Do-it-yourself felt appliqués

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:46

If you don't like complex needlework or are just a beginner in the field of art, you will definitely like felt appliqués. It is not difficult to make them, and such souvenirs look bright and original.

Ideas and options

Felt applications are made both in the form of simple objects, for example, a heart with decor or a flower, and consisting of a large number of elements that make up entire plot compositions.

In this technique, you can do the following:

• magnet;
• brooch;
• pendant;
• postcard;
• purse;
• album cover;
• soft toy;
• toy pillow;
• decorative panel (flat or three-dimensional).

The list of options is not limited to these, of course. It all depends on your imagination.

Tools and materials

To make felt appliqués, you will need the following:

• Thin felt in different shades.
• Felt thicker for making the base.
• Element templates.
• Paper or cardboard for patterns (when making complex objects).
• Pencil,eraser.
• Scissors.
• Glue (it's good to use a heat gun).
• Threads with a needle, for example, floss (usually in a contrasting shade to the color of the elements of the composition).

Felt applications: patterns

As a rule, simple shapes are used for work, often geometric shapes, so you can draw patterns using ordinary stationery stencils. If you need more complex contours, such as natural objects, use printed blanks.

With the help of these contour drawings, you can make different applications from felt. Patterns can consist of not only form contour elements. The following illustration shows a blank for a fish. The general outline of the object is formed from several separate parts, and not from one common one as in the first diagram.

You can do the same with the templates from the first diagram, dividing the butterfly or heart into halves, and for the sheep, make the whole figure from separate parts.

It is easy to use any photorealistic image as a stencil-pattern (the first illustration in the text or the next section). If the pattern is located frontally, and not on the side, then it is enough to print the picture in the desired size and outline the contours of all elements individually through the glass. It's also easy to do directly from the screen by putting glass on top so as not to damage the monitor.

Do-it-yourself felt appliqués

Let's consider the technology on the example of making decor for interior decoration. Similarly, any composition will be performed and a simpler one in the form of a single flower or animal and the decor of a voluminous thing, for example, a pillow or a soft toy. In the last two cases, the base will not consist of a single blank, but of two simple-shaped parts sewn and filled with padding polyester or other materials.

To make a flower heart magnet as in the following illustration, work like this:

1. Cut one (if you want to make the base flat) or two heart-shaped blanks. Choose the color of your choice, not necessarily black.
2. Sew the workpiece with a buttonhole stitch. If you want to make a three-dimensional heart, you need to connect two parts and sew them together using this seam, which in the first case only plays a decorative role. However, to obtain a voluminous heart, it is better to sew the details after the application is completed. Inside (between the two parts) you will lay the synthetic winterizer, so if you do it right away, it will be inconvenient to create an application on the front side.
3. Apply the rest of the details in layers according to the sample. The stitches that fix the elements are clearly visible in the photo. If desired, use beads for decoration, as shown in the picture.

How to make a panel

To make a decorative panel, you need to work like this:

1. To make beautiful appliqués from felt, take the detail templates ready. Printyour favorite pattern or color illustration (photo below).
2. Cut out all the necessary elements from paper.
3. Lay out the details on sheets of felt of the corresponding color. Circle the contours, cut out the blanks.
4. Prepare light blue felt for the base (if you are making a landscape similar to the one shown).
5. Put blue sky detail, light green ground and grass silhouette for the foreground. Pin and baste details.
6. Sew on the typewriter the seam along the front side around the perimeter of the background rectangle.
7. Sew one more stitch along the wavy edge of the blue piece, the arc of the light green piece and the carved side of the grass.
8. Do the same with the sun and crowns, and then the tree trunks.
9. Sew the flowers by hand, although if you do not have a machine, all seams can be done simply with a thread and a needle, however, it will take much longer. Flowers in the form of circles are easy to make from sequins, fixing them with a bead-middle. Small parts can also be attached with glue.
10. Frame the panel. The easiest way is to glue the work onto cardboard in a contrasting color (black in this case).

So, felt appliques are made using a simple technology, so even beginner needlewomen can make them. There are a lot of options for souvenirs that can be made in the form of bright applications.