Needle Felting in Cookie Cutters

I like making ornaments.  I make one for family and friends every year at Christmas.  So when I realized I could make different shapes of needle felting by using cookies cutters, I knew what one year’s ornament would be.

You can needle felt in any shape as long as it is open at the top.  For a cookie cutter you want to use this type.

open cookie cutters

 Not this type. 

closed top cookie cutters

You wouldn’t be able to felt the roving through the top of the cookie cutter, although you can use the shape of this type of cookie cutter for appliqués.  I did so with my Halloween quilt.

cookie cutter used for applique shapes

Once you have your shape, put enough roving into it to cover the area of the opening.  I usually let it go a little over the top. If it is not enough you can always felt in more roving.  Remember to work on foam so you don’t damage your work surface or break the needle.

Roving in cutter

Now take your needle and start stabbing the roving.  Don’t stay in the same area, move around the surface of the roving. And try not to hit the side of the cookie cutter.  I try to bring my needle down right next to it, careful not to hit at it. 

roving felted

 After felting for a while I take the roving out of the cookie cutter and turn it over.  If you have a cutter that faces in one direction, you might have to also turn the cutter over.  The point is you want to felt both sides of your roving.  This will make the felting stronger.  It’s OK if you have to flip it back and forth a couple of times to get the firmness you want.  And if there is an area that seems thin of roving, add a little more and felt it in.

Felting in reverse

Once your felted item feels firm, take it out of the cookie cutter and felt the sides of the item with your needle.  This helps smooth out the edges, makes the edges stronger and gives the item a nice clean look. You can do this by holding the item in your hands but be very careful with the needle and your fingers.  I usually move my needle in and out slowly when I hold anything I am felting in my hands.

felting the sides

Just keep felting until you are happy with the way it feels and looks. Now it is yours to do what you want. 

I decided to add a few features to my bunny. To do this, you just add some colors to the top of what you have felted.  I tried to felt the white for the tail before I felted it to the lavender.  His eye is just a tiny ball of black that I felted and as I did it flattened out a bit.  

features added

You can also add details by emphasizing a feature with ‘over felting’.  See the bunny’s ears.  To show the separation, I just felted the same line over and over and it created the indentation. You want to do it enough to show the feature but not so much that you actually cut through the roving with your stabbing. 

felted feature with 'over felting'

I usually use items felted with a cookie cutter as ornaments.  Add a little string loop to th top to hang it.  But you can also add a magnet to the back so it will attach to the refrigerator. Or glue it to a basket or book or really anything you want.

I hope you have fun with another use of cookie cutters.  It’s just as much fun as making cookies without all the calories.

©2017 Cheryl Fillion