Do you love making things out of felt? Of course you do! Felt is so much fun to work with and use for making adorable things. Today I'm happy to show you two felt kits with some of the cutest patterns around. They're also quite different, as one is a Star Wars kit and the other is for folk woodland animals!
I don't buy kits too often, because I have a lot of felt around here already. Buying a pattern is usually all I need. These two kits, however, have some features and special items that make them stand out from many of the kits you see, and they're worth buying the bundle.
For full disclosure, these kits were sent to me from their publishers/creators, but even though they were provided for review, I was a fan before they came my way. Starting with the
Star Wars Felt kit...
Even though her name doesn't appear on the outside of the box, this kit was designed by
Aimee Ray, of Doodle Stitching fame. When she showed it in her Instagram feed, I was instantly smitten with the patterns. After all,
I do love Star Wars crafting! Then I saw it at my local Barnes & Noble and very nearly bought it. When the publisher offered to send me a kit, I may have squealed a little.
Inside the kit, you get a booklet with all of the project instructions, pattern stencil cards, felt, stuffing, embroidery floss, and a needle. All you need extra are scissors, a marking pencil, tracing or tissue paper and a finer needle if you want. While the felt isn't high-end, it is a nice quality.
The booklet shows a photo of each Star Wars character you can make, and along with the description and materials list, it also gives a difficulty rating. I love that the rating is given in Star Wars terms, and this Jedi Knight level Yoda makes it a mid-level project.
With this kit you can make Han Solo, Wicket the Ewok, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia Organa, Yoda, Chewbacca, Darth Vader, C-3PO, R2-D2, and Boba Fett.
The written instructions are easy to follow, as is the diagram that shows you how to embroider the designs. This also serves as the embroidery pattern, which you transfer to the felt with tracing paper. You can definitely see Aimee's super cute style shining through!
Instead of trying to trace or cut out pattern pieces, they come as stencil-like cards. I love this because it makes it easier for kids to work with. I think you'd get the best size if you punch out the pieces and use those as your templates, and I think that's what's intended. But if you trace within the openings on the cards you would never lose all those pieces!
I haven't made any of the figures yet, but I'm gonna see which tracing method I like best.
Bottom line: This kit is worth the price for the patterns and instructions alone. Yes, it's a small booklet, but if it were published in a larger format and still only had these 10 designs in it, I wouldn't flinch at the asking price (
especially Amazon's great price!)
If you or someone you know loves Star Wars, this is a felt kit you need!
Another kit I received is for making Heidi Boyd's Woodland Animal Ornaments. This is actually
a supply kit that you can purchase to accompany the
Woodland Animal Ornaments PDF pattern.
I kept seeing these super sweet animals in Heidi's Instagram feed (do you get the sense that I spend too much time on Instagram?), and sending all the hearts her way. Who wouldn't? Woodland creatures with folk-style embellishment are too cute!
And then she asked if I'd like a set to make for myself. Thank you, Heidi!
The supply kit includes wool-blend felt, embroidery floss, stuffing, glass beads, die-cut felt flowers, pins, and a needle. As with the other kit, you would also need scissors and a marking pen of some kind.
These are basic supplies, but it's this little bag that makes the kit special:
It may sound silly, but when I looked at the kit, I was struck by the brilliance of the tiny supplies.
Part of the charm of the floral folk design is in these flowers, which would not be simple to cut out. Yes, they are sort of in the pattern. But the instructions recommend die-cut flowers (and suggests how to get them) or substitutes.
And do you really want to buy a bag of approximately 1,739,284 beads just to make a few ornaments? That might be an exaggeration, but you get the idea.
The simplicity of buying this kit along with the pattern has huge appeal. I'd also point out that this is everything you need for seven ornaments (perfect for any time of the year). And you're buying them from
an independent maker. Bonus points for that.
So tell me...do you like to work from kits whenever possible?
