The Felt Factory Blog

I LOVE Christmas, everything about it. I love setting up my tree, decorating the house, all the Christmas parties with Michael Bubble on repeat! I also love making a few decorations or ornaments to add to my collection.
I'm always looking for beautiful things to make and these are some of my favourites for Christmas this year.

I absolutely LOVE Esty for patterns, super easy to download straight into your inbox, there are SO many clever makers selling their beautiful patterns on this fab platform from all over the world!

Nuvolinahandmade is a pattern maker from Slovenia, with gorgeous pattern for softies ornaments and mobiles. Seriously cute!

Noia Land is always on my favourites list, I absolutely love her whimsical style. I have a couple of her fairy patterns which are just SO lovely!

And of course MMMcrafts is a firm favourite with her 12 Days Ornaments series. She has two more sets in the same beautiful style with Twas the Night and the Ebenezer Ornament Series.

I still love a good paper pattern which I always have in the shop. May Blossom by Simone Gooding is one of my favourites with cute felt toys and ornaments in fresh colours.

I can't wait to get into a few more of these. 
Happy making and craft on!
Rebecca xx

You all know by now how much I love felt flowers. I've had this beautiful Sizzix Thinlits die for a while and have used a few bits of the nine dies included in the set, but not all of them together. Today was just the day to try them out.

These dies are super easy to use and will cut felt through most die cut machines using a thin die plate.

For this project I have used:
1x 100% Merino Wool Felt Sheet in Merlot
1x 100% Merino Wool Felt Sheet in Olive
1x 7" Embroidery Hoop
1x Sizzix Thinlit Dies by David Tutera

And of course my handy hot glue gun!

Cut out the felt as pictured above.
The die also comes with instructions on how many to cut and how to assemble.

Glue the bottom of the petals together and start assembling.
Start with the larger and work inwards in threes until finished.

Roll stamen up and glue into the centre.
Glue leaves to the back and then glue the whole lot onto the hoop.

A gorgeous flower for a fun wee project with lots of opportunity for variation.

Have fun.
Rebecca. xx

I always like to know where things come from and how we came to use them on a regular basis. Of course, my felt is the same. Before I started The Felt Factory I did a ton of research about where my felt would come from and its origins. I was thrilled to find suppliers who are very well established manufacturers with businesses that have been kept in the family for years. They sure know their stuff and the quality of their product is a reflection of their longevity in the felt business.

Wool Felt making is an ancient tradition and is considered to be the oldest known textile in the world. In Turkey, the remains of felt have been found dating back at least to 6,500 B.C.E.

The origins of felt have become entwined with our myth and legend throughout our history.

The story of Saint Clement and Saint Christopher tells while fleeing from persecution, the men packed their sandals with wool to prevent blisters. At the end of their journey, the movement and sweat had turned the wool into felt socks.

In Noah’s Ark the sheep, goats, camels and other animals that herded together in the Ark shed their fleece and during the voyage trampled it underfoot. After the animals left the Ark, Noah was amazed to find the floor carpeted in felt.

Throughout history and still today, Nomadic tribes of Central Asia use felt as a covering for the main wood frame of their Yurts. As a readily available fibre, felt provides warmth and insulation for cold climates.

Our gorgeous Merino Wool Felt is made by wet felting. In the wet felting process, hot water is applied to layers of wool, while repeated agitation and compression causes the fibres to hook together or weave together into a single piece of fabric. The fabric is then dyed to the perfect colour and stretched into the correct width and length.

Our Wool Blend is made by needle punching. Plant based fibres, like our Rayon fibres, have a smooth structure, needing a different process than traditional felting methods required for pure wool. The wool and rayon fibres are layered into a loose matt, then entangled by needles punching through the matt. The needles are made with barbs that hook or latch onto the fibres interlocking them as the needles move continuously in an up and down.

Around the world our manufacturers are using new applications of these old technologies, producing beautiful felt in saturated colours of constantly high quality. We love everything felt and absolutely love bringing these beautiful fabrics to New Zealand.

xo, Rebecca.