Feltaholic

My name is Helena... and I love felt. Especially in the form of cute play food. I have no inventor to credit since it's been around since 6500 BC- yes, I've done some homework- but I have a serious admiration for the world's oldest fabric. It's so sturdy you don't have to finish edges and even hand-sewing on it is a snap. Project possibilities are endless: toy felt food, baby slippers, Christmas stockings, quiet books, stuffed animals, puppets, Christmas ornaments, and felt boards with cutouts for storytime.

Here's my next confession: I use etsy.com, a place for people to sell their handmade goods, to copy people's good felt ideas and designs. Terrible. But my crafts turn out much better than if I had used my own, uninspired imagination. Maybe my creativity will grow as my skill with my new sewing machine does. Until then, my next copycat project is this lovely felt book for Eli's christmas present. I just finished stockings with Anna based on this easy pattern (without the cuff and shaving half an inch off the too-long toe) that you can print right off and use without having to go to the copy store to enlarge. We used a couple of etsy inspirations, one for easy-to-make flowers and another here that's my favorite.

With this versatile, cheap fabric and plenty of ideas stolen from etsy that eve a novice seamstress like me can recreate, it doesn't seem possible that I could have more motivation to go felt crazy. There is one more thing, though. The least expensive kind, containing no wool, is actually made from recycled plastic bottles. Handmade toys and decorations from reclaimed plastic, it doesn't get more green than that.

P.S. The stuff sold by the yard his half off at Joann's this weekend.