Book Review: Felt Fantastic

It wouldn't be a proper Book Week on my (felt-obsessed) blog without at least one book dedicated to felt crafting! :)

So, today I'm reviewing Felt Fantastic by Sarah Tremelling & Morven Jones.

Sarah is the lovely lady who runs Blooming Felt, a shop name you probably recognise as one of my current blog sponsors. I've known Sarah vaguely for years as we were in the same biz (selling felt) for many years and you may remember that we met up earlier this spring for a fab day out in London.

Blooming Felt specialise in wool felt, selling (among other things) those lovely thick handmade felt sheets and shapes, and lots of colourful felt balls/beads. I have to confess that I tend to oooh over these sort of supplies but to not really know what to do with them. I'm so used to just working with thin craft felt, and these chunky shapes are such a different material!

So I was really interested to see this book and to get some inspiration for ways I could use the handmade felt supplies in my stash.

Felt Fantastic contains 26 projects that use a mix of felt sheets, shapes and felt beads... plus other supplies like seed beads, colourful buttons and embroidery floss. They're divided into 4 chapters: Cute for Kids, For the Home, Easy Accessories and Festive Fun.

Some of the projects include more than one design, like the set of of animal masks and this selection of brooches:

 

All the projects have step by step instructions and sketch-like illustrations to guide you. There are also lots of "further felty ideas" included with suggested variations for each project, which is great. The templates are dotted throughout the book instead of being in one section at the back and most of them do need enlarging, which is a bit of a shame.

The emphasis throughout Felt Fantastic is on fun, colourful, easy-to-make projects (many of which you can make even more quickly by using craft glue instead of sewing). This is crafting as a fun afternoon project, maybe to make with your kids or just to get a quick crafty fix and have a finished piece at the end of it instead of working for hours and hours doing detailed handstitching.

I love the rainbow felt scrap wreath on the front cover (maybe I should try something like that with my own felt scraps?), the colourful coasters made with rows of felt beads and the cupcake-style trinket pots.

There are projects that really make the most of the thickness of the felt, like these trinket boxes:

And others which you could easily adapt and make with ordinary craft felt, like this charming beehive sewing set:

My favourite project has to be the joyful gingerbread house, decorated with buttons and felt beads. This looks like it would be so much fun to make!

This book would be great for beginner crafters, people crafting with kids, anyone who likes their crafting to be quick and simple so they can squeeze it into a spare hour here and there... or someone who (like me!) has a whole bunch of felt beads and handmade felt that they don't know what to do with.

Felt Fantastic is published by David & Charles. RRP £12.99. It's available from Stitch Craft Create, Amazon UK, Amazon USA, The Book Depository and many other bookshops.

Please note: I was sent a free review copy of this book. Blooming Felt are one of my current blog sponsors but I wasn't paid to write this review and am always honest in my book reviews! The Amazon & Book Depository links in this post are affiliate links.

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.

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:

Recycled Flowers

More new flowers!


These are made with recycled felt made from old wool jumpers (sweaters) - I only had small quantities of this felt, so was only able to make one or two brooches in each colour.


The recycled felt is very thick, which results in lovely, chunky flowers. The large ones would look great on a jacket or winter coat.


I'll be adding these to my Etsy shop gradually over the next few days - if there's one you've got your eye on, let me know and I can reserve it for you.



All the flowers I've finished recently have been in my work-in-progress boxes for a while now - it's very satisfying to have finally had the time to get them finished, photographed and into my shops.

Plus: now there's lots of room in my wip boxes for some new projects :)

Woollen Goodness

Look what the postie delivered yesterday - a big pile of yummy needlefelted felt sheets!


They've been made from two shades of wool, which then blend together during the needlefelting process. The result is thick, soft, textured felt in some fantastic rich colours.

I bought them from Woolly Gathering on Etsy while browsing for something completely different... (does this happen to anyone else when shopping on Etsy?) I just couldn't resist those colours and the prospect of experimenting with a different kind of felt.

(P.S. sorry if you've seen this pop up in your blog reader yesterday - bit of a hiccup when scheduling this post!)

Place Your Bids...

The winners of the Upcycle Christmas competition have been announced and all the entries are now up for auction here - including my cocktail hat:All the proceeds for the auction will go to Sue Ryder Care, a fantastic charity that provides care for people living with cancer, multiple sclerosis, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, motor neurone disease, stroke and brain injury. A seriously good cause!

Update: It seems that the items in the auction have all been set to ship to the UK only. Apologies to my international readers!

This used to be a sweater...

... but I don't think it'll keep you very warm now! :)
This is my entry for Folksy's Upcycle Christmas competition - listed in my Folksy Shop with just a few hours to spare before the deadline. Phew!

It's a vintage-inspired cocktail hat / fancy fascinator made from wool felt and decorated with lots of sparkly beads:It started life as an old sweater that shrank in the wash (a kind gift from a neighbour) and a couple of bracelets that have been languishing in my jewellery box since I was a teenager (many years ago now!)You can read more about it & see more photos HERE and if you're a member of Folksy please add it to your favourites if you like it - the item with the most votes by Thursday evening will win the "peoples choice" prize. It's not currently for sale but will be included along with all the other Upcycle Christmas entries in an online auction being held to raise money for Sue Ryder Care. The auction begins on December 7th, I'll post details as soon as I know them so you can go bid on any of the entries that have caught your eye...

Pick Your Own

Back in my shop after a long absence - custom packs of felt squares, so you can pick your own selection from the 60 available colours.I'm really pleased to have these back in my shop, and especially delighted that my boyfriend has offered to add "custom felt colour picker" to his role as "postal assistant." He's even (willingly!) sacrificed one of his bookcases to the felt cause:Mmm... so much lovely colour!

The custom selections are currently only available through my Etsy shop but if you want to purchase through another venue or direct from me, just get in touch :)