Old Jeweled Felt Calendars Get A New Life – Sewing Machines Los Angeles

Jeweled Felt Calendars are very decorative and so much fun to make. If you have made one then most likely you spent time looking over all the designs until you finally settled on the perfect one. Then you spent many hours lovingly sewing on all the tiny beads and sequins. And finally you enjoyed a year of glancing at that beautiful work of art hanging on your wall. But now that it’s outdated, what do you do with it? Please don’t throw it in the trash! With a simple makeover you can turn it into a banner for birthdays, other holidays, or even another wall hanging.

Follow these steps to recycle your calendar:

• Make a paper pattern the same size as the calendar area of your wall hanging.
• Choose a light color of felt that coordinates with the other colors in your wall hanging. Use the paper pattern to cut the same shape out of the felt.
• Decide on a phrase you would like on your new banner. Some to choose from are “Happy Birthday”, “Welcome”, “Welcome to my Kitchen”, “Happy Spring”, “Fall is Fabulous”, or even Your last name.
• Now comes the challenge of getting the phrase printed on the new felt shape. The way that I recommend is to design the text on image processing software like LView or Photoshop. Be sure to flip it horizontally, then print it out onto plain paper using a Laser printer. If you don’t have a laser printer, then just print it on an ink-jet printer, and then get a copy made from a copy machine that uses toner. Most self-service copiers do use toner.

  Place your printed phrase face down on the felt and iron using medium high heat for about 45 seconds. Now you have your pattern on the felt without having to use expensive transfer paper!

• Embroider the words on the felt using cotton embroidery floss. It’s best to use satin stitches so that the words are more visible. Embellish with sequins and beads that match the ones on other parts of the calendar.
• Attach the new felt to the wall hanging with either fabric glue or embroidery stitches.