Felt is a soft durable, and flexible product for making items for various purposes including clothes, wall-hanging decor, jewelry, wall hanging decor, and many more. Working with felts could be easier or harder depending upon your preferences as there come its own advantages and disadvantages. If you are unaware of those, you are in the correct place. Here in this article, we will discuss some of them. Let us know something more about felts first.

Felts

Felts are textiles made out felting process. It includes the process of consolidation of the woolen fibers and pressing them into a matt form. An application of heat, moisture, and mechanical method is used for interlocking or matting the fibers. Like other woolen fabrics, felts are not passed through the spinning or weaving process.

There is various process for making the felt product including wet felting, needle felting, and carroting. We could convert felts into various products according to our desire.

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So, what are felts used for?

Felts were in the use since the ancient period of time. It was used to make rugs, shoes, tents, and even clothing in those times. In today&#;s world, its use has been broadened up, variety of uses ranging from decorations and craft had been added up. Similarly, it is also used in industrial propose. Felts are used for multiple purposes. The woolen felts have the specialty to absorb the sounds and lessen the vibrations that could be used as a noise-dampening agent in the industries. It is also used to cushion and pad the moving parts of machinery. Woolen felts are highly flame retarded, They can extinguish themselves. This quality they possess may come into the application of building a fireproof product that doesn&#;t burn easily. The common use of felts is in making clothing and decor. We must have seen various warm hats, scarves, and shoes made out of felts fabrics. Thus, there are several uses for felts but you have to deal with several highs and lows working with felts and turning them into the final products. Lets us dig up on the matter.

Pros of sewing with felts

Easily Accessible

You could find felt products easily with many varieties in every fabric store and online, You can find amazing handmade felt products from our online store too. Even if you are thinking of creating a craft project out of felt, you may contact to near supermarkets, dollar stores, and hobby shops. If you are looking for the felts for a larger project, you can buy them by the yard at your local fabric store. You can even make felt yourself at home with the unspun wool.

Eco-friendly

Natural felt is manufactured from the wool of sheep whose 100% natural fibers are completely bio-degradable. They are environment-friendly and renewable as well. It can be recycled into a new felt product. However the felt made from synthetic fibers is made up of nylon, recycled, or acrylic plastics. They are nondegradable and harsh to the environment. A conscious choice has to be made by each of us for a better environment and choosing a natural eco-friendly felt is one of them.

No Fraying

Unlike other woolen fabric isn&#;t woven, thus its cut edges do not wear out or fray. This made the fabric ideal for learning how to sew and even for the no-sew creative project. Due to this non-fraying quality, felts are a great fabric to choose for embroidery projects or for numerous decoration products. Since the fabric is thick by itself no hemming is required for an individual piece.

Inexpensive

Regular felts are not very expensive, they have affordable pricing. There are some felts like high-end ones which may be expensive. Many of us want to practice sewing through felt since it&#;s easier than woven wool. We don&#;t have to spend much when you are learning to sew it. The regular felt would be the best option in that case since we don&#;t prefer heavy investment while learning.

Versatile

Now to write about the versatility of felt, it can be used in multi-proposed ways. From clothing to shoes, or from decorations to flooring wool can be used in endless ways. You can wear felts as a winter accessory such as scarves, hats, and many more. Not to forget about the elegant accessories like bags and purses that are invented with felts. Further, the water-resistant thick felt is also ideal for making shoes or boots. Felt could be very creatively converted into various decorative purposes too. One way to decorate your house is by making various innovative shapes out of felts and stinging them into the garlands to hang in the favorite corner of your house. When you are being creative share some creativity with your pet buddies too. Don&#;t forget to check out the innovative &#;Cat Caves&#; in our online store. Felts are widely used for flooring purposes too. You can protect your floors by padding the legs of furniture with felt carpets. How can we forget the lovely pillowcase designs made out of felting shapes?

Durable

Felt last longer than any other fabric. It is made up of a complex cellular structure of wool which is flexible to breakage. You can bend the wool felt a thousand times, still, it won&#;t tear up and would be in its original shape and size. Unlike any other woolen fabric, it provides much better strength and is seven times stronger than cotton. With great strength, you would still find it soft and it comes in various color patterns. It also maintains a comfortable temperature as it is resistant to external climatic conditions which makes it much more durable. This makes felts a highly preferable choice for long-lasting products such as handicrafts, decors, carpets, and many more.

Unique Texture and Feel

Sewing felts gives you a new experience than sewing any other fabrics. It has a unique texture that is made by solidification of the wool fibers and matting them together making it thicker and dense than other fabrics. Still, it has the softest texture making it easy to cut and sew. The felt itself and the product made are soft, durable, and versatile enough for you the give you the feel of the best fabric experience. You can remember felts, whenever you want some creative woolen products

Easy to Cut into Different Sizes and Shapes

Despite being bulky in size, it still has the softest texture that can be cut perfectly. Its extraordinary absorbent capabilities make the fabrics easy to cut in any size, size, and structure with a clean edge. Its no-fraying properties also contribute to easy cutting and sewing.

Easy to Sew by Hand or Sewing Machine

The softness that felt exhibits makes it very easy to sew into different creative products. It can be used even by beginners for handicrafts such as embroidery, toys, DIY projects, festive decorations, gift products, and many more. It is far easier to sew in felts than any other fabrics. You may have experienced felting yourself during festive occasions or when you are in the idea of gifting felt products to dear ones. You could easily hand-sew the decors such as finder puppets, toys, and other decors. Even sewing felt with the machine is easier. The main requirements are a strong needle and tread with a flexible sewing machine and you are ready to see felt with your skill. Generally, straight stitches are used for the felted wool which you must have found on blankets. Sew you with your hands or sew it with the machine, you will certainly enjoy the experience and rejoice over the product you make. We knew about the advantages of working with the felts, so its bright side has a darker side too. For your better sewing experience with felts, you must know about its disadvantages too. Here you present some of them. 

The cons of sewing with Felt

Coarse texture

You would certainly find felt coarser and stiff when you compare felts with other fabrics, It definitely does not possess a softness as cotton and glossy luster as silk or satins. The coarseness it bears is because of the material used and the manufacturing process. Rough fibers are easier to matt together into a solid fabric. Thus they bear a hard texture which may be harsh to the skin.

Less elasticity

Felt tends to be quite resistant and stiff. The piece of felt is not much elastic as any other fabric or even woven wool. It is not stretchable even to a medium extent. If you pull it from the opposite doesn&#;t stretch, it may tear up if you apply more tension. Even if it stretches, it will not return back to its original shape making the fabric. completely unusable. Felt is a completely poor choice for inner clothing, however, the outer unstrechable jackets could be made out of it.

Prone to Shinkage

Not all but some of the varieties of felts may shrink if they are cleaned incorrectly. Especially the felts made from natural wool would shrink if washed with hot water or in the washing machine in the extreme cycle. You can still prevent felt from shrinking washing in cold water and also in the washing machine under a delicate cycle. You must also remember to avoid using the dryers to prevent them from deforming their shape.

Difficult to clean

Felts are quite difficult to clean. They are highly absorbent materials and thus cannot be tossed in the washing machine as they may shrink in warm or hot water. You may find the label on the felt product which suggests dry cleaning the fabric or washing it by hand. You may hand wash the fabric with a detergent and use a brush to gently scrub it.  You should wisely use the chemical detergent in order to protect the feet from shrinking. Remember only to wash the wool fiber with cold water.

Prone to attract insects

Wool felts are made up of the natural fibers of animals which are loved by clothes moths to feed on. When you keep your felt fabric in a darker place for a longer time, it gets prone to attract moths which will cause great destruction to your wool. This is the major disadvantage of felts as not only damaging your fabric, moths on them may cause allergies or itching to your skin too. You can somewhat prevent your fabric from moth by keeping the felts product in a brighter place, especially under the sunlight. After knowing about such cons, you might now decide how to use the felt in the correct order applying certain precautions.

Is it better to glue felts instead of sewing them?

Gluing is also which can be adapted to join the fabrics together unless the item would not have to be washed.  The glue material will melt when washed. Mostly applique felt is ideal for gluing instead of sewing. However, felts are better to be sewn.

Finally,

Felts is a unique fabric that could be handy in making various products. As you understand its advantages and disadvantages, it would be easier to carry on with felt fabric. To sum up its advantages, it is easily accessible, versatile, nonfraying, eco-friendly, easy to cut and sew, and inexpensive. However, it has the certain disadvantage of having a coarse texture, minimal elasticity, being prone to shrinkage, and being non-elastic, also it may be difficult to wash. With the knowledge of the pros and cons of felts, you might apply certain caution and enjoy sewing with it.

I have started using 100% wool felt for my soft toys and I&#;ve found it&#;s lovely to work with as it has such a nice luxurious feel of &#;quality&#; about it!

Acrylic Felt is so cheap and easy to find and 100% Pure Wool Felt is so much more expensive&#; MAYBE, like me, you have wondered

&#;Is it worth paying so much more
for 100% wool felt?&#;

So I decided it was time to do some research to find out 
the differences between Acrylic and wool felt,  and THIS is what I found out!

Well, as always, there are pros and cons! You have to weigh these up and decide what quality of felt to use, and if you feel it&#;s worth spending the extra dollars!!!

OK, so what&#;s so good about 100% Wool Felt anyway?

• It&#;s the most durable type of felt, (Great for making heirloom quality toys).
• It has less fuzz than other felts and it will not pill.
• It is thicker, more tightly woven and has stronger fibres so it holds up better to wear so seams won&#;t rip when stuffing your toys!
• It has slight elasticity so it can be manipulated and shaped.
• 100% natural wool is both stain and water resistant.
• Wool is naturally fire resistant.
• Wool has anti-bacterial properties that keep it from mildewing.
• Wool is hypoallergenic.
• It is both ecologically and animal friendly. (It is a natural and sustainable resource.)

I used 100% Wool Felt from Winterwood for this Kitty Kate.  Besides the fabulous colour of the felt that I LOVE, (and which I just couldn&#;t find in any craft store that stocked only Acrylic Felt)  I really liked the fact that the edges of the felt pieces didn&#;t disintergrate, as I cut them out and sewed them in place, like they do when I used Acrylic felt. The chunkiness of the wool felt also gives the toy a nice 3-D texture look which makes you just want to pick her up and cuddle her! (The gorgeous fabric is Girly Parade from Two Monkeys Fabric Store.)

Are there any disadvantages of 100% Wool Felt?

• It is much more expensive.
• Wool felts are thicker which can make sewing and shaping it more difficult.
• It shrinks a lot when washed.
• It can be hard to find in a large array of colors.

  *
  

* I&#;m NOT sure I quite believe this last point though when you look at Winterwood&#;s wool felt color chart!

NOW, what&#;s good about Acrylic Felt?

• It&#;s much cheaper. (Great for practicing or kiddies crafts)
• It&#;s easy to find at any craft store.
• It is stain resistant as long as it isn&#;t an oil based stain, like lipstick.
• Acrylic felts wash very nicely and won&#;t shrink.
• Colors do not fade (the plastic fibers themselves hold the color.)

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I have used these pre cut Acrylic Felt spots which I got from Ifeltspritely. I use them  to test out color options when designing my toy sewing patterns. And when I know the toy will be only for display NOT play, I use them for the finished toy too! It can be hard to cut perfecly round, equal sized felt circles for soft toy eyes, so they make it really easy to add felt eyes to your toys. They also come in so many colours &#; I felt like a kid again playing with my felt pieces!!!

And what are the disadvantages of Acrylic Felt?

• It will pill and fuzz. (Not good for craft projects like toys that&#;ll be handled often!)
• It&#;s stiffer and harder to shape.
• It&#;s thinner &#; so may be more see through.
• It&#;s much weaker and seams are more likely to tear.
• It catches fire almost instantly when exposed to a flame.
• It&#;s durable because plastics degrade very slowly.(Not too eco friendly!)
• Also not environmently friendly as large quantities of chemical pollutants are created when it is manufactured.

  *

* Eco felt is called this because it is made from recycled plastic (mainly bottles) instead of plastic pellets, but it is still made from the same material, with the same disadvantages as standard Acrylic Felt.


I used Acrylic Felt for this Sammy Shark. I don&#;t know if you can see it but when I sewed the blue felt in place with a blanket stitch, the acrylic felt is not very firm so the stitches dig into the felt ans make it pucker. Not the best but hey, I got a great color match and this toy is for display ONLY, so it should look good for a while!!!

So what&#;s my verdict?

Mmmmmmmmm! If I was just testing a pattern out, or making something I didn&#;t need to last for a while (like dog toys!), I would use Acrylic Felt. If I just cannot find the right colour of Wool Felt, I would use Acrylic felt or a Wool Blend which is a combination of the two. As long as the toy wasn&#;t going to be handled to roughly, it would be OK!  BUT if I wanted to make a good quality toy to last and last and LAST, especially when I want to give the toy as a gift or if I wanted to sell the toy, I would use Wool Felt.

So if I had to offer any advice on choosing between Wool Felt or Acrylic, I&#;d say,
&#;Try both and THEN decide what Felt you&#;d like to use when!&#; : )

I&#;d love to know which Felt you prefer or have used for making YOUR Funky Friends?!

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Till next time,

Happy Sewing,
Pauline