When you discover that your felt badge swap partner is a Dr. Who fan, there’s really only one thing to do: Exterminate!
Okay, so maybe felt isn’t the most intimidating medium for a bubbling lump of hate, but all the other felt badges are looking nervous. Really, really nervous.
And yes, I know — my embroidery skills are… well… I need more practice.
Download the Dalek pattern (PDF file).
FREE PATTERN:Yes, you can make your own Dalek felt badge with this free pattern. If you’ve never made a felt badge before, you might want to try your hand at one or two simpler patterns — there’s a whole lot of evil in this one.
The pattern is a PDF file which requires the free Adobe PDF reader.
And before you ask, the Dalek bumps are made from wee little (3mm) brads from the Eyelet Outlet.
That wave has now crashed on the shore and I decided that more practice was needed prior to working on my swap badges.
What better felting practice than to give Frankie his bride.
I made the large (4″) bride first and then made a couple of changes to the pattern. One change was to give the bride a more flattering décolletage and the other change was to the bouquet. The bouquet in the large bride was done by needle felting bits of pink felt — I didn’t like the lack of definition, so in the smaller bride (2.5″), the bouquet is made of french knots (thank you, youtube tutorial).
I also learned something about needle felting. Those numbers assigned to the needles (e.g., 38T, 36S, 42T)? They actually mean something, lol. After breaking the one 40T needle I had, I switched to a larger needle and it just chewed the felt to bits. I rushed off to etsy and purchased some 42T needles from Red Barn Farm — much better results.
Here are some action shots from when I was putting the small bride together. Each pic is of the pieces I felted before adding the next layer.
I’ve been thinking a lot about felt. It’s truly fun to work with and there’s something strangely meditative about the blanket stitch, but…
Tonight I sat staring at the pile of beautiful wool blend felt that I purchased from etsy seller Sweet Emma Jean (who appears to have ESP because I swear she ships almost before you finish placing your order).
I stared and stared and you know what happened?
Nothing. Not one iota of inspiration…. and then it hit me. As much as I admire the lovely clean tight work so many felt artists produce, it’s not me.
I realized what was missing. Dirt. Messiness. Age. So I got out my Minwax wood stain pens, my Stazon ink pads, and I went to work.
I think I went overboard with the “dirt” factor (it looks dirtier in real life than in the photo), but this feels like me. And it was still fun. And the blanket stitch was still meditative.
Ohm.
Thank you, Lindy — the dirty felt heart is yours! If you like this 2.5″ heart, use the Contact Form to send me your snail mail address AND then come back to post a comment below. The first person who completes both steps will receive this felt heart in the mail.
