Felt Cactus Friends
So the other project I made from my new felt pattern book is this little cactus. It is just a smidgen over 5″ tall. And it is made of 43 teensy pieces, plus just a bit of fluff.
And it has a removable pot. (Of course it does, right? Wouldn’t be as cute without it. No really, it wouldn’t.)
I did change the pot just a bit, I added the scallop border at the top, which made it about 1/4″ taller. But I think I like it that way better anyway. If I make this again I’ll probably do some embroidery on my pot before I stitch it together. But I didn’t think of that until it was too late this time around.
So the real question is does this type of cactus have a purple and blue flower? I don’t know. Probably not. In the book she used two yellows for her flower, but I don’t have any yellow. All my bits of felt are leftovers from a Christmas present I made for my mom last year, which never made it to blogland. And there was no yellow. But since I got this book two weeks ago I have actually been looking into wholesale felt and bulk pricing and I really am quite obsessed…. it’s ridiculous. And now Creamie wants a cactus too. One little lipstick just doesn’t compare I suppose.
pinksuedeshoe 
It’s cute. What do you do with it?
xox
I gave it to my SIL for her birthday today. She loves cactus plants, but doesn’t have enough light in her law school apartment to keep any alive.
I was going to say you just sit and admire it because it’s cute, but that works too. 🙂
so cute!
I’ve had felt sitting in my etsy cart for a while now… do you use felt stuff, or the wool stuff?
Hi! I love the cactus…it’s darling. I was wondering the same thing. What kind of felt do you use? The recycled stuff or the wool?
For this project I used wool blend felt. It’s a wool and rayon blend that comes in a lot of colors. The recycled 100% acrylic felt is a lot cheaper, but it also isnt very durable. It stretches out of shape a lot easier, and because it’s made of plastic you can’t iron or steam it back into shape because it will melt. It’s a good cheap option for some things, I have a lot of it, but I use it mostly for crafts with my daughter. It pills and stretches a lot easier, and it is usually a thinner piece of felt.
The wool blend felt comes in the most colors, isn’t super expensive, and has a lot of the same qualities as 100% wool felt. I have picked up a few basic colors of that at Joann with my coupon. I think with the coupon it was like $6 a yard, for 36″ wide. They dont have a ton of colors, but some good basics.
The 100% wool felt is usually a bit thicker and sturdier than the blend. Joann has a few colors, and I’ve heard you can buy the white/cream and dye your own. But I’ve never tried that.
Ive also purchased woven wool and then felted it myself in a hot washing machine. It gets all bubbly/pebbly looking, but if after it’s dry you spray it with magic sizing and then iron it it will smooth out again. It will shrink when you wash it, and depending on the weave and thickness of the yarn you might have to do it a few times for it to felt all the way. I have done the same thing with thrifted wool sweaters and wool pants. I have one red Old Navy felted sweater that gave me almost 1/2″ thick felt. It’s incredibly warm, but hard to use in a craft project just because it’s so thick.
I hope this helps!
Thank you…I’ve always wondered what the difference was between the different felts. I’m heading to Joann’s armed with a bunch of coupons and I’m impatiently waiting on Amazon to send me my book! I can’t wait to make the little doctors kit. 🙂
that thing is adorable! Lots of good info on felt too!
I love the scalloped edges! Its a major improvement to the pattern. Great idea!
Pink,
Oh, my heck! All those tiny, perfect little stitches! Amazing! And adorable. What a cute and thoughtful little gift! Love the scalloped edge on the pot. And embroidery next time? Even cuter!
xo -E
It’s so cuteeee!!! Would you mind showing me how to do it. I wanna do it for my friend as a present. He really loves cactus. I just wanna make him happy. Please tell me introduction. Love you much <3.
Its all in the book Big Little Felt Universe. I can’t share her pattern, its a violation of copyright. But you can get the book on amazon. Good luck!
Thanks a lot ^_^. I’ll try do it myself.