December 20, 2013

Felt and Buttons

Oh, how I love to work with felt and buttons. I also love how hand embroidery looks on things. I don’t always have the patience or time, but I do love the result. The best part about hand stitched ornaments is that they are not perfect. With so many embroidery machines, you can purchase embroidered and appliquéd products quite easily and inexpensively. However, I am finding that these mass produced projects lack the charm and quality of handmade. Often times the stitches even come out and are not easily repaired.

Well, I have been doing a little hand work and I’ve really been enjoying it. For all my felt projects, I either use wool felt or the thicker more expensive felt. The thin, mostly made from recycled plastic bottles kind does not do a thing for me. It just doesn’t work as well and the project doesn’t look as nice either, imo. It also doesn’t feel as nice while working it by hand.

I saw a project on pinterest a while back and it’s been on my mind. I love the three dimensional aspect. After working it through on my own, I realize now that I could have purchased the tutorial on Etsy from the designer, Betz White… oh, well. I had planned to tell you how I did it, but that would be in bad form. I think mine is a bit different and not sure if I used the same construction technique, but no matter. I really like how mine looks. I’m thinking I may want to make one even bigger (I’ve also learned that mine is bigger than the original) for my door or above the mantel.

I used buttons and a flat lace for the hanger, as well as a nice, thick felt to help hold its shape.

I also made a ginger man ornament, using a simple technique. Often I hear people explain that they have a hard time making templates, because they don’t draw very well. Appliqué and shaped ornaments can be easily done using a cookie cutter or simple line drawing. If you find a simple coloring page, just use that. Or you can hold it up to a window and trace its outline onto freezer paper to then iron it onto felt and cut it out.

Even though I do usually draw my own, it’s sometimes nice to make the project quicker. I used a cookie cutter for my ginger man.

Tracing around it with Tailor’s chalk, I then had cutting lines to use and cut out 2 in brown felt.