Woodlawn Street Market, Round 2

May20

Love of Felt hit the streets once again at Woodlawn Street Market this spring. The market was a big success, thanks largely in part to my mother who drove over to Birmingham to spend the day with me.

This time around, I actually made some investments. I purchased 6-foot long tables, table covers and baskets. I did some research online of other maker’s set ups. And I put some thought into where each item should be displayed. (Like one blog suggested placing your top selling items closest to the aisle to better grab the attention of a walker-by.)

I’m almost too embarrassed to post a link to my first market set up, but for the sake of learning from one’s mistakes, I’ll share. (Don’t judge too harshly.) I think it’s safe to say I’ve improved leaps and bounds at my second time at bat.

Notes I made for next time:

Make a sign with the shop’s name to hang in the back. (This time around, I simply ran out of time. I wrote “Love of Felt” on one of my small chalk boards, but I think a bigger sign will make a huge difference.)
Use the back table to create a center of focus. Again, I think a sign will enhance this, but I may also purchase more crates to place on the back table to add different levels of height.

Before this market, I spent a good amount of time seeking advice online. I really liked this post from Catshy Crafts. I took her advice about mocking up my display at home a few days before, and I’m so glad I did. It helped so much having a game plan going into the morning. Plus, it helped me realize details I was missing. I snapped a few pictures of the mock up to help me remember.

Felt Valentine’s Day Sweetheart Candies

Jan30

When I asked my roommate if she minded I decorated our house for Valentine’s Day, she laughed. “Just hold back on the pink,” she said.

I love Valentine’s Day! So when I started to brainstorm ideas for spring felt products for the Etsy shop, felt Sweetheart candies – right in time for Valentine’s Day – quickly came to mind.

Each bag comes with 20 little felt hearts, 4 of each color. (Note: this number later seemed ridiculously high when I was working on completing 16 bags – 300 hearts total.) Each heart is actually 3 layers of felt, hand sewn together.

The felt bag – meant to replicate the Sweetheart box – is completely hand sewn using a blanket stitch. The bag has 5 pieces: the two large rectangles for the front and back, two side piece and one bottom piece. To help with size consistency, I created templates out of card stock (which is a little out of character for me!)

Using a blanket stitch did make the production time longer, but I think the homemade touch elevates the overall product. And so far, the product has been a major hit.

So what are you waiting for? This bag of felt candy is the perfect gift for your little Valentines. Plus, you don’t have to worry about cavities!

Side note: One customer asked me to create a felt bag with a flap (since she thought the felt hearts would quickly be lost otherwise). I was happy to oblige. I went back and forth about using a velcro dot (seems dangerous around felt), but (confession) it was my laziness that made the final decision. I couldn’t find a button to use around my house and I was too lazy to run to the store. Luckily, the customer didn’t mind!

Felt Gingerbread Cookies

Nov18

When you think about iconic Christmas food, what comes to mind? For me, Christmas is all about gingerbread cookies. My loyal readers already know the amount of time I spend and the joy I have making Christmas cookies each year. (For you newcomers, click here and here for reference.) So when it come time to add a few Christmas items to my Etsy shop, I could stop myself.

I didn’t just want to make felt gingerbread cookies. Because even though the felt cookies turned out so darn cute, the fun is in the baking.

The set includes everything pictured above: 3 decorated [felt] cookies, a sheet of rolled out [felt] dough and the actual cookie cutter to match. (all for $12 – what a steal!)

I didn’t try to make the cookies from the cut outs in the dough. This would have too much room for error. So I cut the cookies out (using a 99 cent cookie cutter from Target) from spare felt and use white felt to adorn them.

For the dough, I traced and cut out the cookie cutter shapes. I placed a layer of batting (leftover from a quilt project) between the two pieces of felt, and blanket-stitched the edges. The batting add some dimension to the dough, which I hope makes it more realistic when a child “rolls” it out.

I tried to leave as much room for a child’s imagination to go wild. Cookies fit the dough like a puzzle. And since the set includes the actual cookie cutter, they can pretend to “roll,” “cut out” and “bake” cookies all day long.

I also made a set with Christmas tree cookies. Same idea, different shape (and same unbeatable price)!

Etsy: A Relaunch

Sep5

For those who follow me on Instagram, I have been teasing you for awhile with my felt food creations, but now I am excited to announce that my new-and-approved Etsy shop is open for business with felt sandwiches, Popsicles and even s’mores.

I made the decision to relaunch my Etsy shop after talking to several people who have been on Etsy for awhile. They all found success by being specific – picking a single category or item and running with it. My original shop was a modge-podge of my creations. Naturally, the things I loved (and had a hard time parting with) sold within seconds of posting them, while items I wasn’t crazy about remained untouched.

After the amount of buzz I received for the felt food I made my nephew, I decided that felt could be my niche. The materials are inexpensive to purchase, and I’m able to produce each item in a reasonable amount of time. (Not to mention, felt is what inspired me to create this blog, and I would consider this a successful venture.) I relaunched the sho

Check the site our for yourself – http://loveoffelt.etsy.com

[Felt] Pasta Salad

Aug5

Slowly but surely, I am working on an inventory of felt food that will soon take over my Etsy shop. And while most nights I work to produce items I have made before, some nights I cannot stand the monotony and have to create something new. This weekend, I made some [felt] pasta, complete with bow-tie pasta, cherry tomatoes and basil leaves.

A [Felt] Breakfast of Champions

Feb19

When my sister-in-law told me that my 19-month-old nephew loved to “cook,” I figured I could chip in a few ingredients. And while Ikea has supplied him with my the basic fruits and vegetables, I thought I would provide a whole meal: felt fried eggs, felt bacon and a stack of felt pancakes.

The easiest of the 3 items is the felt fried eggs because you really can’t go wrong. I used two pieces of the white felt (cut in any shape) and one circle of yellow felt for the yoke. Once I attached the yoke to one piece of the white felt, I blanket stitched the two pieces of white felt together (using two pieces hides the back stitch from the attaching the yoke and it adds some thickness).

I created the felt bacon strips next. Again, using two pieces of brown felt to add thickness. I added the line of “fat” using light brown felt.

For the felt pancakes, I cut two circles of light brown felt as well as “syrup” with dark brown felt and “butter” with yellow felt. I attached the “syrup” and “butter” to one of the circles, and then using a blanket stitch, I attached the second circle, leaving a small hole to stuff the pancakes with batting before sewing it closed.

I don’t know what what could be more adorable. Well, then there’s lunch…

For the Love of Felt

a blog for all things sewing and crafts

Tag Archives: felt food