I thought I'd take a post to tell you all a little bit more about my favorite fabric: Eco-Fi Felt.
When I first started The Toy Cove, I'd never used felt for anything more than a super simple, pre-packaged craft project. I had a general understanding that you could make it from scraps of fabric or dryer lint, and that it was easy to glue. Basically, I didn't take felt seriously. So I started out using the fabrics I had always used before; broadcloth, calico, or whatever was on the discount rack (isn't that how
rag dolls came to be in the first place?)
However, one of the main goals of The Toy Cove was to use US-made materials, and I very quickly realized how difficult those were to come by, especially in fabrics. After some searching, I came across some felt by a company called
Kunin that claimed it was made from recycled plastic bottles. That I could believe, but I knew already that most supposedly US-made items were "finished," in the States, but made elsewhere. A little digging, however, showed that their factory (not just corporate headquarters) is actually in New Hampshire.
 |
| Turning Eco-Fi felt into owls |
It sounded perfect. I had virtually no experience turning felt into stuffed animals, but I had to give it a try.
 |
| Felt Frogs, Assemble! |
The first thing I found out was that felt, compared to the more traditional dress-making type fabrics, is a whole different animal, and trying to treat it as something else won't work. There was a bit of a learning curve, I'll admit, but once I got the hang of it, I absolutely loved it. It's so versatile, so pliable, so... colorful! It was love.
 |
| Love! |
Currently, all of my non-doll toys are made from felt, and all of that is eco-friendly, US-manufactured, Eco-Fi Rainbow Felt. Check out
the Etsy shop to see some!
