Felt Food Tutorials

In 2007 I posted a thread on Crafster that caused quite a stir.  It led to quite a few felt food sales a few online interviews or mentions as well as Crafsters Best of 2008 in the Toys, Dolls And Playthings category.  It's been 4 years and I still receive requests for more tutorials and ideas.  With my son turning 2 this last August, I pulled out our felt food collection.  He immediately got started putting things together.  It's amazing how he just knew what to do with it all.  Now my head is buzzing with ideas for new items to make for him.  All that being said I have decided to finally add my short but sweet tutorials that I had posted on Crafster here.  I'm going to update this as I have time to be more detailed.  My ultimate goal is to put it all together in a PDF format for easy viewing and saving.  I will also be scanning my existing patterns and posting them as I have time. Well... on with it already!

For pictures and more ideas just click here.  I'm working on a good gallery, it's just not ready yet.

General directions and materials for all foods.

I used my machine for about 75% of all the sewing.  Detail stitching was done with embroidery floss.  I used polyester stuffing for rounder shapes and some thin quilt batting in things like, peanut butter & jelly blobs, bread (stacked a few layers) spaghetti sauce, pancakes, etc.

Templates and patterns: For the larger circles I use a mason jar lid, small plate, small bowls.... things like that.  And all non circled shapes were just free drawn into the desired shapes. Really it's all about just the general shape of something. Most things in natural are “organic” so really you can't go wrong. Just check out my pictures and you can get an idea of the shapes used for things. For round shapes I found some free fabric all templates and just used those. Or altered them slightly for other shapes.

Wool felt or acrylic felt? I use both. My local fabric store has a very limited collection of wool felts. I buy some only when they go on sale of if I have a coupon. Otherwise I just use cheapy acrylic felt. It comes in about 20 colors and a few times a year it goes on sale for $1.99 per yard. That's when I buy .5 – 1 yard of almost every color.
Basic Instructions For Some Items.

Bread: The bread is just two cream colored “bread” shapes. Rectangle about 5” long and rounded on the corners. Then I cut 1.5” stripes of light brown for the crust.  I then sewed down the strip on one side of the bread, then attached the other side leaving a space for turning. (I left about 4” open so I could lay in batting) I then layed in about 4 thin layers of batting to make them full and hand stitched the opening closed. Alternately you could use polyester stuffing or just add a few layers of felt and make your bread thinner.

Infinity Bread:  I've decided to keep this one a mystery for the time being. 

Meatballs & Hamburger Patti:  Two brown circles sewn together leaving an opening for turning and stuffing. Turn and stuffed to desired shape then sew opening closed.  I added some fabric paint to add detail.  (grill marks on patti and splotches on meatballs) You could also use embroidery floss for details if you wish.

Bacon:  Layer three free form cut pieces of felt into bacon shapes. (2 brown, 1 light brown)  Stitch “fat” blobs in center of bacon.  Cut out just the top layer of felt to reveal the light brown “fat” underneath. 

Eggs:  Cut two free form white egg shapes.  Cut one yellow circle.  Sew yolk to one white egg shape leaving a small opening to stuff. Add some stuffing and sew the opening closed.  Sew both egg whites together.

Bow Tie Noodles:  Cut 1” wide strips of felt. Using either pinking shears of regular scissors cut them down to 1” x 1.5” rectangles.  Then I gathered the centers and ran them through my sewing machine. If you want one continuous length of noodles, dont' cut the thread between sewing them. Sew one , then sew a few stitches without any fabric, then insert your next noodle and make one long string of noodles. This will save you so much mess! They will all stay together and still look awesome in a bowl.

Quesadilla: Three large circles (two cream one orange). Sandwich first the cream, then orange, than anther cream together. Sew all the way round.  Then using either your rotary cutter or scissors, cut the quesadilla into pie shapes like you would if cutting a pizza. Take each piece back to you sewing machine and stitch around the wedge. *Note that my kids used the quesadillas for pizza crusts. It worked great and makes one thing act like two!
Cucumbers were just two green circles and two smaller cream circles all sewn together and detail stitched.

Onion slices:  For these I cut out two large circles (maybe 5-6” round) and I cut the circles in half.  I then started sewing a kinda rainbow (kinda hard to describe) so that I could cut the pieces apart to make it look like a sliced onion.

Kiwis, Lemons & Limes, Cut one circle in appropriate color and fold in half. These have a bit of stuffing in them and were stitched closed.  I detail stitched where necessary.  The kiwis have an extra cream circle in the center and I added black seed beads as the seeds. For toddlers, feel free to makes the seeds with embroidery floss.

Apples & Oranges: These are made with two pieces.  The top “flesh” part  was a circle cut from a mason jar lid.  The rind was a pointed oval.  I used the machine to attach the pieces.  I won't do that next time as I think it distorted the shape.  I'll hand stitch them.  I used embroidery floss on the details in the center.

Strawberries: Cut out circles then cut the circles in half.  Machine stitched the flat side together to make a cone.  Stuff the insides with fabric scraps or any stuffing and gather up the top. I then used green yarn as the stem and attached it to a green square piece of felt.  Then I stitched freehand the green square to the gathered top.  After it was secure I cut off the access green felt into a wavy circle.  Then I stitched on the yellow seed beads. Again, you could use embroidery floss for the seeds for younger children.

Carrots:  For baby carrots cut two free form ovals (the more uneven the oval the better)  Sew ovals together leaving an opening.  Turn, stuff, hand stitch opening closed.  For whole carrots, cut a triangle and stitch up side.  Stuff and free stitch some green on top.

Flat Stuff Including:  Lunch Meat, Cheese, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Pickles, Bananas, Pepperoni, Pancakes, Butter, Tea Bags, Cookies, Chips, Sauces....
- For these I cut out 2 layers of felt in the correct shape of that food.  For most of these I just used a fancy stitch on my machine (you could also use a zig zag) and stitched the two layers together.  Some needed additional detail stitching inside the piece.  The tomatoes and pickles I sewed the two layers together (leaving a small opening) and then turned them right side out.  Then I top stitched and did the detail stitching.  The pancakes, butter, and tea bags have one layer of batting inside.  Sauces are layered pieces of felt free stitched together.

Needle felted items:

The grapes were needle felted into shape.  I then took a piece of hand spun yarn (any chunky yarn would do) and knotted up the yarn a bit then sewed the grapes onto the yarn.

The cherries were needle felted circles.  It then used brown embroidery floss that I pulled through the whole cherry and then knotted up the stem.

The fruit snacks were needle felted into oval shapes and I made them felt bags.  The wool I used I had dyed using kool aid.

Felt Foods On Etsy

Due to many requests, I have listed some pre-made sets of felt foods on Etsy. I've listed them at a discounted rate so grab em while you can!

8th Day Of Christmas

On the 8th Day Of Christmas I finished sewing...

8 more new felt foods.
Churo cinnamon sticks, Meatloaf & Gravy, Pear, Baked Potato, Roast Beef Lunch Meat, Turkey Lunch Meat, Crackers, Cheese Slices (for on top of crackers).

11th Day Of Christmas

On the 11th day of Christmas I made for my girls...

11 Brand new felt foods.
Orange, Apple, Eggplant, Orange Bell Pepper, Corn On The Cob (has removable husk), Mushrooms, Broccoli & Cauliflower, Fish Fillet (raw on one side & cooked on the other), Whole Fish, and Waffle.

What's Been Keeping Me Busy?

I've been a very busy bee lately. I just finished up two good sized orders for felt food. The picture shows about half of what I've been working on. A previous post showed the mess that happened during the process. Most of that mess is now cleaned up. And, my table is sitting awaiting the next project. Hmmmm... perhaps it's time to start all those Christmas gifts.

Felt Attack!!!

I have received several orders for my children's play felt food over the past 2 weeks. My new drafting table went from perfectly clean and organized to a cluttered felt filled table in about 10 minutes. I love felt. It's so colorful and cheerful to work with. And, I love making toys for children that are educational, safe, and entertaining. I've been inspired to make a few new items after I finish up my orders. So, check back for final photos of what I'm working on as well as some fresh new items.

Felt Foods For Sale - Photos Added

Edit: Photos of most of the items listed below have been added to this post. Please see below price list for the pictures. More photos will be added soon. Thanks.

I've had many requests for my felt foods. So, I've decided to put up a price list. Anyone who would like to order something, please send me a message/comment or email me. If you don't see an item on the list that you would like, just let me know and I will see about making that item for you. Photos of most of these items are shown on my felt foods post. Thanks everyone for your support and wonderful comments on my felt foods.

Things to note:
- Shipping is extra and based on your location.
- When ordering, please let me know which item you would like and and the amount of pieces/sets you want.
- If you want a color change just let me know and I will do what I can to accommodate you.
- All items are made with acrylic felt unless otherwise noted. I do as much machine sewing as possible to keep cost low.. so most the decorative stitching you get will be done on the machine. I use polyfill and occasionally recycled yarns to stuff my foods.
- Small items like fruit snacks and anything beaded is not recommended for children under the age of 3. Beading can be omitted for items upon request.
- Colors may vary slightly depending on what is available. Please ask if you would like a color change and I will do everything I can to find that color.

Items are prices per piece or set. The amount of each item in a set is noted.
Fruits & Veggies:

Single Color Flat Items (flat slices of things):
Banana OR Pickle (set of 3) - $1.50
Tomato's (set of 2) - $1.50
Lettuce (set of 7 different colored and shaped leaves) - $4.00
Lettuce (set of 3 - this would be good if you just want some lettuce for sandwiches and hamburgers) - $1.75
Onion pieces (set of 3) - $1.00
Half slices of lemon OR lime - $0.75 per half slice

Two Color Flat Items:
Cucumber (set of 2) - $2.00
Kiwi (this one is a ½ slice with beading) - $3.00
If you would prefer paint instead of beading - $1.50

Whole Fruits & Veggies:
Baby Carrots (set of 4) - $2.00
4-5” Whole Carrot - $2.00
3” Whole Tomato - $2.50
3” Whole Onion - $2.50
Whole Pear - $3.00
Whole Apple $2.50
Corn on the cob (with removable husks) - $8.00
Whole Mushrooms (set of 3) - $6.00
Brocolli (set of 3) - $5.00
Cauliflower (set of 3) - $5.00
Whole Eggplant - $3.00
Strawberries w/ beads (set of 3) - $9.00
w/out beads (set of 3) - $5.00
Soy Beans (set of 3) - $2.00
Lemon or Lime - $1.50

Meats:
Pepperoni slices (4 total) - $2.00
Meatballs (2) - $2.50
Hamburger Patti - $2.00
Mystery lunch meat (1 pink colored round slice) - $1.00
Lunch meat (1 cream colored “turkey” or 1 brown colored “roast beef”) $1.00 ea
Steak, Pork, Fish Filet- $6.00 ea
Meatloaf $2.00

Grains:
Sandwich bread (whole wheat or white) (1 slice) - $2.50
Incredible "Infinity" bendable wrap bread/crust - $6.00
Hamburger Bun with “seads” on top - $6.00
Bow-tie pasta (whole wheat or white Or I can mix them)(set of 12 pieces) - $3.00
Pancake - $2.00
Quesadilla with 6 slices approx. 12” around - $6.00
note: the quesadilla works great a pizza crust as well!!
Baked / Mashed Potato (will come with a creamy potato center with a removable skin) – $6.00

Misc. Items:
Fried Egg - $2.50
Whole egg - $2.00
Syrup - $0.50
Gravy $0.50
Butter slice (set of 2) - $0.75
Bacon Strips (set of two) - $4.00
Pasta Sauce glob (approx. 5” around)- $3.00
Pizza Sauce glob - looks like the photos with stuffing and extra layers of felt to look more 3D(will fit on incredible bendable wrap or quesidilla) - $4.00
OR Pizza Sauce glob - will be two pieces of flat felt with decorative swirl stitching in the middle - $1.50
Mesh Cheese for pizza - $4.00
Note: Pizza sauce OR Mesh Cheese can be cut into 6 pieces to fit onto the quesadilla pieces for an additional $1.00
Cheese Slice (white, orange or yellow) - $1.00
Cheese slice with holes (this one is pale yellow) - $1.50
Cheese & Crackers (4 crackers and 6 different colored cheese slices) $3.00
Peanut Butter & Jelly Globbs - $2.00 for both
Ketchup & Mustard Globbs (circle shape for hamburgers & sandwiches) - $2.00 for both
Bag of chips – Includes a bag and 6 chips. Your choice of cheese triangle chips or oval potato chips - $6.00
Tea bags (set of 4) - $2.00
Plain lunch sack - $7.00
Lettering added (cost is per letter) - $0.30

Sweets:
Frosted Donut - $5.00
With beads added - $6.00
Sugar cookies w/ frosting (set of 3) - $7.00
With beads added (set of 3) - $10.00

Bag of Fruit Snacks (not recommended for small children) - Includes a little felt bag and 6 felted colorful fruit snacks - $10.00 (the fruit snacks are felted and take some time to make)

Sugar Cookies (with bead sprinkles), and Fruit snacks
Pancakes, Syrup, Butter Slices, Fried Eggs, and Bacon Stripes


Quesadilla & Bow-tie Pasta, Sauce, & Meatballs
Lunch meat sandwich showing: bread, mystery meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato, & pickles


Infinity Bread Uses: Pizza Crust, pizza sauce, pizza mesh cheese, pepperoni slices
Wrap bread / pita pocket, veggies or fruit inside


Examples of the fruits and veggies


Whole lemon, lime, tomato, and onion.


Meats: The steak is "raw" on one side and "grilled" on the other. Hamburger patti, meatballs, pepperoni, and bacon.


Dairy: Mesh Cheese, White, Yellow, Orange, & Swiss Cheese, Butter, and Eggs.


Condiments: Pizza & Pasta Sauce, Ketchup & Mustard Blobs, Peanut Butter & Jelly, and Syrup.


Grains: Any of these can be made as white or wheat. Quesadilla, Pancakes, Sandwich Bread, Hamburger Buns, Infinity Bendy Bread, and Bow-Tie Pasta


Example of the pizza sauce and mesh cheese cut into 6th and placed on quesadilla to form a pizza.


Potato Chips, Cheese Triangle Chips, and Tea Bags. Please note that the colors used on the chip bags will vary.

Felt Foods Article... I'm Mentioned!!

About a month ago a women from the Associated Press contacted me about doing an interview for an article about felt foods. She had seen my felt foods on Crafster and was interested. I did the interview and although I was excited, I didn't expect to actually be mentioned in the article. Well... I was mentioned! I'm really excited. It's fun to have someone outside my own family enjoy my crafts as much as I do. I'm still making felt stuff for the girls and having a blast doing it. The article is very well written and the reporter was very nice to speak with. Anyways... here is the link: http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/house_and_home/story/2621971/

Two Finished Objects!!

Over the past few weeks, I've been working on finishing projects. I've finished my french press cozy (progress post here) and I've also finished my goodwill find felted flower bag. (progress of bag here)

The french press cozy has already seen action. You can see that I've already gotten coffee on it near the spout. I'll be using a darker sweater for my next one. It seams to work really well. My coffee has been staying hotter much longer.

I've been using the flower bag the past few days. It's so springy and happy. I'm finding that it's just the right size to throw a few things in and go. I'll be using this bag often. And, when I'm done with the bag I can still use the flower. It's attached to the bag with a pin back. The stem has a wire through it so I can bend it any way I want.

Goodwill Handbag Find

We went to the Goodwill this weekend. I love going there. Some days we don't find anything and others we fill a whole cart!! This weekend we filled a cart. I found a great wool striped sweater already partially felted, some jeans and summer dresses for my girls, a few tops to remake into jamies for my girls, and my hubby found a few work shirts. But, most importantly... I found a great little handbag. It has green leather handles and dividers inside. It looks like it's never been used (no dust or anything inside) and it's the perfect blank canvas to do something with. And, to top it off, it was only $1.00!! I also found a DIY felted flower kit, new! It has the same green for the stem and a lovely orangey red yarn for the flower. It was $1.49. I made up the flower last night. Felted it this morning. It's still drying, but when it's done, I will complete it and attach it to the bag. I'll post completed pics as soon as it's done. Hopefully tomorrow. There is nothing like a great little unique bag for only $2.49.

French Press Cozy

Every morning I when I sit down to check my emails, blog, daily readings, etc... I do it with a cup of coffee sitting next to me. I use my French press instead of a standard coffee maker. Love it!! But, when I'm ready for that second cup (currently working on not needing that second cup) the coffee in the press is getting cold. I decided to make myself a French press cozy. I started with a felted sweater in blue stripes. I started working on the flap with snaps to hold it in place when I decided that my dad could use one of these as well. I found a great dark kelly green sweater with a nice pattern running through it. I through it in the washer while working on my blue cozy. I made a bunch of flowers while channeling my inner Betz White. I love her style of crafting... I'd love to get her new book. Anyways....the green sweater finished felting and I cut another cozy from it. I wanted a masculine look for it, but I still wanted it to match my mom's kitchen. She mentioned a coffee mug for the front. So, I grabbed some faux black leather and free cut out a coffee mug. It looked plain on the front, so I felted on some "steam". I added some glitz to the roving, to get a bit of sparkle. I used the same black leather for the back closing and used some large silver snaps for easy on and off. I LOVED how it turned out. I almost didn't want to give it up. But, I knew that daddy would love it (yes... I still call my dad, daddy.... I'll always be his little girl) so I didn't have a problem giving it up. I haven't finished mine yet. I' did end up putting a coffee mug on mine as well, but for some reason it looked a bit plain. And, I wanted to use the great felt flowers that I had made. I've decided to make the mug into a "flower" so I can add the other flowers and have it look "cutsy". I'll post some pics when I get it all finished.

Fabulous Felt Food

So... A few months ago I discovered children's felt play food. I was instantly addicted. I made a few pieces in November, thinking I would give my girls an entire supermarket full of food for Christmas. Well... as December came around I found myself at my parents house working on the Barbie dream house that I was building. (That post is yet to come) Needless to say.... I never finished all the foods that I wanted to give them, so I put it all away under my desk for another time. Another time came this week. I decided to give the foods that I had made to my girls and see if they liked them enough for me to make more. Indeed they did!!! They immediately went about taking orders from whoever may be in the house at that moment. They also started to list off more things that I just “Had” to make. Over the past week I've added lots of fruit, veggies, breads and bags to store it all in. I still have a list as long as my arm of items to make.

I love how easily felt works up. It's very forgiving, and because these things are for my kids to play with, I'm not trying to make them “perfect”. They are fine with them being sewn on the machine. Which makes me happy, because when dealing with projects like felt foods I need instant gratification. I think these foods have been appealing to me because of the diversity of colors and items that I'm making. I've never been one to sit and make 20 of something in a row. I've always needed a change of scenery. That's definitely why my knitting basket has 5 things that I'm working on all at once. Anyways... I'm getting off track. Here's a list of the items that I've made so far. (no particular order)

6 Slices bread, 3 pancakes with syrup, 3 pieces butter, Bow tie pasta, Spaghetti sauce, 3 meatballs, hamburger patti, 2 strips bacon, 2 fried eggs, 2 slices mystery sandwich meat, 2 slices cheddar, 2 slices swiss, peanut butter & jelly glops, 1 bag doritos, 1 bag potato chips, 6 sprinkled sugar cookies, 4 tea bags, 4 slices of oranges, 4 slices of apple, 5 cherries, 1 stem of grapes, 4 slices banana, 2 slices kiwi, 5 beaded strawberries, 3 slices of lemons, 3 slices of limes, 6 soybeans, 3 slices cucumber, lots of lettuce, 4 slices pickles, 5 baby carrots, 2 whole carrots, 3 slices tomato, onion slices..... Whew.... and to think I still have lots to go!!! I also made up 6 lunch sack style bags to hold it all in. I cut out color full felt squares and free cut the letters. I then used free motion sewing to sew down all the letters using a rainbow thread.

I'm currently crocheting up some cupcakes to go with all this. Eventually I want them to have a whole bakery full of sweets.

Oh!! I forgot to mention that I didn't really use patterns for anything. I just sorta winged it.