9B) for soft lead and ultra dark markings just go slow and softly so you don’t end up smearing the lead.

7. Tracing Paper

Tracing paper is a great low tech way to create pattern pieces. Trace each segment of a sketch for perfect patterns.

6. Pens

Ok this one is technically not so much for crafting as the actual craft. Treat your future self to some fancy fountain pens perfect for all those Christmas cards you’ll be firing off in a few months. A well timed back to school buy makes a bag of 24 as low as .33! INK PENS FOR EVERYONE!!!

Get the tutorial for the fancy pen of your dreams HERE 

 

5. Sharpies

Color your thread! Low on thread, have an odd color to match or just don’t like stopping to change thread colors? Try using only white thread and coloring your tread to match. Simply run the sharpie marker (or any permanent marker) over the exposed white thread so it absorbs the color. Carefully color the exposed thread allowing the pigment to soak in. This works best with cotton threads and wool blend felt.

Pre- test your thread and markers before use by coloring on a bit before attempting to color a finished piece. Avoid using on acrylic or synthetic felt blends the sharpies won’t absorb into the acrylic creating a marker mess.

You can also use the pens to outline areas on the felt you want to stitch over.

4. Pencil Cases

Hard sided pencil cases make great thread storage. I was able to fit over 20 in each box.

3. Chalk

Mark off your patterns standard chalkboard chalk. Standard white chalk is great for darker felts, it marks clearly and dusts off easily. When working with felt drag lightly across the felt you only want the chalk on the surface of the felt not ground into it. When you’re done simply tap or flick a few times to remove all traces. You can also remove with a wet wipe by dabbing lightly.

Need a finer edge? Run the chalk piece at an angle along concrete or chalk board to create a slanted edge, for very detailed or delicate patterns you can grind the chalk and apply with a brush. For more on chalk outlines see THIS

2. Pencil Pouch

You can take it with you! Pencil pouches make the perfect home for your work in progress. Grab it on your way out the door and work on your craft during practices, pick ups and lessons. Look for a clear pouch to make finding your pieces a snap.

1. 3″ 3 Ring Binder

The bigger the better! Store your threads in style by winding them on smaller bobbins and sticking them in clear pockets. For the full tutorial on making a sheep bobbin binder little bo peep would be proud of see our post on Storing Embroidery Thread.

Stock up on felt for all your projects at American Felt and Craft

Yeti for Christmas – DIY felt ornament

There are few things are as charmingly satisfying as opening a chest of Christmas decorations and seeing all the little handmade details of years past. Remembering each ornament’s story can weave a lifetime of stories, nicknames and family vacations into the holidays that grow richer with each passing year.

Get a jump on a lifetime of memories and craft up a heirloom keepsake felt yeti ornament for the little monster in your life.

These DIY yeti ornaments are super cute and make great personalized Christmas gifts they can cherish for a lifetime. These little yeti ornaments sew up pretty quickly and  the color schemes can easily be changed for a unique DIY Christmas for each of your little monsters.

You will need:

Grey Felt – Grey Flannel

White Felt

Pale Blue felt- Sparrow

Embroidery aka Cross Stitch Thread in-  Black, Green, Brown, White and Blue

Stuffing

Yeti template at the end of post or download the PDF Yeti- Ornament Pattern

Cut:

Yeti from fur felt, 2 mountains from grey felt, horn shape and face from pale blue felt and 6 mountain tops, 2 of each size from white felt.

Stitch mountain tops to one of the mountain shapes with white thread and a running stitch. Repeat with other mountain so they mirror each other. Set back aside.

Lay horn shape onto front of mountain front, place yeti body on top of horns and stitch down body with a running stitch and white thread.

 

Place blue face onto the yeti and stitch down with light blue thread. Add two french knots for eyes with black embroidery thread and stitch a smile.

Using white embroidery thread add fangs on both sides of his smile and define the arms with a few small stitches. Sew black nose into center with a few running stitches and black thread.

Stitch brown lines where you want your trees to be.

Stitch pine boughs with green thread making upside down Vs starting small and making them just a bit larger as you go down.

You have SO many options for the mountain back piece.

• have your child help stitch out their name
• add a date, name, place or nickname
• Stitch a pocket for money or a gift card
• Stitch another yeti or more trees
• Anything you want I’m not the boss of you

Just make sure your pieces are mirrored so they will sew together correctly.

Overcast stitch mountains together with grey thread switching to white over the snowy mountain tops, stuff before closing.

Sew a loop to top with black embroidery thread to help hang.

Happy Crafting

~Andie

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Felt Dragon Egg Tutorial

Become the mother (or father of dragons) and re-take the iron throne with your own DIY felt no sew dragon eggs. These dragon eggs make a great accessory for any GOT viewing party, a cool costume accessory or just a fun table display.

The addition of glitter felt adds some fun depth and sparkle to the eggs. Don’t let the number scales intimidate you, you can easily cut 2 or three in a stack.

Best of all these beauties are no sew. Don’t pack up those plastic Easter eggs just yet, they play a key role in these Game of Thrones inspired dragon eggs as a stable base for the scales. You will need:

Plastic Easter eggs – you can use any size the ones I selected were 3″ tall

Hot glue gun and glue

9″ x 12″ – wool blend felt sheet, I used Granny Smith, Mauve Taupe and Fresh Linen

5″ x  6″ – Glitter Felt I used Gold, Champagne and Silver

Felt dragon egg scale template – you can also freehand these.

Cut

9″ x 12″ sheets into scales – this should leave you with a few more scales that you need.

Cut glitter felt into scales as well. You can also free hand cut the scales or change the shape as desired but for best results you will want them all to be around the same size. These are 1″ tall (dragon scale template at the end of this post)

I paired the granny smith with gold, the mauve with the champagne and the off white with the silver, the options are nearly limitless.

Start gluing scales down starting at the larger bottom end. Hot glue down as shown.

Working in rows glue scales around the egg with the points facing downward towards the bigger bottom. Glue down glitter scales randomly for depth.

Continue until you have covered the entire egg.

“When my dragons are grown, we will take back what was stolen from me and destroy those who wronged me! We will lay waste to armies and burn cities to the ground!”

– Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryan, First of Her Name, Breaker of Chains and, of course, Mother of Dragons.

Happy Crafting!

~Andie