How To… make a Felted Button

If you ever thought linkys and bloghops were a waste of time think again.. through my prolific linking up, I have discovered many a wonderful blog – getting fabulous inspiration and learning new things. My Poppet is one such blog – I found the lovely Cinti from “Down Under” via The Creative Jewish Moms link up. It is every Sunday and there are some truly lovely crafts to look at!

I then went to visit Cinti’s blog and fell in love! For starters I want a Sewing Room like hers. Never going to happen! You will find all sorts from crafts, to thrifting to life as a mum and reviews. A beautiful blog, beautifully written.. or you may like here online store Poppet in the Post – just too cute.

Today Cinti shares her “How to make a Felt Button” tutorial with us! Felting is somethig I haven’t tried before and it is most certainly on my crafty to learn list. These buttons look perfect for a beginner! Can’t wait to give it a go.

Over to Cinti and “How to make a Felt Button”!

beginners needle felting

Here is an easy tutorial on making needle felted buttons that I created for the Haby Goddess newsletter. Jodie has a fantastic online Haby store and also writes daily sewing and craft hints on her facebook page. A must read, really worth a visit.

Needles ready?

Needle felting is a technique where you felt together wool fibres using a special barbed needle. By sculpting the wool as you poke it, the possibilities of what can be made are endless.

Here I’ve made a large wool button that could be used on a knitted garment or as a brooch.
Pay close attention to the pictures as the images form part of these instructions.needling felting

Finished size is 3.5cm diam and 1.5cm thick
You will need some wool roving, a felting needle and a foam pad & wool yarn to match garment
Take some wool roving and shape it into a round flat disk about 5cm diam and 2cm thick,
When you poke the wool it will firm up and reduce by a third of the original size.
Poke the wool with the needle and sculpt it into shape until it is firm and to the desired size.
Poke the disk a little more in the centre to make the classic button shape.
Needle 4 little holes in the centre of the button as a guide to sew the yarn through.

I recommend hand washing if used on a garment as machine or hot washes will further felt the wool.

I hope you enjoyed that tutorial, please feel free to leave a comment with your questions.

x cinti

Now is that for an “easy How To”? I am dying to give needle felting a go… and I guess if you do want to use the button on a machine washable item – you could make it bigger, wash it a few times and til it stops “felting” and “shrinking”! Thank you to Cinti for such a fab intro and “How to make a felted button”.