Ah felt. The material that i use for my work. While it can be a really wonderful material to work with, it can also be quite evil.
I've been working with felt pretty much all my life in some respect. I remember making this little pipe-cleaner doll named P.J. when i was very small. His body was made from one white pipe-cleaner and he had a white pom pom for a head and two googly eyes. No mouth. That was visible anyway. ;) He was small. I could fit him in my pocket. To this day i can remember sitting on the floor in my small bedroom, gluing his pom pom head to his bendy body. While he was drying, I made him a jacket so he wouldn't be cold. And i made that jacket out of felt. Brown felt if I'm not mistaken. I think i may have been about 4 or 5. I know i was pretty little because after he was made, i remember sitting in a shopping cart playing with him, while out with my grandma.
So to say felt has always been in my life is an understatement. I've always made things out of felt. It was just an easy material to work with. I could cut it into a gazillion little bits (and I'm sure my sister would attest that this is true), and none of them would fray. I could sew it to whatever i was making and be on my merry little way. No hemming, no fraying, no waiting. Perhaps this is why i never really took to real sewing. I just didn't have the patience for it. Nor do i now. I like fabrics that don't fray or unravel. Which is also why i really like working with fleece!
However...this is not to say that felt doesn't have it's down side. It can be a real....well not nice word. For those who don't work with felt much, I'll fill ya in. It's not all super nice little piece of fibers smooshed together. I mean yes, it is, but it's not always nice. For example, i have a piece of dark orange that i love. I love the color. But sewing it SUCKS!! Because it's a blend of something, besides wool like most felt, it doesn't sew well at all. I use it in my Fall Door Swag . I used it on some of the leaves. But sadly, i cut 10 different leaves out of it and only managed to be able to stitch 2. It's because it's a very firm felt. And the way it's made is a bit different. It feels different. Not that i realized this when i bought it, but i found out shortly there after. And it's almost...slippery in feel. It's weird.
So why don't i just make my own you ask? Ahh...young padawan, you know nothing. NOTHING! But seriously, let's be real here...i don't have the patience for that either. The process is ridonk! And I'm not sure i could make a flat piece of felt that i could then cut apart, and sew into cute little things. It's just not my bag baby. And if i just felted a bacon ornament instead, i think he'd loose a lot of his charm. He'd look funny. Plus...my prices would be super ridonk because it's a process. Ya follow what I'm puttin' down? Ok. Cool beans.
I'll just stick to buying my sheets of felt at the craft stores for now. Until i get frustrated because i can't remember where i found the bacon color because I've been to so many stores searching for the perfect color for my items. And sadly, not all craft stores carry the same colors. Depends on where they get them from. Then i won't be able to find the bacon fat color. Which apparently is called "BEIGE" by the stores. But it's not beige. Beige is boring. It's really an oatmeal color because it's got different wonderful flecks of "beiges" in it. But it's not at all difficult to work with (which is why the Bacon ornament even exists) like that pain in the butt dark orange. And the bacon color is called "cranberry" by the stores, but is really more of a bacon color due to the different reds and bits of brown in it. I think they should hire ME to name the felt colors. But i digress...
At some point i hope to buy in bulk online. But for now, I'll stick to this process instead. It's been working for the most part. Things either work or don't and if they don't, i won't put them up for sale. Simple as that. If I'm not 100% loving something, it won't make it to the shop. However, even as much as i loved and adored P.J. when i was 5, he won't be makin it to the shop either. ;)
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