Felt food, post 1

This is going to be a series of posts. I've made a LOT of felt food, so I'll stick to 5 items per post. Felt food does require sewing by hand, and some pieces should be done on a machine. The hand-stitching is VERY easy. Even if you've never sewn in your life, you can pick up on it quickly. Most of it is done with just this one stitch.

You'll have to learn to start and stop the threads. I'm sure there are good references if you google it. Personally I prefer to take one long strand of floss (there are 6 strands in embroidery floss), fold it in half and thread my needle. I pull it through until there is only a small tail where the two ends of the floss are (the loop is on the long side). Then when I do my first stitch, I thread the needle through the "loop". This holds it without having to knot anything. When I end a thread, I pull one of the strands out of my needle, scoop up a teeny bit of fabric, then tie the two strands together 2 or 3 times.

You can buy different types of felt. Most craft stores have both wool and eco-felt (polyester). Wool felt is supposed to be stronger, but it is more expensive. I've not had a problem with the durability of eco-felt and I only buy animal products if there is no other alternative. So it's totally a personal preference. You can buy it by the yard, or in little "sheets" which run about 3/$1 (for eco-felt). I use embroidery floss, which also runs about 3/$1. You'll also need a pack of hand-sewing needles and some poly-fill (although you can take stuffing from anything in the house that is no longer usable, although I suggest washing the item first).

All of these projects I would consider "beginner" projects. You don't even need a pattern for them.

For bowtie noodles, simply cut a rectangle from beige felt, accordian fold the middle and make one tiny stitch to hold it. Tie it tight and you are done! Repeat a dozen or so times for a bowlful.

For green beans, you should cut pieces of felt that are about 1-1 1/2" thick in the middle and taper to a point on each end. They should be about 4-6" long. Fold the bean in half, long-ways and start stitching up the side, wrapping the thread over the edges, like I linked to above. When you've gone a couple of inches, use something long and skinny like a knitting needle or a chopstick to stuff some stuffing down to the bottom. Keep sewing and stuffing until you've finished. I did 5 of them, which is plenty.

For lunchables, you should cut some small circles from brown for the crackers (2 circles per cracker), 2 circles of pink for each piece of meat, and 2 squares of orange for each piece of cheese. Place two pieces of felt together and and stitch all around the edge. You do not need to stuff these with anything. Repeat for each item. For the crackers, you can add embellishments if you'd like. I did a bunch of french knots on each piece before stitching them together.

This pancake is very easy as well, but it will have people wondering where you got your mad skillz! Find a round object about 5-6" in diameter. I think I used a large ovaltine lid. Trace 2 circles onto light brown felt and cut them out. Freehand some "syrup" on dark brown felt. Cut a pat of butter from some yellow. First, stitch the syrup to one of the circles. Then stitch the butter on top. Stitch the two circles together about 3/4 of the way around, then stuff with some poly-fill. You don't want it bulging, but it should be nice and full. Then finish stitching (adding a bit more stuffing if needed just before finishing).

For the poptart you will cut two rectangles from beige and the icing from white. For the icing, I cut a smaller rectangle, but then cut some very slight wavy edges. Stitch the icing to one of the beige rectangles. Then add "sprinkles". You can either do very small beads, or french knots. I always recommend french knots for the little kids (they can't chew them off quite as easily). Then sew the two beige rectangles together, stuffing towards the end and finishing up.

Felt Food, post 2.