Free felt crafts allow you to take a material that is inexpensive and make something really fun out of it. Felt can be purchased in many different colors at your local craft store, either pre-cut into large squares or by the yard. The little pieces are great for making all sorts of free felt crafts.
What is Felt?
In the traditional sense, felt is one of the oldest fabrics ever made. Felt is traditionally made by taking a knitted or woven cloth and shrinking it with the help of hot water and agitation, so that the individual fibers and stitches can no longer be seen. This process is still used by knitters, crocheters and other crafters when they want to make a solid "fabric" out of a hand-made project.
Mass-produced felt is felted through a chemical process these days, but it can also be produced through needle felting, which is a process by which needles repeatedly punch through the fiber, making the individual fibers bind together. You can also needle-felt projects at home, using a needle-felting kit.
Felt is soft, easy to work with and inexpensive. It cuts easily and usually does not fray. It is fun to use in all sorts of free felt crafts.
Download Free Felt Craft Patterns
Felted Holiday Décor
A great way to use felt is making decorations for various holidays. Cut out a Christmas tree and felt ornaments, Easter eggs, a Halloween Jack-o-lantern, even one of those hand-shaped turkeys.
You could also make felt Christmas stockings. Because felt doesn't unravel when you cut it, you can "sew" pieces together just with glue. Since you don't have to worry about the raw edges, even your youngest kids can help with this craft. (You could also cut small holes into the felt for them and let them sew the pieces together with a plastic needle and yarn.)
Just cut out two matching sock shapes, glue them together around the sides (not the top, of course) and then decorate the stocking with felt letters to spell the child's name, other felt cutouts, fabric paint, or glitter. Add a loop of felt at the top to hang it from if you like.
Because felt is light, you can hang your holiday decorations on your Christmas tree, or use string to attach them to the ceiling (or ceiling fan). You can also attach them to the wall with tape, self-adhesive Velcro or any kind of removable adhesive. It's an easy way to change your décor for the seasons without spending a lot of money, and your kids can help.
More Free Felt Crafts
Felt and foam stickers have a lot in common. Maybe that's because you often see felt cut into the same basic shapes that you see foam stickers cut into.
This is great for people looking for free felt crafts, because you can use all the great ideas you use for foam projects with felt instead. For instance, make a doorknob hanger out of felt and decorate it with felt cutouts. Cut out felt shapes and turn them into magnets. Decorate a plain journal or photo album cover with felt by gluing on shapes or covering the whole cover with felt.
There are many other great things you can do with felt. Make personalized bookmarks for all the kids on your gift list. Cover a clean can with felt, decorate it, and call it a pencil holder. Cut out squares of felt and make "patchwork" coasters by gluing shapes onto a felt base in a pattern that looks like a quilt. Do the same thing on a larger scale and make it into a pillow.
Another wonderful idea for using felt is to make your own books for the little ones in your life. Cut pieces of cardstock to make pages, or use unlined index cards. Punch holes into the "pages" and loop them onto a ring like you find in a three-ring binder (available at craft stores and office supply stores).
Make each page for a letter, or whatever you would like your book to be about. The alphabet is easy because that doesn't commit you to a huge number of pages. Cut out the letter you need, and also something that starts with that letter (you can find all sorts of alphabet printables on the Internet to give you inspiration for this part). Kids will love to feel the letters and shapes, and they'll learn something, too.
.
