Make fun felt vegetables

We’re growing (and sewing!) our own patch of tactile felt veggies with Kajsa Kinsella’s cute box-garden. Here’s how to make it for your green-fingered little one.

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Kajsa Kinsella

Published: March 15, 2022 at 8:44 am

We love making things from felt, it’s super-easy to stitch with and of course, it doesn’t fray! It’s great for making soft playthings for kids too and this little veggie garden is a wonderful project that you could make in an afternoon. The instructions and templates you need are listed below. If you enjoy making these sweet little felt vegetables then why not use our free toy vegetable knitting patterns and free crochet carrot pattern to make more?

If you love felt too, then pick up a copy of our special edition, Made in Felt, packed with step-by-step projects for home décor, toys, gifts and accessories both with sheet felt and roving for needle felting. There’s never been a better time to try these crafts and Made in Felt is the perfect introduction. The magazine is in-store in the UK now or can be ordered (with free UK P&P) from https://www.buysubscriptions.com/madeinfelt2022. You can also download the zingy digital issue within the Mollie Makes and Simply Sewing apps on Apple and Google newsstand or from www.zinio.com. Have fun!

felt vegetables in a brown box

You will need:

Small wooden fruit box: 28x18x10cm (11x7x4in), you can get small fruit boxes like this one from the greengrocer’s as they’re often used to store strawberries or cherries.
Card
Ink and paints
Lettering and garden-themed stamps

Materials

Felt: Brown 30x75cm (12x30in)
Felt: different coloured scraps for the fruit and veg
Polyester fibrefill
Stranded cotton to match felt

How to make felt vegetables

You will need:

Fruit box
Card
Ink and paints
Stamps
Felt
Polyester
Cotton

Step 1

Paint the box in earthy colours and letting it dry fully. Make a little garden sign with card and pretty stamps to decorate the box.

Step 2

SS19 Veg box step2

To make the soil rolls, cut four 23x30cm (9x12in) rectangles from brown felt. Fold one rectangle in half widthways and stitch together along the long side. Turn right sides (RS) out and thread your needle with matching brown stranded cotton. Work a running stitch 1cm (3/8in) from the edge all the way around one end, then gently pull both ends of the thread to close it. Secure the thread to hold the gathers in place.

Step 3

SS19 Veg box step3

Fill the roll with polyester fibrefill, then close the other end in the same way. Repeat this to make all the felt rolls, taking care not to overstuff them. Ensuring the decorated box is dry, fit the soil rolls inside.

Step 4

Trace the templates for the fruit, veg and leaves and cut them out.

Step 5

Starting with the vegetables, fold the coloured felt in half, pin the veg templates on top of each one and cut them out. Stitch the pairs of leaves together using blanket stitch around the edges. Using contrasting coloured stranded cotton, stitch the vegetables’ features using straight stitches as shown on the templates.

Step 6

SS19 Veg box step6JPG

Sew the front and back of each piece together by working blanket stitches around the edge, leaving the top open for now. Fill with polyester fibrefill. Push two stitched pairs of leaves into the top of the stuffed veg then sew the top closed, encasing the leaves inside.

Step 7

To make the strawberry, cut out an 8cm (3in) diameter semi-circle of red felt. Fold it in half and sew together. Turn RS out and fill it with polyester fibrefill, then sew the top shut in the same way as with the soil rolls in step 2. Attach the leaves by pushing them inside the gathers then stitching in place. Stitch a few yellow straight stitches to the outer sides to represent seeds.

Step 8

SS19 Veg box step8

Push the fruit and veg between the rolls in rows, then you’re ready to play. We recommend you supervise little ones under 3 while they plant their gardens!

We hope you’ve enjoyed making these felt vegetables. If you want some friendly animals to come and visit your vegetable patch then you’ve come to the right place. We show you how to stitch a felt rabbit and have a felt fox pattern for you to make.

Journalist and Designer

Kajsa is originally from Sweden and now lives in Ireland. She has published two craft books, Nordicana and Sew Scandinavian, and launched her own home collection in 2015. She’s the founder of Self Starter magazine for Irish female entrepreneurs. magazine and The Huffington Post. She finds the flea markets in Sweden are great for finding fabric gems. Find her on Instagram @kajsakinsella