Felt jewellery

Well, time has really flown by. This is my last DT project. It has been great fun and has really made me think about different ways of using the Fiskars tools.

I had originally planned a selection of Christmas decorations for this week but Jayne beat me to it with her bauble made using just circles. Perhaps I will post my other ideas in the near future anyway. It has been a particularly mad time for me recently… don’t ask… I’ll just say that it involves a teenage daughter! So I hope that you like this necklace that I put together at short notice.

It is based very loosely on a felt bead necklace that I saw in a very chic designer shop in the summer. I now carry a note book with me at all times to jot down ideas. I am always seeing things in shops and think ‘that would be really easy/cheap/quick to make myself’ or ‘what a brilliant idea‘, I then forgot all about them if I didn‘t write them down straight away.

To make each bead you need two pieces of felt, I used the stem from the Flowers Shapecutter Template as a template as it needs to be a tapering shape. With the necklace cord in the middle simply roll the two strips of felt up starting with the wider end and secure the ends with a small dab of PVA glue. You will find that although you started with two pieces of felt the same length, that one end will be longer than the other when you have wound it up, simply trim it to size before glueing. It is much the same technique as used for paper beads if you have ever made them.

When I came to assemble the necklace I wanted to add some chunky buttons (all the rage at the moment) but didn’t have anything suitable. So I made some from felt!!!

I used the Flower Template again as it has two useful circle templates in it (I used the smaller one). I made the holes with a small pokey tool (there’s one in the 12 in 1 sewing tool – my favourite!) as the felt stretches to accommodate the eyelets. I then added some coordinating eyelets with the Fiskars eyelet setters (or boingy things as they are known in my household) and the small craft mat (to save damaging your other craft mats or the table!).

I used a variety of beads in-between the felt beads and buttons, simply knotting the cord to hold things in place. I hid the knot joining the two ends of the cord behind one of the buttons making sure that it would still fit over my head! This avoids fiddly clasps etc for you non jewellery makers.

I hope that you have enjoyed my ideas over the last three months and I would love to know if any of them have inspired you.