I LOVE working with felt! The edges don’t fray, it’s delightfully warm, it takes embroidery beautifully, and it comes in the most luscious colors.
But it’s different than regular fabric.
These tips will make it super easy to work with.
Why wool felt?
It’s way more durable that the cheap acrylic stuff you can buy at any craft store! I wrote a post about the difference here.
One important thing to know – it doesn’t need to be 100% felt to get that quality boost. The main thing is that it’s NOT acrylic. That’s what makes cheap craft felt pill. The felt I use is only 20% wool and 80% rayon and it’s lovely. If you have allergies and can’t work with wool, try bamboo felt instead. It can be harder to find, but it’s WONDERFUL!
How to Mark on Felt?
The trickiest thing about wool felt is that it’s hard to mark on it. It’s so thick that you can’t trace a design through it, and drawing on the felt tends to lift the fibers and make it look messy. I use two products that really help – freezer paper and Sulky Sticky Fabri-solvy. There’s a video here talking about both – but here are the details in a nutshell.
Freezer Paper
I use freezer paper when I just want to cut out small shapes. Trace or print the templates on the paper side of freezer paper, fuse it to the felt with an iron, and then cut the pieces out through the paper and the felt together. Peel the freezer paper off and it doesn’t leave even a trace behind. It’s the perfect way to cut out small shapes very precisely!
If I need to mark dots (usually for eyes) I punch a hole in the freezer paper before I fuse it down, then mark through the hole for very precise placement.
Sulky Sticky Fabri-solvy
If I need to transfer anything more complex than a dot I use Sulky Sticky Fabri-solvy. I love this stuff so much! You print or trace onto the stabilizer, peel off the paper back, and stick it to the felt. Stitch right through the felt and stabilizer and then rinse away the stabilizer. Every trace dissolves in water and you’re just left with beautifully stitched felt. I show a lot of process photos demonstrating this in action in this post.
I can’t say enough how much I love this product. It has opened up a whole world of possibilities!
Whipstitch
I mostly use whipstitch to applique on felt and to sew felt pieces together. It’s called whipstitch for both uses – but the stitch actually looks a little different for the two applications.
This video shows how to use whipstitch for felt applique. I love doing this so much!
This video shows how to use whipstitch to sew felt edges together.
You can find all my other felt tutorials here – but those are the two main ones.
Free Felt Patterns
Want to give it a try? You can find a whole bunch of free felt patterns here. Baby booties, coasters, garland, softies – there are lots of different designs to choose from.
Here are a few of my favorites. . .
This free felt coaster pattern is a great way to get started working with felt. You’ll do a little applique and a little embroidery and you’ll end up with a pretty set of coasters.
These baby bear booties are just too adorable. This is a terrific first not-flat project.
If you’re got a lot of random felt scraps, try this free felt garland pattern. It teaches you a different way to applique and join pieces together – the blanket stitch.
Shopping Links
- felt patterns – You’ll find lots of felt Christmas ornament patterns here, and all my other felt patterns here.
- wool blend felt – this is the stuff I use in all my projects
- wool blend felt in bundled color palettes – Enchanted Forest, Tutti Frutti, Frosty Pastels, and Fairy Garden
- matching embroidery thread – DMC 6-stranded floss perfectly matched to all the felt colors I use. (You can download a printable sheet of matching DMC thread colors here.)
- printable freezer paper – for precisely cutting small shapes
- Sulky Sticky Fabri-solvy – for transferring embroidery patterns
- glue stick – perfect for holding applique pieces in place while I stitch
Have fun working with felt! It really is delightful. 🙂
Happy stitching!
Best,
Wendi
Play with some felt! Try the Oddballs – a fun pattern for silly monsters.
I cut some “paperdolls” and clothes out of felt for my granddaughter but I couldn’t get the clothes to stick to the doll. Is that because I used acrylic felt?
That’s possible. It doesn’t have as much “cling” as wool-blend felt. But the problem could also be the fabric. Woven fabrics can have VERY different textures and some of them stick to felt better than others. For optimal stick, you may want to sew the clothing pieces down to another layer of felt and then cut them out – so they’re backed with felt.
I am so thrilled to have found your site this evening. I have already learned a great deal and I only found you about 20 minutes ago. You must be so proud of your website. I feel blessed to learn from a natural born teacher. We have 3 grandchildren with 2 new ones on the way. I am gathering information for a monster quilt for the first new baby boy coming. I wont know the sex for the other one in January until later.
I made my granddaughter a paper doll quilt several years ago and she still, as a teen, gets it out to put clothes on. I used an iron on adhesive like quilt batting on the backs of the clothes. They do not stay if the quilt is on a wall but she changes outfits on her bed with the quilt. I am sure there must be a better way but I havent found it yet.
Welcome! 🙂
What a wonderfully set up introduction to the topics. I will keep referring to it for some time to come as I work my way through these projects. I have a bucket list of crafts to try. Congratulations Wendi
Thanks for a very helpful site. I use an ‘air erasable felt tip pen’ to draw onto the felt. You have to work quickly or the design does disappear.
Will roving wool needle felt onto a wool blend felt? The highest percentage I can find in my area is 35% wool/65% rayon
I think it will, but I’m not 100% sure. You might try contacting the folks at Benzie Felt – they’re felt experts and I know they sell both roving and felt, so they should know.
Dear Mam,
Thanks for your site and the trasure of information.
I am thankful to Pinterest from where I always find very informative and interesting sites details.
I am from India.
Thanks and regards.
Sangeeta Joshi.
I’ve purchased felt by the yardage and it’s very flimsy..how can i give it more body…i’m making stockings to hang on the mantle piece…the individual pieces of felt are to small…thanks for your help…
I’ve seen Betz White fuse two regular-thin pieces of felt together to make a thicker, sturdier felt for making little trays. If your felt is very thin you could try that. If it’s too thick to double up like that, maybe try fusing it to regular woven fabric so make it more sturdy?
You can buy different kind of felts. Some are thicker than others. They are acrylic, polyester and wool. You can also line them with some kind of fusible fabric. I think you need some research about the kind you want. Good luck!!
Hi
How do I make beads from this flat felt fabric?
I don’t know. The felt beads I’ve seen have all been wet-felted from roving.
How to apply felt to a plastic hoop
You can hoop up felt like any other fabric for stitching, but I usually find it’s not necessary. The felt is thick/stable enough to embroider without hooping.
can you recommend a small hole punch for kids to sew with chunky needles that aren’t pointy
Sort of. 🙂 Yes – there’s a tiny hole punch I like quite a lot, but it’s in storage right now (waiting for the final leg of my move in a few weeks) so I can’t go grab it to get the brand name. I know I bought it at either Michaels or Joanns and it was in the paper craft section with all the fancy punches. It has a purple handle. 🙂
Is the hole punch that you are talking about the one in your picture above?
Yes! That’s the one!
what kind of glue should I use to stick felt?
I use these glue sticks https://shop.shinyhappyworld.com/collections/tools-supplies/products/fabric-glue-stick but I’ve tried other brands as well and they work just fine. You can even use white liquid glue, but it takes longer to dry, dries with more stiffness, and you have to be really careful not to use too much or it will bleed through the felt and can leave a darker stain. Glue sticks are easy. 🙂
I am interested in sewing a felt slipcover for an ikea bed. do you have any suggestions for what type of felt to buy and what thread to use?
thanks
mm
Any felt with some wool in it should be nice and durable. I do NOT recommend acrylic felt. It’s the most common kind and easy to find – but it pills and looks shabby really quickly. Any all-purpose thread should work fine.
Can you use Spray Adhesive to stick felt to felt?
Yes. But if you’re using small pieces the “blast” of the spray will blow them around. 🙂 I prefer the control I get with a glue stick.
I have to decorate a Christmas tree with homemade decor and a bunch of three year olds. Do you think if I wrapped a cheap Tree in felt and then let the kids stick a bunch of felt ornaments to it that it would hold up in snow and rain?
No – the cling of felt is enough to just barely hold things in place. It wouldn’t hold up to the elements.
HI-
I bought some felt, needles and embroidery thread. I am new to sewing. I wanted to make something but I can’t thread the needle with the thick embroidery thread. Do I separate it into smaller pieces? Find different needles? Help!
Usually you separate as many strands of embroidery floss as you need to get the line thickness you want. You’ll find more info here. https://www.shinyhappyworld.com/2012/03/ask-wendi-how-many-strands-of-embroidery-floss.html
Can you wet felt two pieces of completed felt together so that they look like one? I have a large head and am trying to make a cloche hat without having stitches running up the crown.
I’m not sure – I think it depends on the felt. You might want to look at felt hatmaking supplies. They use a thickish cone of felt and stretch and shape it over a wooden form to get a seamless hat. I think that base form is called a hood? Or a body?
Wendy,
You are really good at explaining stuff. Thank you. I am working on freelance
wall hanging of birds. I am very personal in my work but unfortuntely not perfect.
Thank you so much. I use your tutorials all the time.
Hi. What a useful site it’s is. Please can you advise me what thickness of wool felt I should use for a 10” doll?
Many thanks
It doesn’t really matter as long as it’s soft enough to flex a bit. Most of the felts that are easy to find (that don’t specify “thick”) would work just fine.
What’s the best type of felt to use for trivets? I was thinking 5mm thick stiff felt. Should I spray some kind of scotch guard or anything like that so hot pans don’t ruin them?
I recommend wool felt. You can use the thick stuff, but it’s harder to find and doesn’t come in as many colors – so another option is to use 2-3 layers of regular felt. Scotch Guard protects against stains – but not heat. If you can find 100% wool felt you can use that. It’s pretty heat resistant.
My son has a book with felt pages onto which he can “stick” felt shapes. The book is quite old now and the felt shapes don’t stick as well as they used to. Do you have any ideas how to revive the felt shapes please?
If it’s wool felt you can possibly wash and iron the pieces to revive them. This post about hand-washing wool socks applies to felt too. https://www.shinyhappyworld.com/2013/01/how-to-hand-wash-knitted-wool-socks.html If they’re acrylic felt, I don’t think anything can be done.
I’m so glad I found you through Pinterest, of all places! I’m wanting to make some felt play food for my granddaughter. Of all the different kinds to choose from, which do you think is best for this kind of project? (Wool, acrylic, polyester…)
Definitely wool, or a wool/rayon blend. Acrylic felt (the inexpensive felt you find in most craft stores) will start to pill almost immediately. Bamboo is also lovely and durable, but it’s a lot harder to find.
Hello dear
I’m bigginer in felt work
I want to ask if we must wash the felt after use it
No – you don’t normally wash felt.
Help how do I turn very small felt 🐻 inside out
Hemostats are stuffing tools can be helpful – but you have to do it REALLY carefully because felt can be fragile. I usually sew felt right side out so I don’t have to turn it.
Bonjour,
Peut-on utiliser la machine à coudre avec le feutre ? Si oui, comment ?
Merci, j’apprends beaucoup avec vous !
What do you recomend for cutting felt for small pieces? I tried using my regular fabric scissos and I had a hard time cutting fellt.
Thanks. I love your creativity and helping us get confident enough to try things we would not have done before.
It sounds like you just need sharper scissors. I love these. https://shop.shinyhappyworld.com/collections/quilt-supplies/products/perfect-scissors
Hello! I am making a quilt for my first grandchild that calls for felt applique. I have two worries: that the felt will bleed and shrink when washed. Since its a quilt for baby, Should I instead substitute cotton for felt in the applique? There are many tiny pieces and I’m not the greatest at hand stitching, so if I use cotton, I worry it will fray over time!
Cotton will definitely fray over time, unless you use a fusible adhesive. Acrylic felt will pill terribly, and wool felt will shrink. 🙁 If you want the no-fray features of felt, but with washability – maybe try fleece or a knit T-shirt fabric. Both of them work great for applique!