DIY Felt Initial

Disclosure: I received this Sizzix machine and die cut for free, but all feelings and opinions are my own. This post does include affiliate links.

I love felt. I do a lot of projects with it, but I have always cut it by hand. At times I have found it therapeutic, but at other times it can get to feel tedious cutting the same patterns over and over.

At Haven this year, I had the privileged to meet a company that makes a machine that cuts felt for you. What!? My mind was blow. This Sizzix machine has quickly become one of my best friends.

I am a basic crafter. Having lots of tools to store, clean, figure out intimidates me. Part of why I have just been content with cutting felt by hand is I like the simplicity, but I have to say this machine is so easy to understand.

It was simple and so quick. I placed my felt on top of my diecut and used the cutting pads to sandwich the two together. I then cranked the lever while steadying it with my other hand, and out came my design.

It was so quick. I was giddy at the perfection of the cut and the amount of time I was saving, so I took a picture to send to my fellow crazy crafter friend, Erin. If you like my Sizzix machine creation, you will lover her feather mobile as well.

I cut a bunch of different colors of flowers out. This machine will also emboss and cut paper so there are lots of possibilities.

After I had a bunch of different colors cut, I started playing with styling. I used the different petals and colors to form my own flowers. I was careful to space them out by size and color so my “R” was nice and balanced.

The next step was to sew the flower petals together. I used a needle and thread to sew each flower together. I did a mix of just sewing the petals together and using a bead to center on top of the flower to sew together. I like the mix of the plain flower with the beaded ones. The contrast added another level of depth and texture. After all the flowers were sewn, I picked one at a time up and hot glued it onto my “R”.

I ended up spray painting the “R” with rustoleum spray paint to have a dark, fun background to contrast with my bright flowers. I also ended up gluing some lime green petals in random spots for another punch of color.

I love the way this felt initial came out. It is a baby gift for my soon to be born niece. I paired it with my Heart Embroidery Hoop. I love giving personalized handmade gifts. What about you?

I am so excited to use my machine again soon. I now want to create an initial for my little girl, and I have lots of other ideas bouncing around.

Do you love felt too? Are you a basic crafter  and hesitant to get all the gadgets? This machine is a gadget that I’d recommend because it’s so simple and such a huge time saver.

I’d love to hear from you! Please leave me a comment or talk with me on Instagram. Fall is just arriving and it’s a great time for us to break out all our felt projects as the weather gets cooler.