Felt Food Cupcake Tutorial

Intro

Felt food is a type of craft where a miniature replica of a food item is crafted with felt fabrics, colored threads and beads. There are patterns for a variety of felt foods, such as baked goods, raw foods and candies. Homemade felt food toys are growing in popularity as an environmentally friendly alternative to children's toys made from plastic. The felt food cupcake has a simple pattern and is a good beginner's choice for people who want to take up making felt food as a hobby.

Materials

To make a felt food cupcake, you should have: paper, pencil, ruler, scissors, two sheets of felt (one for the cupcake body, one for the icing), cereal box cardboard, acrylic stuffing, thread and a sewing needle. Beads, embroidery floss and scraps of felt are optional embellishment materials to put on top of the cupcake when it's done.

Cut Out Pattern

• On paper draw and cut out a circle with a 1 3/4-inch diameter. Cut out a smaller circle with a 1 1/2-inch diameter from a piece of cardboard. Draw a circle with a 2 1/2-inch diameter and cut out a small mouth-like piece, making the circle look like a pie with a slice missing or like the video game character "Pac Man." Cut out a strip 1 1/2 inches wide, with a top edge 5 3/4 inches long and a bottom edge 5 inches long. You should now have three paper cut-outs and one cardboard cut-out.

Cut Felt

• Pin the paper cut-outs to felt and cut the felt. The cardboard circle will be used later. The 5-inch strip and the 1 3/4-inch circle of felt will be the body of the cupcake and the "'Pac Man"-like circle will be the top with icing, so choose your felt colors accordingly.

Sew Individual Pieces

• Take the "Pac Man" felt circle and sew the edges of the mouth together, forming a small cone. Take the 5-inch piece of felt, overlap the short edges a little bit and sew them together. Take this time to sew on any beads to the top of the cupcake but sew them onto the side where the stitching isn't visible. You can also use embroidery thread on the side of the cupcake to stitch in grooves that resemble cupcake paper. Do not use embellishments if a child under 4 will be in contact with this toy.

Sew the Cupcake Together

• Fold the cupcake top and body inside out (stitch sides showing) and sit the inverted cupcake top in the wide part of the cupcake body. Pin the edges together and sew the cupcake top to the cupcake body. Now push the top through the body turn the cupcake right side out.

Stuff and Finish the Felt Cupcake

• Stuff the cupcake with acrylic stuffing so the icing top puffs out slightly and the sides are firm. Take the cardboard circle and place it in the open end of the cupcake (you may have to apply some pressure) and hold it there. The cardboard piece will help the cupcake stand upright. Take the last felt circle, put it over the cardboard and sew it to the cupcake. A blanket stitch looks nice but any stitch will do.

Posted in: Arts and Crafts