Ice cream, anyone?!

I discovered felt last year while I was making hair bows for my daughter. Although many swear by the wool felt, I am quite content with the craft felt for my projects. I quickly realized that there are two kinds of craft felt - the eco-felt and the "craft" felt (for lack of  a better term). I believe they both are acrylic, but I prefer the eco-felt as it is thicker and sturdier than the latter. Walmart (yes!) and Michaels carry this kind.

The possibilities of things you can create are endless.

 

Sweet got a new play kitchen for her birthday last month. So I wanted to make some play food. There are TONS of tutorials online, if you are interested. These are perfect for beginners and you can get away with hand sewing for the most part.

I started with vegetables (which I am yet to finish) and then switched over to desserts! My mind is buzzing with zillion (hmm.. may be 100?) ideas! Really, you just need some imagination and sky is the limit! The results are quick and delicious - instant gratification!

Ice cream

Things Needed:

• Felt sheets of desired colors (I used baby pink, neon green and dark brown and red)
• cotton thread in coordinating colors and needle
• polyfill stuffing

Pattern: Cut two circles of different diameters (big and small - see tutorial)

Time Taken:10 minutes or less for each ice cream

Tutorial:

1) Cut a large felt circle  (Circle A) - the larger the circle, the bigger your ice cream will be. You can trace around a CD for this.
2) Cut a smaller felt circle of the same color (Circle B - the base of the ice cream)
3) Sew a running stitch along the circumference of Circle A with 1/4" seam allowance; do not back stitch
4) Gather the stitches by gently pulling on both ends of the thread. The circle will become scrunched up and will start to form a nice scoop
5) Cup it with your palm and stuff the inside with polyfill.
6) Place Circle B on top of this scrunched open end. You may want to adjust the gathers so that the scrunched end is the same size as Circle B. 
7) Use ladder stitch to sew the edges together.

Optional:

Here is where you can have a lot more fun - embellish the ice cream with chocolate chips (brown felt squares) or strawberries (red felt shaped into petals). You can use different colors of embroidery floss to make sprinkles!


Cone:

For the cone part, cut a 5" square out of tan felt. Draw a concave arc connecting a pair of opposite corners and cut it out. Fold this into a cone shape and sew the straight edges together from bottom (narrow end of the cone) to top using blanket stitch.  

If this cone is not sturdy enough, you may glue two felt squares together before you cut them out. 

Verdict: 

The kids love the ice creams and play with them every day. Heart was happy that I made his favorite kind (mint-chocolate combo).


I'd love to see some photos of your creations too!