Felt

Peppers Materials: *felt green and red for chiles or red and yellow for sweet peppers and dark green for the crown and stem *fiber fill stuffing *dark green embroidery floss *sewing thread *long embroidery needle not especially long, just not the little short ones *patterns found here 1. Cut two each of pattern pieces A and B using the colors of felt you want your peppers to be.

2. Lay one of pattern A on top of one of pattern B with the right sides (if your felt has any!) together. They won't match up don't worry about the bottoms going in opposite directions, it works out.

3. Pin the top edges together and the bottom edges together.

 4. Pin the edge together that was marked with an X on the pattern. It's the smooth, nonwavy edge. Sew together with a 1/4 inch seam.

5. When you open the piece up, it should look like this ....

6. Repeat with the remaining two pieces of A and B. Before you sew them together, make sure that when you put the right sides of the two pieces together, they match up. The bottom curvy part should face in the same direction with the right sides together, not in opposite directions like in Step 2. When you've sewn the second part together, pin it to the first, right sides together. Sew the two side seams separately.

 7. Turn right side out and stuff with fiber fill. Thread a longer embroidery needle with a double strand of sewing thread that matches the felt. Run large stitches around the top ....

8. ... and pull tight to gather the top closed. Tie a double knot, but do not cut the thread off yet.

9. Now we're going to give the pepper some dimples and twist it up a bit. Insert the needle down through the top of the pepper and come up in one of the seams as shown below.

 10. Go back down about 1/8 inch below and come back up in the seam on the opposite side of the pepper. Give a tug to distort the pepper a little.

11. This is where it becomes a bit like work! Keep going back down near where your needle came up and come up further down on the opposite seam than you did before. Each time you come up, give a tug and then hold the thread so you keep the distortion you made as you go to the next spot. Do this all the way down the two seams. When you reach the bottom, go back up in the same manner using the other two seams. Tie off your thread with a double knot when finished.

12. Cut stem and crown pieces from the dark green felt. Pin the crown piece to the top of the pepper.

 13. Using two strands of embroidery floss, sew the crown to the pepper using a blanket stitch.

14. Roll the stem piece up tightly and pin to hold. Sew the edge to the stem using a blanket stitch.

15. Sew the stem to the crown again using a blanket stitch.

 16. A note about finishing off the end of the thread when I'm working on stuffed pieces like this, I tie a knot in the floss or thread and then stick the needle down where the knot is and out in an area that is the same color as the thread. I pull the thread through and cut it close to the felt. This way your knots won't show! felt carrot

Supplies: orange and green felt, fiberfill, orange and brown DMC thread (I used 721orange and 838brown), some sewing required. Carrot pattern, which can be found below or downloaded here.

 Begin cutting out your carrot. Cut the body from orange felt (1 section) and the leaves out of green felt (5 leaves in total).

Fold the carrot in half {pinning is optional}.

Sew from the top corner of the carrot to the bottom point of the carrot.

 This is what it should look like.

Turn your carrot right side out. You can use a pin to pull the tip out.

Begin to stuff your carrot with fiberfill. Start with a small amount, when filling the tip. Don't worry about generously filling the bottom of the carrot. Fill what you can, adding more as you work your way to the top of the carrot.

 Grab the 5 leaves you cut. They can be arranged any way you want. I typically arrange the taller leaves in the middle and the shorter wider leaves on the outside. {Optional Step: you can sew along the bottom of the leaves, in order to keep them together}.

Make an indentation into the fiberfill, at the top of your carrot, and stuff the bottom of the leaves into the fiberfill.

Begin to sew the top of your carrot shut. Sewing the leaves into the closing of the carrot as well. Use a running stitch (like you did for the strawberry tutorial) pulling the thread taunt as you go to gather the felt into folds.

 When you have stitched around the entire top of the carrot, pull the thread tight so that the top of the carrot closes up. You may need to add a few more additional stitches to make sure the top is securely closed.

If you haven't already noticed, from past "I heart fake food" tutorials, I love a perky leaf. These leaves looked a little wilted so about an 1/8 of an inch up from where the leaves go into the carrot, tightly stitch the leaves together.

Now to add a little detail to the body of your carrot. Using your brown thread, one strand, thickly knot the bottom of your thread. Pull your needle through the bottom tip of the carrot, have your needle emerge about an inch up from the bottom of the carrot.

 This will leave your knot exposed at the very tip of your carrot.

This will also allow you to start to embroider straight lines across the body of your carrot.

There is no rhyme or reason concerning placement of lines.

When you are satisfied with the added embellishment, you can pat yourself on the back for a job well done.

 Not the usual carat you might stop and admire but hopefully these felt carrots will still dazzle you. Felt Corn Tutorial I heart fake food, is back!

Corn on the cob anyone?

Supplies: Yellow, Green and Cream felt Fiberfill Yellow thread Green thread Some sewing required To make the kernels of corn: Out of yellow felt cut 710, 1 1/2 inches wide by 6 1/2 inches long, strips.

 Create a crease down the center of the yellow felt {lengthwise}, fold each side in towards the crease and then fold in half.

Can you see it? It's starting to look like a corn kernel.

With your needle and yellow thread, start to create each individual kernel down the row. Loop the thread around the rolled up yellow felt, pull it tightly so it creates a groove {these are your kernels taking shape}.

 At the bottom of each loop, sew 2 stitches simply going back and forth to secure and maintain the groove you just created.

Continue creating the kernels down the length of the strip.

Each strand, when finished, should look something like this.

Repeat these steps, making the rest of your kernels, for rest of the strips you have cut out. To make your corn husk:

Cut out a total of 6 green leaves. Arrange 2 pieces of green felt together at a time.

 To add the lines and give some dimension to your husk, you'll want to use your sewing machine. Starting in the center of the husk, sew the first line. This line will help you space the remaining lines. Continue, working from the center line out. You do not need lock in your stitches.

When you complete a husk, if you find some gaps between the lines, just go back and add a filler line or two.

Repeat these steps to finish the 2 remaining husks.

 Optional: sew the bottom edge of your husk over to give it a more finished look.

To create the corn cob: To give your corn its shape and provide a base to attach your kernels, you'll want to sew a cob.

Arrange the 2 pieces of cream cob together {mine will appear larger than the pattern , after I made my cob, I realized it was too wide so I corrected the pattern making it more narrow}.

Sew down each of the sides but do not close either end {you will want to lock in your stitches}.

Turn the cob right side out.

 With a rectangle piece of cream felt {1 inch by 2 1/2 inches}, fold it in half and roll it up.

Insert it into one of the open ends of the cob {for a more finished look, fold the edge of the cob in before adding the rolled insert}.

With a needle and thread, sew the roll into place, closing up that end of the cob.

Fill the open end of the body with fiberfill. Unlike 'I heart fake food' tutorials of the past, you do not need to generously stuff the body. You want it to have some give. The kernels will provide most of the shape.

 To close up the remaining open end, you'll create a stem. Using a rectangle strip of green felt {2 1/2 inches by 3 inches}, fold it in half and roll it up {like you did for the cream top}.

Insert it into the open end of the cob and sew it shut.

Putting all your pieces together: Sew one husk to the back of the corn cob, securing it only at the base of the cob. You'll secure it more once you have all your kernels in place.

 Affix the longest strip of kernels to the center of the corn cob. The top of the cob will be your starting point for each strand of kernels you add. Attach the kernels by sewing the bottom of the kernel to the cob.

Continue adding securing stitches as you work your way down to the bottom of the corn cob for each strip of kernels.

Hold the remain 2 corn husks around the cob to determine placement of each new strand of kernels.

 Your husks will cover some of the cob so to save yourself work, don't waste kernel placement where they won't be seen.

Continue attaching your kernels. With each new row, you'll need to attach it not only to the row of kernels next to it but also to the cob body. *Remember to always add you next row of kernels starting from the top so you can manipulate a shape like this when completed.

Here you can see how rough my kernel placement looks. The cob remains bare in several places.

 I bent a few of my kernel strips in half for the shorter rows and for some, I cut my strands in half or quarters. The back of my cob is nearly all bare with the exception of the top.

When you have all your strands sewed into place AND are happy with the shape the top of your corn has taken, grab your remaining 2 husks and begin to sew them in place so they cover any bare spots of the cob.

Place a few securing stitches at the bottom front of the cob and bottom back of the cob.

Then, add securing stitches to attach the husk to any bare spots in the cob. Continue to add securing stitches anywhere you want to give your husk more structure or where you want to maintain their placement.

 And there you have it...

Mushroom Tutorial

Gather your materials. Youll need white and dark brown felt, a pair of scissors, a needle, stuffing, and some matching thread. I use embroidery floss because its what I have handy, but any thread will work as long as it matches your felt.

 Cut out your felt pieces. I like to make a paper pattern first, and then trace around the pattern onto the felt. From the white felt cut out two circle tops 35 mm in diameter (1 3/8), and two stems approximately 25 mm (1) in height. From the brown felt cut one circle 55 mm in diameter (2 1/8).

Assemble the mushroom. Stitch the two white circles together, sewing 3/4 of the way around the perimeter. Fill your mushroom top with stuffing, and then stitch the circles closed. Repeat this process for the stem, leaving a little tail of excess thread. I recommend using a blanket stitch, because it leaves a nice edge, but use whatever stitch youre comfortable with.

Next, attach the stem to the top using that extra bit of thread. Make little stitches around the open edge of the stem, securing it to the top until it is nice and stable.

Make the mushroom cap. Stitch along the outside edge of the brown circle using a running stitch.

Now the fun part gently pull your thread tight , and your mushroom cap should slowly take form

Slip the assembled mushroom inside the gathered brown felt, placing the mushroom cap on top of the assembled mushroom like a hat. Continue to tighten the brown thread until the mushroom cap hugs evenly around all sides of the mushroom top.

 Tie a tight knot and hide the tail of your thread inside. Nice work! Now make a few more, and watch your own garden start to grow.

Lemon Tutorial

Supplies:Yellow and Green Felt Fiber fill Green thread and needle Pattern (you can enlarge the picture below or download it here)

Using the pattern provided, cut the body of the lemon out of yellow felt and the stem/leaves of the lemon out of green felt.

Start by arranging 2 pieces of the lemon body together. Using a sewing machine, sew down one side of the pieces you have arranged together. Make sure to leave of an inch open from the top.

It will look like this...

 Continue arranging the pieces of lemon body together, sewing each new side together. Conclude by sewing the last sides together, closing the lemon {leaving a 1/4 of an inch open at the top of the lemon}.

When all sides have been sewn together...

carefully pull the bottom of the lemon through 1/4 inch opening, turning your lemon right side out.

 Generously stuff your lemon with fiberfill.

Grab your stem/leaves, the sewn and stuffed body of the lemon and green thread and needle.

Using the green thread, sew the top of your lemon closed. This will be covered with the stem/leaves, so the green stitches will not show and does not need to look perfect.

 Tact down the stem of leaves.

Continue sewing around the entire stem, pulling the thread to give a knob shape, like you have on the bottom of your lemon.

Pull the needle up through the center of the stem.

 Make a thick French knot. This provides no real purpose other than visual.

Using the same needle and thread, pull the needle back into the French knot and reemerge the needle down the center of one of the leaves. Embroider up the center of the leaf, attaching it with each stitch to the body of the lemon.

With each new embroidery stitch, pull your thread tight. This will pull the sides of your leaves up, giving it more shape. Repeat these steps for the remaining leaf.

Felt Pear

Supplies: Green and brown felt Fiberfill Crafting glue Needle and thread Using the pattern below, cut all the pieces out of felt.

To create the body of the pear:

 Arrange 2 pieces of the body of the pear together.

Start sewing from 1/4 of an inch down from the top of one side all the way to the bottom of the same side. {The top is where we will leave our opening for filling}

Arrange in the 3rd side of the pear, again attaching it by sewing from the top to the bottom.

Conclude by sewing the fourth and final piece into place.

 The top of your pear should remain open, the bottom should be sewn shut.

When all sides are sewn together, your pear will look like this.

At the bottom of the pear, you may notice a bit of a gap.

 Sew a straight line across the bottom, closing up the gap.

Trim off excess.

Turn your pear right side out.

 Generously fill with fiberfill.

Apply a dab of glue to the bottom of your pear.

Attach the brown circle of felt to the glue.

 To create your stem:

Tightly roll up the brown square of felt from the pattern. Using a needle and brown thread, sew the seam on the stem shut.

Insert the stem into the opening of your pear.

 With a needle and thread sew the top of your pear shut. In the process, secure the stem into place.

Optional: to give your pear more shape, you can add some dimples where your pear begins to narrow at each side.

And there you have it.

Felt Onion Tutorial Here's a tip. Want to know how to keep onions from making you cry? Make them out of felt! Learn how to make your own felt onions for your child's play kitchen with this easy to follow tutorial. Before you we get started you'll need the following: Tan, Cream and brown felt, 438 DMC thread (or a color that matches the tan felt you select), tacky glue, fiberfill, sewing machine Using the pattern below

begin to cut your onion out.

 Place two sections of the onion body together and begin to sew the first side. Start sewing from about a 1/4 of an inch down from the top of the onion body. Sew to the very tip (or bottom) of the onion. Repeat this step for each section of the onion until all the sides have been sewn together.

 When all sides are sewn together, the top of your onion will look like this..

And the bottom of your onion will look like this...

Turn your onion right side out. Push the bottom of the onion up through the unsewn top.

 With your fingers, give shape back to your flatten onion.

Generously stuff with fiberfill.

Roll the base of your root up.

 Insert the root into the top of the onion.

Sew the onion top closed just about where your sewing line begins, still leaving the pointed tip of the onion free, using tan thread (I used 2 strands of 438 DMC thread). In this manor, you will sew the root into the body of the onion so it remains firmly in place.

 Using your same needle and thread, begin to add some embellishments to the body of your onion. You'll do a long stitch from the top of the onion.

To the bottom of the onion.

From the bottom of your onion.

 Back to the top of the onion.

Completing 2 straight lines per section, 8 lines in total.

With tacky glue, place a dab of glue at the bottom of your onion.

 Place the dark brown felt circle on top of the glue. Press it down firmly and leave to dry. Felt Banana Tutorial Supplies: Yellow and Brown felt Brown thread and needle Fiberfill Fabric glue Pattern Sewing machine and some embroidery Optional: Sticker from a real banana Using the pattern found below or which can be downloaded here.

Begin to cut out your banana.

 Arrange the 2 identical curved pieces together.

1/4 of an inch down from the top on the side that curves out, start sewing and continue to the very bottom of that same side.

When you have finished sewing this section, it should look like this.

 Line up the third {unique) piece of banana, between the open section of the two sides you just sewed together.

Start by sewing one side of the third piece to one side of the curved pieces. Again, starting 1/4 of an inch down from the top.

Finish by sewing the last remaining side together {closing your banana}. When you all sides have been sewn together, check to see if the the bottom of the banana was securely closed. Mine is not.

 If you have the same problem, simply go back and sew across the bottom of all three sections.

Carefully turn your banana right side out.

Generously stuff with fiberfill.

 See these raw open edges on the top.

Tuck them into the banana.

Now for the stem. Grab the brown rectangle shaped piece of felt and fold it in half.

 Tightly roll the felt up.

Secure the bottom of the rolled up stem with a stitch to maintain the shape.

Grab your banana.

Insert the rolled up stem into the top of the banana. Using your brown thread, secure the stem into the top of the banana.

 I like to add an embroidered stitch down the seam of the banana to give it a little bit of dimension. Using the same brown thread, begin to embroider, following the seam line.

Continue down all three sides, covering all three seam lines.

To finish the bottom of your banana,

 attach the brown circle of felt with a dab of fabric glue.

Felt Grape Tutorial

Supplies needed:Purple felt (varying shades) Fiber fill Needle and thread Green pipe cleaner Cut approximately 33 circles, with a 2 inch diameter.

 To create your grape, do a running stitch along the edge of the circle.

Continue around the entire circle.

Stuff with fiberfill.

 Pull your thread tightly, closing the circle. With your needle and thread, continue to closed any opening that may still remain.

One grape done...

32 more to go.

 When the grapes are ready, you can start your bunch. There may be easier ways to do this but I stitched them together. I started with one at the bottom and begin to layer up.

Stitch them together as tightly as you can.

Stitch each new grape to the one beneath it and then the one next to it.

 Offset the placement of each new layer, I had 6 total with 2 extra grape at the very top. By offsetting the layers, it should start to take on a cone shape. The center will be hallow.

Continue layering, securely attaching your grapes as you go.

Don't worry about any holes between grapes.

 This can be corrected by stuffing felt into the body of the grape.

Then you can fill with a little fiberfill to help maintain the shape.

Before you finish the top row, twist 2 green pipe cleaners together. This will act as the stem, so give it some character, twist or curl it to give it some dimension.

 Insert it into the top of the grape. Make sure to stuff the bottom of the stem deep enough to secure it when you finish the top of the grape.

Cover the top of the fiberfill with some scrap felt.

Pull your top layer closed, pulling this layer inward towards the stem. I had to add 2 final grapes right next to the stem to full close off the top of the bunch.

Felt Apple Gather the following Supplies: Red, green and brown felt Fiberfill Scissors Needle and thread {green, red and brown} Sewing machine Glue Using the pattern below {copy and paste it into word to enlarge, the apple body is approximately 3 1/2 inches long}.

Cut the apple pieces out of felt.

 Starting with two of the four pieces, begin sewing one side together starting a 1/4 of an inch down from the top. Continue until all 4 of your pieces have been sewn together. When all 4 sides are sewn together, you may want to sew across the bottom, to make sure your seams are sewn shut.

Turn the apple right side out.

 Generously stuff the apple with fiberfill. No need to worry, I am not running a 'I heart fake food' sweat shop. The assistance I got was short lived. I rarely change the color of thread on my sewing machine so occasionally you'll notice some exposed seams. Using your needle and thread, you can do a few stitches to close up any exposed seams. This will only take a minute or two at most. While closing up any exposed seams, begin to close in the opening as well {do not close it completely, you need a small opening to insert the stem and leaf}.

To create your stem, tightly roll up the brown rectangle piece of felt you cut. With your needle and brown thread, sew the stem shut. *Optional: with your needle and green thread, embroider veins onto your green leaf.

Insert the stem and green leaf in the opening left in your apple. Using your needle and red thread, sew the opening of your apple completely shut, sewing the stem and leaf in as you go.

 I am all about finishing touches, I'd like for the bottom of my apple to look as good as the top. If you feel the same, cut a small circle out of brown felt {the same color you used for the stem}, apply a dab of glue where the seams meet and cover with the brown circle of felt.

Felt Eggplant Tutorial

 Supplies needed: Dark purple and Green Felt Fiberfill Green thread and needle Fabric glue Pattern below {which can also be downloaded here}

Using the eggplant pattern, cut out all felt pieces.

 First, arrange 2 sections of the eggplant body together. Sew one side closed. Only sew half of the bottom of the eggplant closed. With each section, you'll continue to sew half of the bottom, until the entire bottom is fully closed shut. Leave 1/4 of an inch, at the top, unsewn. You will eventually turn your eggplant right side out through the top of the eggplant.

The first sewn side should look like this.

Next, line the 3rd section of eggplant body up along the open side of the 2 sewed pieces.

 Sew from the top down on only one side, again, remembering to leave 1/4 of an inch unsewn at the top.

Arrange the final piece of the eggplant body, lining it up to meet the 2 remaining unsewn sides.

Sew down one side and then down the final side.

 When all 4 sides are sewn together, there should only be an opening at the top of the eggplant.

Turn the eggplant right side out.

Generously stuff with fiberfill.

 Using your needle and green thread {if you prefer, you could use purple thread} sew the top shut. No need to worry about sewing it shut perfectly, this will be covered with the eggplant topper.

Pinch the center of the topper. This will give you an idea of where and how you'll start to develop the stem of the topper. Pull the needle and thread, used to close up the eggplant top, through to where you pinched the top.

Continue pinching and tightly sewing the center of the topper to form a knob shape. As you are creating the stem, you will also want to add a few stitches to secure it to the top of the eggplant body.

 Continue sewing and creating the stem until you get something similar to this...

Fold in the corner of the leaves on the topper.

Pinch the corners closed with your fingers.

 Sew the pinched corners closed, grabbing some of the eggplant body as you sew. *Repeat for the other 2 corners.

Create a pucker in the top of the leaf. Using your needle and thread, come up from the eggplant body, through the leaf and then back across and through the body to the other side of the leaf, pulling the thread taunt creating a puckering effect. *Repeat for 2 remaining leaves.

Create a similar but smaller pucker at the bottom of the leaf. This not only creates a pucker but also attaches the leaf to the body of the eggplant. *Repeat for 2 remaining leaves.

 Grab some glue, the green button bottom and your eggplant.

Center the green button on the bottom of the eggplant, securing it with a dab of glue.

Pineapple

 You'll need to gather the following supplies: felt in green, gold and brown, needle and brown thread, a ruler, water erasable pen, scissors and fiberfill.

Using an entire sheet of gold fabric, draw a grid pattern with your ruler and water erasable pen. The grid does not need to extend all the way to the bottom of the felt. Leave approximately an inch, at the bottom of the felt, grid free.

 Either using your sewing machine OR hand embroidering use brown thread to cover the grid you just drew. *I opted to hand embroider using a stem stitch.

Fold the pineapple body in half, right side facing each other, and sew down the long side ending at the inch mark that is grid free. Along the grid free bottom inch section of your pineapple, cut 4 long thin triangle sections out. You'll need to make these cuts in order to fold the bottom sections over to close the pineapple.

 Fold the bottom sections of the pineapple over. Either glue or hand sew the opening closed. You may need to adjust your cuts to get the fold to lay flat. *If you get your cuts right, you could also attempt to sew the cuts back together to close the bottom of the pineapple. To give the bottom of your pineapple a more finished look (and to hide any gaps or puckers), cut out a small circle out of brown felt. Apply some glue to the bottom center of the pineapple and affix the brown circle into place.

Generously stuff your pineapple with fiberfill until you are about an inch from the top.

 To create the stem of your pineapple, grab the green felt. Cut sections of felt with either 2, 3 or 4 points (it will resemble the shape of grass). Start with your section of 2 points and pinch them together. Wrap your section of 3 points around the center 2 points. Using your needle and thread (I used green thread), do a few stitches by hand to secure to stem pieces into place. With each new section of green felt, start slightly lower than the section before. You'll complete between 3 and 4 layers or sections before your stem is complete.

Cut small triangle shapes into the top of your pineapple, preferably not into any of the grid stitches you created. Fold the tops over so and begin to hand stitch the top of your pineapple closed using yellow thread. Do not close the top completely. Insert the stem into the center of the pineapple and continue to stitch the top shut while stitching the stem into place.

 Felt Strawberry

Supplies needed: Red and Green Felt, Fiberfill, Needle, Red, Green and White Thread, Optional: Strawberry Container Using the pdf pattern, which can be found here, begin to cut out your strawberry. Cut the body out of red felt and the stem out of green felt. Make an indentation in the center of the strawberry body. Tightly roll up fiberfill, about the size of a marble, and place it in the indentation.

Stuff the rest of the strawberry with fiberfill. It squishes down so generously fill the strawberry.

 Thread your needle with red thread (I use 2 strands of DMC thread). Knot the end of the thread, don't worry about if the knot is exposed or not. Do a running stitch around the edge of the strawberry body.

As you continue around the edge of the strawberry, start to pull the thread taunt which in turn will gather the felt you just sewed through into folds.

When you have stitched around the entire strawberry, continue pulling the thread taunt resulting in a tightly gathered circle on the top of your strawberry.

 Sew the opening of the circle closed. Work your needle from one side to the side opposite closing the opening. It does not need to be perfect, this will be covered up by the stem. Knot your thread and detach.

Reknot the end of your red thread. Push your needle in, just above where you placed the marble sized fiberfill ball in the bottom of the strawberry, and pull it straight through to the other side. Pull the thread tight so that both sides pucker in. Continue this step, stitching back and forth in the same spots, a few times until the pucker holds in place. The result should look like dimple on both sides of the strawberry. Knot and detach.

Thread your needle with green thread, again, I use only 2 strands of DMC thread. Begin to stitch the stem to the top of the strawberry. Felt is a wonderfully forgiving material, if need be, stretch it to make sure the stitches used to close the top of the strawberry are not exposed.

 It's starting to look like a strawberry, isn't it?

To add strawberry seeds, thread your needle with white thread (again, I used 2 strands of DMC thread). Start with a thick knot at the end of your thread. Select a spot on your strawberry you want to start, pull your needle through the strawberry, leaving the knot exposed (you may need to trim any thread that is sticking out of the end of the thick knot you made). Where your needle has come out of the strawberry, make a French knot. I wrapped the needle 4 or 5 times to make my French knots. I continued to use the same thread, making no cuts, continuing to make French knots over the body of the strawberry. I ended my French knots where I made my dimples, covering my red knot with a white French knot.