Help please, advice on Felt and sewing felt toys please.

[magicalmollie]

To any crafty mums out there please can you help:

Hello
Can anyone advise me. I have just started using felt (not felted fabric, felt you can buy in craft shops). Well I bought some felt from Hobbycraft:

direct.hobbycraft.co.uk/products-HobbyCraft-Plain-Felt-Sheets_272658.htm

it is quite thin but seemed to be okay. Even though it does look like it might rip easily.
Anyway I have been making toys from the Felted friends book:

tinyurl.com/7nhp8e2

They are very sweet but I gave my first one which was a bunny to my four year old daughter, she has had it less than a week and it already looks years old. The felt has gone all bobbly and the seams look ready to tear.

Can anyone advice me what I am doing wrong. Am I using the wrong type of felt? I can't find anywhere that says what I should be using.

Also can you use felt to make toys for new babies? Can you wash it?

Should I be using fleece instead?

Very confused. I am very disappointed as have bought loads of this felt but think I have bought the wrong type, and think I am wasting my time making these cute toys if they are just going to fall apart.

Any advice would be really really appreciated.

Thank you Mollie

It is the wrong type of felt - I have some of both sorts and there is a marked difference. The best stuff is thinner in weight but denser in texture. I don't know the technicalities of this and only know because someone gave me a lot of the posh stuff.

The Hobbycraft one is fine for stuff which won't have much wear - e.g. play food that is merely handled rather than something hugged like a stuffed toy IYSWIM.

Fleece is good but again there are different qualities. Its a minefield :)

Thank you, do you know what the better stuff is called? When I look up felt it is just called felt not anything else. x

you need wool felt which is much denser and hard wearing. You can buy it easily via ebay. I've made toys with it and it wears well. Fleece also very good but won't have the sturdiness of wool felt i.e small toys can 'stand' upright. However, if you are wanting a cuddly toy then microfleece is best

thank you so much that is great. I will look it up. Can I use the fleece for patterns that say use felt? Also is it okay for babies, fleece and felt? x

fleece will be fine but it will stretch when you are sewing it and is not as easy to sew as felt. It won't have the 'body' of felt either so if you are wanting a toy dog for example, that you want to stand up, because it is floppier then you may have to overcompensate on the stuffing. I hand sewed mine whilst the telly was playing some mindless fluff that i could look up at every once in a while :o)

For babies toys I would use microfleece as it will be much easier to wash but if it is purely for decoration then I would use felt

Hi
Can it be a wool mix, or should it just be 100% wool.
Thank you for any advice. x

the wool mix ones are fine (and cheaper)- the 100% wool ones will be thicker/stiffer and denser; lovely for decorations, purses, little bags etc but not quite so nice for a toy which will be cuddled and snuggled. Wool flannel would be nice and soft though as would cotton velour . Also if you can get your hands on a American cotton flannel called killington then grab it with both hands as it is plumply luscious!!!

Thank you so much for all your advice I am going to google all these fabrics to see what I can find. x

Sorry Pudden one last question. Does wool flannel or cotton velour or killington fray, can I stick it on the outside as you can for felt?
really appreciate the advice. x

I mean sew it on the outside.

cotton velour doesn't fray but the edge won't be as neat as felt- the killington frays into a soft fringe and the wool flannel will fray a little bit as well but won't unravel- gives a nice effect but if you want it neater then you can tuck under a tiny hem and stitch it to the outside. The killington is unbleached natural cotton and dyes v. well. If you pm me your addy I'll put a fat quarter of it in the post for you so you can have a feel! I used to be in a fabric buying co-op and went mad and bought 20 metres of the stuff about 6 years ago . I've made pyjamas, sheets, dressing gowns and I've still got stacks left- I'll swear the bugger is reproducing!

a USA site but they are v. good at bunging a load of material in a small bag and they have some gorgeous fabric for sale
www.thefabricfairy.com/