Saturday, April 30, 2011

Felt Saints: How






I know I am cutting it close, but it is still this week, sort of :)  Here is a look at how I made the little Theotokos figure.  I also still have a few left in the shop for those of you who prefer NOT to do it yourself! 






 I started with a small wooden peg person, purchased from your local craft store, or from Casey's Wood Products.  This one measures about 2 1/2 inches tall. Using acrylic blue paint (this was Anit*'s brand in royal blue), paint around her face.



Cut a rectangle of felt that measures roughly 1 1/2 inches by 3 inches.  Peg people can vary in size, so it is best to cut out a paper rectangle first, and see if it will wrap around the peg person and meet in the back before cutting out your wool.  I purchased wool from Wool Felt Central, but have also had luck finding a few select colors at my local craft shop. Using craft glue designed to work with fabric, glue the rectangle around your peg person.  I add a bit of glue around the neck, and just gently press the wool down so it follows the curve of the figure.  Trim any extra wool from the bottom of the figure so it will stand flat.




Using red wool felt, cut a rectangle measuring roughly 2 1/4 inches by 5 inches.  Test the size, once you embroider you cannot trim this piece to fit.  Curve the edges and blanket stitch around the edges.  For instructions on how to do a blanket stitch, try this link.  I used DMC floss color 3852, and the wool is "barnyard red."  Place the first star in the middle, then try it on your peg person to determine where the other two stars should be to have them fall on her "shoulders."




Brush a small amount of glue on the top center front of the red felt, and press into place.  The wool conforms nicely to the rounded shape with just a bit of manipulation.

















Continue gluing the edge of the red wool down the figure.
From the side, your figure should now look like this, with only the front portion glued down.
Next brush a little glue on the back of the head and body, and press the felt down.




Brush some glue down the back, and fold one edge of the red wool towards the center.  Press and hold it in place until the glue sticks well.
From the back it should look like this.

Fold the other side to the center and glue it.  Now your figure is finished!  I hope to post another step by step of a more basic saint in the next week or so.

8 comments:

flowersforTeacher said...

Thank you so much for the tutorial, I'll definitely use it.

Laura said...

This is a great tutorial, thank you so much!

Jenifer said...

Thank you! I'm so glad to have this information, and I have a question. In some of your other posts you've shown saint dolls who have hair. What do you use for the hair?

Anna said...

Jenifer - sorry for the delay in reply - the hair is made from wool. Hope to put up another tutorial in the next few weeks showing a basic saint construction.

Kristine said...

This is wonderful! I'm a beginner felter and I cannot wait to try this. :)

the striped rose said...

Dear Anna, do you still have links to all the beautiful saints Mary/Katherine posted with another lady for the proposed pre-school curriculum. I would love to see more images for ideas. I also am interested in more about incorporating them in Sunday School.
Thanks! :)

Anna said...

Michele - not sure which links you are interested in, if you will email me I will see if I have what you are looking for - I lost most of our work on Letters of Grace, but still have a lot of hard copy items and may have what you are lookng for. Email me at ammccollum at comcast dot net

sunnymum said...

Very helpful. Thanks!