Thanks to you girls who sent me suggestions and blogs to check. I was still a bit overwhelmed, but after the kids opened Kelly’s present (tons of cute felt fruit and veggies) and I saw that a real, live mom I know could do it, I decided to go for it! I’m still not sure about the whole acrylic/wool thing, but I compromised by buying felt that was 20-35% wool. It sounded like wool blends were the best of both worlds–sturdier than acrylic, less expensive (and more colors) than pure wool. I compulsively used my JoAnn’s 40% off coupons over the holidays and ended up spending about $20 on five colors. (The batting for the flatter items is leftover from baby quilts, I gutted two annoying stuffed animal Christmas presents to get the stuffing for the fatter items, and I just used thread I already had, so $20 is really all I’ve spent so far.) Here’s what I’ve made so far (with time estimates for those who wondered):
Ravioli (probably took half an hour while I was watching a movie with Derek one night)
Pancakes (maybe took an hour total while watching a movie)
Doughnuts (misread the pattern, so it took me longer because I had to pull out a seam or two–45 minutes total)
Strawberries (30 minutes total–the last two went way faster when I actually looked at a pattern!)
Chocolate Chip Cookies (cutting out and sewing on the chips was time-consuming–so the whole thing took about an hour)
I’m learning a lot as I go, and I think I’ll get faster as I start doing similar kinds of patterns over again. Since the kids are still completely content with all their new Christmas food, I’m saving these things for special events throughout the spring. With the colors I have, I do want to do condiments (butter and syrup for the pancakes, etc), more varieties of pasta (their current ravioli is the biggest hit so far), tea bags, bread, lettuce and tomato, bananas, some other varieties of cookies and doughnuts, maybe a pizza. I’m waiting for another JoAnn’s coupon to get some more colors to do more fruits and veggies!
So when can we start placing orders? I have been trying to find food that is not plastic and not made in China (that last part is more difficult-although I must admit I haven’t looked that hard).
haha, Alison, after looking at the prices people were charging on etsy, Derek told me I should go into a business of my own making felt food for a lot less than those people are charging! I don’t think Anna had much luck selling her mei teis there, but I would totally love to do it. =)
They all look beautiful, although the donuts in particular made my mouth start watering!
So creative! I love it.
I am impressed. I want to do that, too… altho I think I am going to try my hand at knitting food, first. Just because I enjoy knitting so much 🙂
First the kitchen. It’s a late birthday present at this point!
Seriously, when CAN I place an order?!?! Those are adorable and just as nice as the foods I bought, but with much more detail! I love the doughnuts, and the idea of tea bags! The pastas are adorable too. You really should sell them!
These are great, Em! Here are tons of additional great ideas to copy:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/bugbitesplayfood/sold?page=5
Oooo, several new ideas there to try. Thanks! Kelly, your felt feels softer than mine. Do you use the ecospun stuff? The wool blend I’m using seemed sturdier than the ecospun at the store, but for smaller things like the strawberries, I just want more bend that I think would happen with a softer felt. So far the stuff you gave us still looks/feels as good as new. I’m going to pick up some more colors next week, so I need to decide what kind to get!
Tonight I’m working on scones to go with the tea bags…