Tuesday 10 September 2013

Where to Buy Craft Felt in the UK

UPDATE: Good news! I've decided to start selling felt again (hurrah!). Click here to visit my shop.

https://lupin.bigcartel.com/


Looking for somewhere to buy felt in the UK? Today I'm sharing lots of links to online shops that sell 100% wool felt, wool blend felt squares, and synthetic felt.

I've been meaning to write a blog post about this ever since I closed up my felt shop in the spring, and here is is September already (where does the time go??). Better late than never, right?

I've stuck to (mostly) UK-based shops for this list as they're the ones I shop from, but I think most of these suppliers ship internationally. Lots of these shops also sell other craft supplies like felt beads, brooch clasps, embroidery threads, ribbons pins, etc, but this post is all about the felt, baby!

Please note: some of these shops are / have been my blog sponsors, but this list is not sponsored by anyone. It's just a round-up of lots of felt shops I've bookmarked over the years plus personal recommendations for some shops I've bought from in the past and some brands of felt I've used and loved.


Synthetic Felt 

Synthetic felt is usually washable (although it may pill with repeated washes) and cheaper than wool blend or 100% wool felt. Synthetic felt can vary in quality and I know some crafters wouldn't dream of using it but there are some quality brands out there.

I'm a big fan of the synthetic felt sold at Love Paper Fish / Fuzzy Fish. This felt is great! It's super smooth, comes in some fun colours - like neon pink - and is perfect for cutting out small or intricate shapes. I use a lot of this felt in my own sewing (and I sold small squares of it in my shops for a while, too), especially the black and white for cutting out eyes and tiny pupils.

Acrylic Felt from Fuzzy Fish

I also sometimes buy synthetic felt from Hobbycraft - this is basic craft felt, the sort of thing you think of when you think of "synthetic felt" but it's cheap, comes in some nice colours and definitely has its uses. I often use this felt when making larger items (like masks or felt crowns) where I need the design to have some structure to it.

Felt Sheets from Hobbycraft


Recycled Synthetic Felt 

I also sometimes use recycled felt - this is eco friendly felt made by Kunin from recycled plastic bottles. This felt is machine washable and comes in some interesting mottled colours as well as the usual synthetic shades.
 
Recycled Felt bought by me a few years ago

Unfortunately the online shop I used to buy it from closed down, but you can buy Kunin felt from lots of UK-based shops ...

The Felted Rainbow (I've bought felt from these guys before and had great, friendly service)

Simple Sequins

Craft Etc

The Craft Department

And Rainbow Silks, who also sell some of the colours by the metre


Wool Blend Felt - 30% Wool

As many of you will know, I used to sell wool blend felt in my shops. The 30% wool felt comes in a wide range of gorgeous colours including some soft pastel shades which are really hard to find in synthetic ranges.

Felt bundles I used to sell in my shops

Wool blend felt is a great way to get some of the colour range, softness and quality you get with 100% wool felt but at a more affordable price. I also find that working with 100% wool felt irritates my skin after a while (just like wool sweaters do) but I've never had a problem working with the blended felt. 

My old felt colour chart!

There are a few shops that sell the same range of wool blend felt that I used to - although their colour names will be slightly different, if you're looking for a shade you used to buy from me you should be able to find it here!

The Felt Fairy

Wool Blend Felt from The Felt Fairy

The Dizzy Izzy Shop

Wool Blend Felt from The Dizzy Izzy Shop

And Pixie Rose

If you're looking for large quantities of felt you can also try my former wholesaler, Bits and Bats (n.b. they have a minimum order and only ship within the UK).


Other Wool Blend Felt

Fuzzy Fish sells wool felt in some lovely muted colours, with 30-70% wool content depending on the shade. Fuzzy Fish is run by one of my crafty friends, she's a lovely lady and her customer service is always great.

Wool Blend Felt from Fuzzy Fish

Paper & String sells 40% wool felt, plus sewing thread that's been chosen to match each shade (so useful!). I've not bought felt from Paper & String before, but the other supplies I've ordered from them have been great and arrived super quick.

Wool Blend Felt from Paper & String


100% Wool Felt

Sometimes, only 100% wool felt will do!

Most of the 100% wool felt I use is bought from Myriad Natural Toys & Crafts. Their wool felt is pretty gorgeous stuff - smooth and buttery and available in a great range of colours. They also sell organic and plant-dyed wool felt.
 
100% Wool Felt from Myriad Natural Toys & Crafts

Blooming Felt sell three different thicknesses of of 100% wool felt - 1mm felt, 1.5mm woven felt, and 4mm fairtrade felt. I've not bought felt from Blooming Felt before, but I have bought some of their other fab craft supplies and they arrived very quickly.

100% Wool Felt from Blooming Felt
 
Wool Finch Studio (based in Ireland) sells 5mm thick needle felt - I've bought some of this felt before and it's lovely stuff, two-toned and very thick.

Needle Felt from Wool Finch Studio

I've also seen 100% wool felt for sale in the following UK-based online shops:

Handmade Haven

Handmade Presents

Wool Felt Company

Cloud Craft


Patterned / Printed Felt

Patterned felt is awesome but can be hard to find. Here are some of the patterned felt sources I've spotted online...

Hobbycraft sell some felt with large spots, and other patterned felt, like this camouflage design and assorted animal prints.

Patterned Felt from Hobbycraft

Paper & String sell sheets of polkadot felt:

Polkadot Felt from Paper & String

The Craft Department sell a selection of patterned felt sheets...

Patterned Felt from The Craft Department

... as do Craft Etc.

Patterned Felt from Craft Etc

Finally, ILOVEFelt88 (an Etsy shop based in Taiwan) sells a range of felt printed with polkadots, hearts and stars. I know Taiwan is nowhere near the UK but I thought this shop was worth including in my round-up as this felt has been on my crafty wishlist for ages (and small scale prints like these are sooo hard to find!)

Patterned Felt from ILOVEFelt88


Phew, that's quite a lot of felt!

I'll try and keep this post updated if I buy felt from any of these shops, or discover any new suppliers :)

Have you shopped at any of these stores? Do you have other beloved felt suppliers you can recommend? What kind of felt is your favourite to craft with? Do leave a comment and let us know!

P.S. Looking for some fun felt tutorials? Subscribe to my newsletter for a monthly free pattern and visit my crafty tutorial archive for lots more free projects.

Visit my shop to buy my printable PDF sewing patterns:

11 comments:

Michelle said...

I have bought felt from The Wool Felt Company – their 100% wool felt is gorgeous! The 40% blends from Paper and String are very nice too and they have some lovely colours. I have also bought some of the polka dot felts from ILOVEFelt88. It came very quickly from Taiwan and is lovely quality for synthetic felt.
My favourite felt of all though, is made by National Nonwovens in the USA. I make small felt items to sell on Etsy and find that their 20% to 35% felt blends are fantastic quality and lovely colours. The main places that I buy from in the UK are http://www.gertieandmabel.co.uk/ (they also sell on Ebay and have some excellent prices on there at the moment!) and http://www.crafts4allseasons.co.uk/ .
All of the above suppliers have shipped very quickly, packaged well and have provided excellent customer service.

Emma Digennaro said...

Thanks so much for including me Laura :) i havent forgot about sponsorship my lovely...just need to get my Operation out of the way in a few weeks then i will sort it out with you
take care
Emma xx

findingyogurt said...

Thank you so much for this post. Now it would be easy for me to find the best type of felt for my craft. Hugs!

Queenie

Bugs and Fishes said...

Michelle - thanks for adding your comment and those links! :)

Emma - no problem! I hope the operation went well xx

Queenie - I'm glad you found the post helpful! Happy crafting :)

Feltfolk said...

Hello...don't forget us here at www.feltfolk.com We're only small, but we do keep 30% wool felt in over 50 colours and 100% wool felt in around 20 colours.

Anonymous said...

I found this list really helpful when it was first put up. I needed some 100% acrylic felt to use for tiny fiddly bits as it was less likely to fray. You recommended Love Paper Fish's acrylic felt and I purchased some. As you said it is excellent and I wanted to buy some more but the shop on etsy seems to have closed down and I don't think the owner is selling anymore. Would you know where I could now get the same or similar felt?

I would love to be able to buy similar, as I found it such nice quality compared with other 100% acrylic. I have a nice supply of wool/acrylic so that is ok at the moment.

Sorry to be a nuisance but I really trust you recommendations! Thanks so much for any help with this.

Sara

Bugs and Fishes said...

Hi Sara - you're not being a nuisance, don't worry! That 100% acrylic felt is great stuff, isn't it? :)

I think this is the same range of felt: https://www.craftfelt.co.uk/

NB I've not bought directly from this site before but it seems to be the same colours and colour names I'm familiar with from buying it elsewhere.

Happy crafting!

Anonymous said...

That looks perfect, thanks very much :)
Sara

Bugs and Fishes said...

No problem, Sara! :)

Unknown said...

Hi there, I am looking to buy 2mm hard (rigid) felt, is there any chance you can recommend where to find it, please?!
Thank you for this post, love it 😉😍

Bugs and Fishes said...

Sorry, I've not bought any hard felt before and am not sure where you'd buy it. Best of luck with your search!