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Maker Team member Hannah of @ohhoneychild is helping us throw the perfect birthday party. Her delightful felt cake looks sweet enough to eat. Read on for her tutorial to bake - I mean, make - your own!
Did you know that Benzie Design just celebrated its 11th birthday? I’m a shop owner of two years and when I look at eleven years of hard work and dedication, I am just in awe! To help celebrate, I’ve created this tutorial on how to make a two tiered, fruit filled naked cake. Happy Birthday, Benzie!
Skill Level: Intermediate
Time: 4 hours
Supplies:
One 9x12" sheet of Strawberry Wool Blend Felt
One 9x12" sheet of Evergreen Wool Blend Felt
One 9x12" sheet of Midnight Wool Blend Felt
One 12x18" sheet of Linen Wool Blend Felt
One 12x18" sheet of Toast Wool Blend Felt
Embroidery Floss - DMC 10, 347, 436, and 3822
Needle Felting Foam - Small
Felting Needle
One ounce of Oats Corriedale Roving
One ounce of Butter Corriedale Roving
One ounce of Red Corriedale Roving
One ounce of White Corriedale Roving
Poly-fil Hi-loft Small Quilt Batting
Scissors
Embroidery Needle
Hot Glue Gun
Cardstock
Ruler
Paper Clip
Directions:
1. Cut two 10.5 cm diameter circles out of Toast wool blend felt. Then cut a strip measuring 3.5 x 33 cm.
2. Whip stitch the two ends of the felt strip to make a ring. Take one of the felt circles and place it in the ring. Hot glue along the edges to adhere the circle to the ring.
3. Cut four 10.5 cm diameter circles from the quilt batting. Then fill the ring with the batting. Cut another circle from card stock and place it on the top of the cake. Place the second felt circle on the top and glue the top inner ring. The card stock will help to keep the batting level while gluing the two pieces together. You now have the first layer of your cake!
4. Repeat steps 1-3 to make the second layer of your cake.
5. Cut three strips of 2 x 45 cm from the Linen wool blend felt. Place each strip on top of each other. Use a white thread to sew down the middle of the strip (hot dog style). Then fold the piece in half (hot dog style). Knot your thread at the very end and then wrap your thread around the end very tightly twice. Knot again at the fold. Thread your needle into the fold, and back out of the fold at a distance of 2 cm. Then knot your thread again, wrap the thread around the fold twice and knot again in the same spot. Thread the needle in the spot right next to the knot into the fold and back out of the fold at 2 cm. Continue to repeat this over and over to make the icing. Measure your progress around your cake. When you have made enough icing, simply knot the end of your thread and glue the ends together.
6. Repeat step 5 for the top icing.
7. Pull out your White Corriedale roving. Unravel it gently so that it does not come apart. At the half way point, separate the felt in half by pulling it apart with your hands. Feel where the halfway point would be and make two strands instead of one. Repeat this step so that you have 4 strands.
8. Grab one strand of roving and fold it in half. Put a weight at the folded part and hold each strand in each hand. Then twist each individual strand as you twist them around each other to make a twisted rope. After you make the twisted rope, line it along the edge of your cake in a circular manner to make a swirl. Continue to do this until you reach the middle. Then use the felting needle to bind the edges together and keep them in place. The more you stick the needle in, the more you secure the fibers together.
9. Begin to stack the cake. Start with the bottom cake layer. Then glue the icing felt around it. Then place the frosting swirl made of felt roving next. Then the last layer of cake. Then glue the last ring of frosting on the top.
10. It's time to make fruit! Let’s begin with the blueberries. Cut a 4 cm diameter circle of Midnight wool blend felt. Fold the felt circle in half and cut a small hole in the middle. Then cut 5 slits from the hole to make the outline of a simple star. This will be the top of the blueberry. Then cut another small circle that is slightly larger than the star slits that you cut out and put it right on top of the star. Knot a thread on the small circle and stich a small stitch in the middle of each triangle.
11. Flip the circle to the back side that shows the small circle. Then make a knot with the continuing thread at the very edge of the circle. Stitch around the circle. Pull the thread at the end so that it creates a small bag. At the opening, stuff with Poly-fil or you can use small bits of the quilt batting. Once the blueberry is full, pull the string tight so that the fill cannot come out. Create a knot to close it. Create one or two more blueberries.
12. Now it’s time for strawberries! Get a strip of Red Corriedale roving. Keep in mind that the amount that you start out with will only get smaller as you compress the fibers together using your felting needle. Wrap the felt roving around into a ball and begin to stick it with the needle over the felting block while continuing to move the ball around. Use a consistent amount of pressure as you do this so that the shape is consistent.
13. Once you have made a ball, press your fingers against the roving to feel the density. It should be malleable, but not as loose as it once was. Then focus on the bottom half to make a cone-like shape. Prick the ends more than the middle until it begins to look like a strawberry bottom. Afterwards, flatten the top of the strawberry. If your strawberry is too long, you can use your hands to put the fibers closer together. In between felting, I like to shape the felt with my hands as well.
14. Using the light yellow embroidery floss and an embroidery needle, thread the floss back and forth from the strawberry as shown in the photo to make the seeds of the strawberry.
15. Cut a large square of Evergreen wool blend felt around your strawberry. Use a pen to draw a large circle around your strawberry, then draw the leaves and cut out the piece. Glue it to the top of the strawberry and voila!
16. Cut a strip of 2.5 x 10 cm Strawberry wool blend felt. Then cut about 60 cm of matching floss. The floss contains 6 strands. Only use one at a time for the raspberry. Using a needle, thread the strand and knot the end. Fold the strand hot dog style and knot your thread at the edge. Then use the same technique as the frosting threading in step 5, but instead of wrapping the string around the entire strand, only go about a third of the way. The distance between each wrap around is about a .5 from each other. Once finished, cut the excess material on the bottom. Starting at one end, begin to wrap the strip around itself like a cone circling down. Use hot glue to secure this as you go down. Cut off any excess fabric.
17. Trace and cut out a flower using Linen wool blend felt. Using white thread and a needle, knot the bottom of the thread at one edge of the flower. Then thread your needle at the bottom of each petal. Look at the photo examples for guidance. Once threaded, pull the thread tight to make the flower come together. Knot your thread to secure it in place. Then use the ochre floss to make a French knot for the flower. This will be at the center of the flower.
18. Gather a strip of Oats Corriedale roving. The size is up to you. If you feel that you have too much material, you can use your scissors to cut off the excess as you go. Lay your roving flat, and roll into a cylinder. Then use the felting needle to pin in and out as you roll the cylinder around slowly. Use an even amount of pressure as you go. Then you can use a little bit of White roving to wrap around the candle to give it design. Keep pinning the needle in and out. To create the flame, use the Butter Corriedale roving and use the same method as the strawberry, but make it much smaller. Then use part of a paper clip to be the wick. Secure with hot glue. If you plan to let your children play with the cake, you can skip the wick and just attach the flame to the candle.
19. We are nearly there! Before securing all the pieces, move items around the candle to your liking. Then hot glue each one in place!
Congratulations, you've just made a two tiered felt cake! I don’t know about you, but I can see an addiction coming on. There are so many different kinds of cakes you can make with these fundamental skills and Benzie’s wide selection of colors and materials. I hope you enjoyed this process as much as I have!
Thanks to Hannah for designing and writing this tutorial! You can follow her on Instagram @ohhoneychild or visit her website. Stay tuned for more tutorials from the Benzie Design Maker Team!
