Fuzzy-Felt
I have vague memories of playing with Fuzzy-Felt in the 70’s, when it was particularly popular. For a deep dive into all things Fuzzy-Felt, you can’t go past: https://www.ghostofthedoll.co.uk/fuzzyfelt.php .One of the sets that I salvaged was the Fantasy set.
Inside was a handy brochure with some ideas for the fantasy characters you can make with the individual felt shapes.
Making the Shapes
The set did not have enough pieces to make all of the fantasy creations, so I needed to reproduce my own. I could have done this by manually tracing around each shape and cutting them out or by working digitally and using a Cricut. I chose the later and created each felt shape by:
1 . Taking a photo of each different shape, laid out together.
2. Using photoshop to select each shape, smooth the edges and save as individual shapes. These were then exported into the Cricut cutting software I and created a project that cut out every shape on one A4 sized felt piece (one for each colour). See cut out image further below.
3. Ironing on fusible web to felt sheet. You can just tell it is there from the photo of a corner.
4. Cutting out the shapes using a Cricut machine. Could do this manually but it will take longer.
5. Bagging up all the shapes together.
6. Creating fantasy characters on black felt sheet.
7. Ironing the shapes down so that they stick together with the webbing on their backs.
8. Turning them into applique with a combination of satin stich, with an applique foot and free-motion sewing with an open-toe embroidery foot.
9. Applying iron-on adhesive, for patches, to the back of the appliques.
10. Cutting them out, as applique patches.
11. Placing them, by pinning in place, until satisfied.
12. Sticking them to the jacket by ironing them on. Note the use of grease-proof paper to protect the felt.
13. Ensuring that they are fixed effectively by also sewing them to the jacket. To fix down patches effectively, they really need to be ironed front and back. This is difficult to achieve in the many nooks and crannies of a jacket, so just iron on the front and make sure they stay by sewing them as well.
Conclusion
This project has been a bit of an epic and every stage has been a learning experience. I initially intended on needle-felting the shapes together, but they quickly distorted and I had to move to plan B. In my steps above, I say that I put adhesive webbing on the felt and then cut the shapes out. I certainly did that for my next project, but for this one I had to add webbing as I went and cut them out manually; which took ages!
My next hurdle was satin stitch or straight stitch, around the edges, to create my appliques. I wasn’t really happy with either method, so went for a quilting effect using free-motion stitching.
My next project will be using the fuzzy-felt cartoon set, but I don’t think this effect will work.
Otherwise, I have given a discarded jacket a new life and hopefully, the next owner will cherish it and keep it out of landfill for many years to come.
This is available in our shop https://bespokeblokes.com.au/shop/fuzzy-felt-fantasy-jacket/