I have recently become OBSESSED with felt play food! Besides the “super cute” factor, I love that Miss H is able to start with some pretend play. We have a play kitchen for her and purchased a small set of pots and pans for it (from IKEA!). I decided that I wanted to make some food for her kitchen so that she’d have plenty of things to “cook” and “eat.”
Miss H and I quickly fell in love. Me with making the food and Miss H with playing with it! She loves to “make pancakes” and “eat cookies,” and she’ll often be seen crawling around with a felt doughnut in hand!
While making felt food can seem intimidating, I find it incredibly relaxing. Felt is a great material to work with – it’s easy to hand stitch and you don’t have to worry about frayed edges. It comes in every color under the sun, perfect for any kind of food you dream up! You do, of course, want to make sure your stitches are somewhat precise and that you are diligent about securing your stitch when you finish to ensure nothing unravels during playtime.
I’ve found a lot of free patterns and tutorials for felt food via Pinterest – a thank you to all of the bloggers out there who are so great about sharing! I’ve also created many patterns on my own – from a very simple cookie or doughnut (they’re just circles!) to popsicles and slices of bread. And, of course, I’ve also purchased some patterns. A few of my favorite recources include:
Felt: Retromama on Etsy
- She has some great toy and doll patterns but also sells a good variety of high quality felt at a fair price. I’ve purchased felt from a few other places, but Retromama’s is the best quality I’ve found. And, she ships everything very quickly!
Patterns: American Felt & Craft
- They have some great patterns at a reasonable price, all available for instant download. I purchased their Sunday Muffins Pattern and had a lot of fun making it. And, of course, having a tray of muffin’s in Miss H’s play oven is so cute!
Patterns: umecrafts on Etsy
- I have bought quite a few patterns from umecrafts – fantastic and very reasonably priced! But, unfortunately, she seems to have closed her shop. I’m hoping this is only temporary because her patterns are so much fun!
A few of my favorite items I’ve made recently include:
Yellow Squash (umecraft pattern), a beet (umecraft pattern), and a carrot (retromama pattern)
Strawberries (umecraft pattern)
BLT Sandwich – lettuce (umecraft pattern), bacon, tomato slices, and bread slices (all my patterns)
Cookies – sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookie, and black and white cookie (all my patterns)
Breakfast – bacon (my pattern), toast slice and fried egg (umecraft patterns)
I’ve had so much fun with felt food and love that the sky is the limit! If I see something that could be fun, I then challenge myself to figure out how to make it. Right now Miss H is a little on the young side for fully understanding what she’s doing when she’s playing with the food, but I love that her play kitchen is stocked and ready for her to enjoy hours of “cooking” when she’s a little bit older.
If your LO likes play food, what is his/her favorite think to “cook”?
GOLD / nectarine / 2884 posts
I am embarking on my first felt food project this week! I have made two tomatoes so far. Planning to make more in time for scrib’s 1BD in a few weeks. Homemade gifts are the best, huh?
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
This looks so fun! Where do you find felt to be the cheapest? How do you keep it clean?
nectarine / 2054 posts
This is so cute!! I’m definitely going to make these when my LO is a little older. At what age did you find Miss H was able to play with the food in a pretend play sort of way?
GOLD / wonderful apricot / 22276 posts
Love this!
nectarine / 2217 posts
LOVEEEEEE!
hostess / wonderful honeydew / 32460 posts
Omg these are awesome! Need to make.
And who is that big girl in the first pic?!?! She’s growing too fast!!!
blogger / apricot / 366 posts
@Mrs. Sketchbook: That is a fantastic gift!
@regberadaisy: I really like Retromama, who I linked to above. Her felt is reasonably priced and high quality. You don’t want to go cheap or it won’t be as easy to sew. What I use is a wool blend felt. And if you need to clean it, just spot clean with a towel.
@Beehive: Well, Miss H is 15 months right now. We can ask her to “cook an egg” and she’ll put the egg in her little pan. And if I pretend to eat a cookie, she’ll do that too. But we still have to watch her closely so that her mouth doesn’t end up full of felt
@chopsuey119: I know, she is getting bigger by the minute!!
blogger / persimmon / 1231 posts
Love this! LO is only 7 months old, but it could be fun to start now
hostess / wonderful watermelon / 39513 posts
I love felt food…so easy and fun to make! I made a bunch of donuts and fruits for my LO.
pomegranate / 3401 posts
This is adorable! You have inspired me! If I start now, LO will have a fully stocked kitchen by the time she’s ready to play!
blogger / persimmon / 1398 posts
These are fabulous!!! Mini Michelangelo never got into the whole food play… but now I really wish he had!
grapefruit / 4671 posts
These are fantastic! I almost bought some playfood for LO from IKEA. Would making it be better?
blogger / pomegranate / 3300 posts
So cute! I love the felt food.
guest
Great ideas and inspiration:) And for those who aren’t crafty, here’s how to easily turn food boxes into play food:
http://hintmama.com/2013/11/29/todays-hint-how-to-save-on-play-food/