PROJECT 3-Felt Cake

Felt
needle & thread


Yummy
Felt Cake
If you're blessed with math skills, and you know how to
break down the measurements of a circle to come up with a rectangle of the same
size, then you're a better person than I. Since I'm a dunce when it comes to
'rithmetic, I used the Dummy Method:
Trace a ramekin (or mug). This will be
your cake
top and
bottom. Then, using a piece of string, measure around the ramekin. This will be
the length of your rectangle, which will be the sides of your cake. In my case,
I use synthetic felt that doesn't come in the length I needed, so I just cut two
rectangles. As for the height of your cake, that's completely up to you. I went
for a couple of inches.
Cut out two circles--one in the color of your cake,
and one in the color of your frosting. The frosting circle will be your top, and
the cake circle will be the bottom. Using the same rectangle pattern, cut out
another rectangle in your frosting color. You can cut this in half for a nice
clean look, or just trim a little of it off, depending on how far you want the
frosting to "drip" down the cake. I trimmed out the scalloped pattern freehand
to save time. Now you're ready to assemble.
If you're using two pieces of
felt for the cake sides, go ahead and stitch those together, end to end. The
only stitch you'll need to use for the body of this project is an overhand
stitch, by the way. Easy peasy. Don't pull your stitches too tight, since you
want to have a little give when it comes time to shape everything. But do make
your stitches snug enough to keep any gaps from appearing. If the pieces stick
up where they're joined, don't worry. They'll flatten with some gentle
encouragement. Once your rectangles are joined, you can stitch the bottom circle
on.
Once you've got the circle stitched on, you can join up the other two
ends of your rectangle.
Now, on to the frosting. Stitch your scalloped
pieces onto the cake body, again using an overhand stitch. I leave the top
unstitched, since you'll be sewing the cake top onto it anyway. Sew the ends of
the frosting together (and to the cake) as you go along. Add any embellishments,
if you'd like. I used a french knot on each scallop for extra cuteness on my
first few cakes. Now you can stitch your cake top on, using the same method as
for the bottom piece. Don't forget to leave a couple of inches open for
stuffing!
At this point, I found it handy to cut out two pieces of cardstock
slightly smaller than my circle pattern. I put one in the bottom of the cake
before stuffing, and one in the top before I sew it closed. It just gives it a
little more definition and structure. Of course, without the cardstock, you've
got a cute little pincushion!
Stuff your cake to your liking, sew the
opening closed, and there you go! Your very own felt cake!
As for toppings,
I've only made the strawberry and the cream puff. Both are fairly simple as
well. For the strawberry, use the same circle pattern from your cake to cut out
a half circle. Fold that circle in half to make a triangle. Handstitch or
machine sew the seam closed, then turn inside out. Embellish with french knots
or simple lines in contrasting color for "seeds". Sew a loose running stitch
around the bottom, and pull the thread to gather the ends together. Add a little
stuffing, and you've got a strawberry! Don't worry about the bottom part
showing, since you'll be stitching that on to your cake anyway. If you do it
well enough, no one will notice.
Now the cream puff. Cut out six rounded
triangles. I didn't measure mine, and just cut them out freehand. The easiest
way was to cut out six small squares of felt, stack them up in threes, and cut
them out together. That way they're fairly uniform. Take two of these triangles
and sew them together on one side, starting from the bottom all the way to the
tips. Sew a third piece onto the second in the same way, and so on, and the last
piece will be sewn onto the first. You'll end up with a funny looking, slightly
concave, six-sided thingy. Once you add a little stuffing to that one, it will
look like a cream puff in no time. Sew the bottom opening shut, and ta-daa!
Yummy cream puff! By the way, you'll get a much better result if your pieces are
a little narrower and taller than the ones I used in the photos
Sew your
topping onto your cake, being careful to hide the stiching as well as possible.
You could probably even use velcro, if you want to have interchangeable
toppings! Stand back and admire your felt confection. Gather all of your
imaginary (or even real!) friends for a play tea party, and be ready for the
flood of admiration that will be washing over you. ^_^
This project was
contributed by AOI

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5
License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/

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