Felt Fabric

The three main categories are Wool Felt, Wool-Blend Felt, and Synthetic Craft Felt. 100% Wool Felt is the traditional, premium standard, known for its dense, luxurious texture.

Wool-Blend Felt (usually mixed with rayon or viscose) offers the soft feel of wool but is more affordable and easier to work with.

Synthetic Craft Felt (usually 100% acrylic or polyester) is the most popular type for general crafting; it is highly affordable, vegan-friendly, and comes in the brightest range of colours.

What constitutes “good” felt depends entirely on your project! For premium, heirloom-quality crafts or historical costumes, “good” felt is made from 100% pure wool, as it holds its shape beautifully and is naturally flame retardant.

However, for school projects, vibrant toys, and general hobby crafting, “good” felt is a high-density, 100% acrylic felt, as it provides brilliant colour consistency, durability, and is easy to cut and glue.

The primary disadvantage of felt is that it lacks flexibility and drape. Because the fibres are matted rather than woven or knitted, felt does not stretch or flow. This means it is generally unsuitable for fitted garments or flowing dressmaking projects.

Additionally, pure wool felts are prone to shrinking if washed incorrectly in hot water.

Felt is incredibly easy to work with! Because it doesn’t fray, you don’t need to finish the seams. You can sew it easily on a standard sewing machine using an all-purpose universal needle and polyester thread.

If you are hand-sewing, embroidery floss is perfect for adding decorative blanket stitches around the edges.

For quick crafts, felt also takes exceptionally well to hot glue, fabric glue, and double-sided bonding tape.