A New Old World Favorite Felt Play Food Set

I am in love with these new vegetables! I had a great customer request some Old World vegetables that her daughter could play with in a Renaissance festival, and I think these will be a hit! I especially liked the turnip - as I have NEVER had one, and had fun searching Google for turnip pics to work from. I have heard that you either love 'em or hate 'em. I will have to try them someday. Hope you enjoy them too!

Felt Food Bakers Rejoice!

My childhood baking memories are bubbling up through my creativity, and manifesting themselves through felt. I have long needed a felt play food Baking Ingredients set to add to my shop. This set was inspired by my daughter, who loves to help me in the kitchen, and who insists on having her own "ingredients" to add to her felt food baking bowls.

This set was a real challenge as I waffled back and forth, trying to decide whether to allow the sacks to be opened or sewn shut. I wasn't sure how to create "flour" and "sugar" that would be functionable and something that wouldn't be scattered throughout the house, aggravating unsuspecting Mothers. In the end, my genius husband suggested 100% cotton balls - perfect!

The egg, which is my very favorite felt food item, is inspired by one of my favorite wool food artisans called Wool Food.  I make it my habit to never copy another designer's work, but as I struggled to design a sewn, "crack-able" egg that didn't have at least 4 tacky seams, I gave in, learned to "wet felt" and thankfully pushed on.

I hope this set inspires Grandmothers, Mothers and Daughters to spend time gathered around the counter (or play kitchen) sharing teaching moments together.

Palumba Days

I finally confess visually why I have been a reclusive office-hermit. After weeks of planning, ordering and supply waiting, there came the wonderfully-dreaded month of non-stop, full-production sewing to finish a rather large order I was blessed to receive this summer. Being mostly a small, one-at-a-time maker of felt play food, this avalanche order of felt toys was a make-or-break offer for me.

The pictures are terrible, I confess, but standing on tip-toe on our highest chair, trying to frame this in was a challenge, so please forgive the photography. It also doesn't look as impressive when viewed with half of the items bagged up - I was under a shipping deadline & refused to unpack the 11 piece Breakfast set, the 18 piece Turkey set, & the 28 piece Pizzas, just to get a mere photo, but believe me - it was awesome!

So, with deadline looming and never having tackled an order this large, I was sweating bullets to get this 1300 individual-piece order done in the month that I had. I won't even mention that I still had my family, house, Church activities and an increasingly-busy Etsy shop to run all at the same time.  So, to my friends and family - this is the reason you saw so little of me this last month and a half!

It was a wonderful experience, a great lesson in time management, and precision planning. Most special thank you's to the endless patience and support from my wonderful husband and children (I "neglect" you no longer, my luvs!)

So, after 18 yards of wool felt, 25 spools of thread, 2 scissor sharpenings, and more hours at my desk than I would like to confess - and even less sleep, I am finally finished - earning a well deserved break from felt food... oh, wait - strike that - the Holiday season is approaching... NO BREAKS! Work, work, work Becca!

Wool Felt vs. Eco-Fi Polyester Felt Comparison

Ahh, the great debate - ok, for BugBites Play Food that is... The question of which material is better to use for felt food toys. I have been debating for years which felt to use & have come up with a complete breakdown of Wool/Rayon Felt vs. Eco-Fi Polyester Felt, with both Pros & Cons listed.

Wool/Rayon Felt

1. Wool is a Natural Fiber
   
2. Rayon is made from Cellulosic Fibers (made from cotton or pine wood). Rayon is one of the most peculiar fabrics in commercial use today. Rayon is a manufactured regenerated cellulose fiber. Because it is produced from naturally occurring polymers, it is neither a truly synthetic fiber nor a natural fiber, it is a semi-synthetic fiber. Strictly speaking, it is not an artificial fiber, because it is derived from naturally occurring cellulose. It is not, however, a natural fabric, because cellulose requires extensive processing to become rayon. Rayon is usually classified as a manufactured fiber and considered to be “regenerated cellulose”. This complex process results in a great deal of environmental pollution. Courtesy: wisegeek.com
3. Stronger than polyester, doesn't stretch.
4. Renewable & environmentally friendly resource.
5. Highly resilient, retaining its strength & unique properties for decades.
6. Dry Clean Only
7. Allergy Risk for those with wool allergies.
8. Expensive - around $8 a yard (36"x 36") - or $16 a yard when compared to the 72" yard of eco-felt.
   

Eco Felt

1. Ecospun is a polyester fiber made from 100% recycled plastic bottles.
   
2. Ecospun enables billions of plastic containers to be recycled each year, instead of them being buried in landfill. 10 bottles = 1 pound of fiber or 2 yds of felt
3. Recycled Eco-Felt is compliant with the Consumer Product Safety Act, including lead limits, making it a great choice for children.
4. Machine washable
5. Allergy-Free
6. Vegan
7. Inexpensive - $6 a yard for a (72"x 72")
   

Also, Eco-Fi has the capacity to keep billions of plastic PET bottles out of the world’s landfills each year by using post-consumer plastic bottles instead of virgin materials in the fiber manufacturing process. By doing this, we can lower harmful air emissions and save millions of barrels of oil from being used which, in turn, reduces the harmful effects of acid rain, global warming, and smog.

Fabrics made from Eco-fi fiber are chemically and functionally nearly identical to those made from non-recycled fiber. The difference is that Eco-fi fiber is made without depleting the Earth’s natural resources. With properties such as strength, softness, shrinkage-resistance, and colorfastness, market applications for Eco-fi are expanding every day. Courtesy: Eco-fi.com

Here’s how the Ecospun process goes:

1. Plastic containers are collected from curbside and community recycling centers
2. The containers are sorted by type and color
   
3. All labels and caps are stripped off
   
4. The plastic containers are then washed
   
5. Then they’re crushed
   
6. Then they’re chopped into flake
   
7. The flakes are then melted and extruded to create fiber
8. The fiber is crimped, cut, drawn, then stretched into the desired length (based on its strength), then baled. Courtesy: Eco-fi.com

I have been using the Eco-Felt for 2 years & am loving the durability, color selection & price, above all, as it lets me keep my costs down to make felt food more affordable. I also love the fact that Eco-felt is machine washable! I wouldn't dry it in the dryer, as it tends to "pill" up, but the thought that I can wash the toys - especially after they have been mouthed & played with, is great. One of the only downsides to Eco-felt is that it tends to stretch, which can be helpful when making the toys, as it "gives" a bit when making certain shapes, but the downside is that it can be torn out of shape if stretched & played with too roughly. Wool felt does not have this problem.

After working with wool felt exclusively for a rather large wholesale order for Palumba toys, I am seriously considering offering wool felt food in my shop as well. I am enjoying the feeling of the wool, its strength, its softness & the beautiful colors available (though I have to order it online). I greatly dislike paying almost twice as much per yard as the Eco-Felt, but I think there are people out there who love the feeling of wool despite its price & non-washability.

So for me, I think I am going to enjoy the best of both worlds & use Eco-Felt & Wool/Rayon Felt interchangeably throughout my sewing, enjoying the benefits that each material has to offer.

What I'm Working On Today...

Today is busy! I have been blessed with a very large wholesale order for a toy company & am frantically getting ready for the final production push. After weeks of negotiation, calculation & emails, I am ready to get sewing. But first comes the massive orders of felt from Joann's & Joggles.com.

This order is very different, as all the play food is going to be made with wool felt & wool stuffing. I usually work with polyester eco-felt, so this will be a wonderful challenge. These toys will escape CPSIA regulation because of the natural materials used, & so far, I love the feel of the wool felt - it is very strong & doesn't stretch like the polyester does. I may think about adding some wool felt food to my etsy shop soon.

I have found a wonderful company back East in Pennsylvania called Earl Woolen Mills that sells the best wool filling. I found them through a google search & related blog links. They don't have a website, so I called & spoke to a delightful woman whom was very helpful in helping me order my wool batting. I can't wait to receive it!

So today, I am finalizing my fabric order, sewing 30 little handstitched "Popcorn" labels for popcorn bags & am prepping to tackle the 360 popcorn kernels that need to be sewn. The stacks of felt on my desk is almost overwhelming! I am so happy to be so busy.