Crafting with Felt

I love crafting with felt.  Many of our Creative Dish original craft tutorials use felt. There are many different types of felt available.  To teach people about the different types of felt available and what projects to best use them with, I wrote an article and a did a video for Favecrafts.com.

5 Types of Felt

Felt is a great material to use for crafting, home décor projects, and fashion. It is easy to cut, sew, glue, and embellish, and it comes in many colors. The key to using felt is to pick the correct type for your project.

1. Craft Felt

Craft felt is a generic term for 100% synthetic, man-made felt. The felt is mainly acrylic, polyester, rayon or a rayon/viscose blend. Craft felt comes in many colors and styles. This type of felt is widely available at major craft chains and online. Most craft felt comes in thin pre-cut 9”x12” sheets. However, you can find craft felt by the yard. In addition to a wide assortment of beautiful colors, craft felt is also available in glitter sheets, self stick adhesive backed sheets, and with stiffener added. Craft felt is best used in projects such as: Children’s crafts, seasonal holiday crafts, school, or camp crafting. Try this:

Japanese Kokeshi Doll
Children’s Felt Coin Pouch
Furry Friends Felt Bookmarks

2. Eco Friendly Felts

There is now a popular felt on the market made using eco-fi. Eco-fi is a polyester fiber made from 100% post- consumer recycled plastic bottles. The look and feel of eco-fi felt is very similar to original polyester craft felt, however it is slightly stiffer. The felt is available with glitter, in rainbow colors, felt numbers, and a line of embossed patterns. Eco-fi craft felt is widely available at major craft chains and on the internet. Buy thin, pre-cut sheets or buy it by the yard. Check the felt packaging for the eco-fi name to make sure you are buying felt made from recycled plastic bottles. Another felt available is a bamboo/rayon blend. Bamboo is considered a sustainable fiber as it is a fast growing crop that can grow practically anywhere, releases more oxygen than trees, and does not need chemical fertilizers. There is some debate about how “green” the process is to turn the plant fibers into usable bamboo thread. However, it is certainly more eco friendly than 100% synthetic materials. Bamboo felt is available under the brand name Xotic felt. Use Eco friendly felt for: all the same types of crafts as regular craft felt. Additionally, use the embossed patterns (alligator or decorative) for small home décor crafts. Try this:

Recycled Water Bottle Bowling Pins
Easy Eco Felt Coasters
Felt Needlebook

Read the rest of the article on Favecrafts and watch my felt Video.

Marla

My Creative Dish