Greetings Aurifil family! As Master Educator and Aurifilosophy Program Coordinator, I’m absolutely thrilled to welcome UK-based Aurifilosopher and Aurifil Designer Jo Avery of The Stitch Gathering as the host for the February 2025 edition of Thread Matters!
Jo is a true creative powerhouse—her fresh, vibrant designs are pure magic, drawing you in with every stitch. Beyond being a cherished Aurifil Designer, she’s also a talented pattern designer, inspiring educator, retreat host, and accomplished author. Simply put, Jo is a creative unicorn, effortlessly shining in every technique, design, thread, and fabric she touches.
A huge thank you to Jo for bringing us an exciting new project that’s sure to ignite your creativity. Get ready to be inspired!
Is your shop, group or guild looking for insightful, inspiring and educational information on thread? Consider booking a virtual or in-person program with one of our skilled Aurifilosophers. Learn more about Aurifilosophy and find your favorite Aurifilosopher here.
Happy Stitching!
Karen L. Miller ~ Redbird Quilt Co.
Last year I was shown how to make a wee triangle pouch at my sewing group. We used one of the many free online tutorials you can find to make this cute little item. The triangular shape reminded me of little felt robin and chicken hanging decorations I used to make and teach many years ago, so I decided to try combining these items.
My Mini Chicken Pouch was the result! I followed this up with a Mini Robin Pouch and more birds and chickens followed. I realised that this would be an excellent subject for my online tutorial at the next Free Taster Weekend for The Thread House Academy (read on for more info).
The original pouch needed a bead as part of the opening and closing mechanism. I do have plenty of beads but I decided it might be nice (and fun!) to make my own soft bead out of felt.
And so these felt beads were born! I found I loved making them so much that I started experimenting beyond those needed for chicken pouches and discovered they could make cool jewellery too (well, cool if you like things made of felt!).
Aurifil 12wt wool is my go-to choice for stitching with felt. The mix of wool and acrylic means it’s really strong and stable and the soft matte texture matches the felt perfectly. If you want more felt craft ideas then check out my 3D Felt Flower Corsages post from two years ago.
For the beads shown in the tutorial I have been using thread from my Stitching with Wool collection.
These beads are very simple to make with just two donut shapes and some scrap batting:
1. I found that the perfect size could be achieved by drawing around the end of a large spool of Aurifil. Cut out two felt circles.
2. Using small sharp scissors cut a matching hole in the centre of both, about the size of the hole in the spool end.
3. Cut a piece of batting, slightly smaller than the felt circles and with a slightly larger hole.
4. Pin the two pieces together with the batting sandwiched between.
5. Using a single strand of Aurifil 12wt wool in matching shade, sew a blanket stitch around inner and outer edges. For this sample I started with the inner edge but sometimes I start sewing the outer edge first. Both ways work and neither seems particularly easier than the other!
Now we can embellish our beads with rows of knots. This can be done prior to sewing the donut together but I have developed a way of stitching two sides at the same time that I think uses less thread and I find the finished 3D donut easier to handle that the floppy felt pieces. All my beads are double sided.
6. I like to use a colonial knot with a double strand of wool thread in a contrast colour. French knots work just as well if you prefer. I bury my starting knot between the layers of felt. Make a knot and then go straight through to the other side.
7. Make a knot this side and take your needle through on the same side to come out ready for the next knot in the row.
8. Make this knot and then head straight down through to the other side for another knot.
9. Continue flipping your donut over every other knot and working both sides at once until rows are complete.
These simple donut beads are perfect for the Mini Chicken Pouch. But I wondered whether I could make them less flat so I had a go at a cylindrical version for the Robin Pouch. This was really very hard to do and ended up way too chunky so I’ve abandoned that idea! (But how cool does that look??)
However the simple donut shapes turn out to be quite addictive to make and I ended up with nine of them in blue and green shades. Strung together on a simple leather thong they make a really attractive necklace!
I have been playing around with some other shapes to make more flat donut type beads.
I just cut these shapes out with scissors freehand. Of course you could draw them first but I prefer to create them organically by ‘drawing’ with my scissors. Once you are happy with the shape cut an identical one. I’ve been trying out triplets of different shapes to hang together.
For this first one I created the beads first and then added the embellishments. Just simple embroidery stitches such as running and fly stitch and more colonial knots.
Next I tried some felt applique too. I stitched a simple smaller shape on to the background shape prior to creating the beads using Aurifil 80wt in a matching shade and using a small whip stitch around the edge. I then decided to add the simple embroidery embellishments before I made the beads too. These beads have little cross stitches and what I call ‘star circles’.
Once I had finished the blanket stitching I thought the pink bead needed something else so I added three knots.
I thought I would see what this one looked like on a key fob. These beads would make lovely bag charms or key rings, either on their own or in groups of threes.
But I think I prefer them as a group of three hanging on a leather thong around my neck. I’m definitely wearing this to my next quilt show or yarn festival!
All of these beads are great ways to use up small scraps of felt. You can use any sort of felt but 100% wool felt has such a lovely feel and is much easier to sew. In the UK I buy my 100% wool felt from Cloud Craft.
Experimenting with these felt beads and finding new ways to decorate them with Aurifil thread has been such fun and connected me to my inner child. I hope you will give these a try and maybe you will come up with some even better ideas!
If you’d like some more information about embroidering with Aurifl 12wt wool than I wrote a whole book about it called Modern Crewel Embroidery (crewel simply means embroidery with wool). This is available from the publishers C&T https://www.ctpub.com/modern-crewel-embroidery. If you are in the UK you can purchase a signed copy direct from my website.
Would you like to use your felt bead to make a Mini Chicken Pouch?! Here’s how…
Along with my two quilting besties Lynne Goldsworthy and Karen Lewis we’re about to launch year three of our online quilting and sewing school, The Thread House Academy. Every year we host a FREE TASTER WEEKEND to launch our next Academy prospectus. During this weekend you can ‘try before you buy’ with three FREE online classes and one of these will be my Mini Chicken Pouch! So get started on a felt bead now and you will be ready for the class at the beginning of April. 😉
Sign-ups are now open for the Free Taster Weekend on 5th and 6th April. As well as my Mini Chicken Pouch class you can do some cute Couching with Karen Lewis and make a fabulous Origami Crane FPP mini quilt with Lynne Goldsworthy.
Simply click the button below and sign up at our website!
For more info about our new Academy classes for the year ahead be sure to sign up to our newsletter.
Website: stitchgathering.co.uk
Instagram: @joaverystitch
Blog: joavery.co.uk
Online Classes: academy.thethreadhouse.co.uk
Fabulous ideas Jo. Look forward to making some and no doubt seeing lots being worn.
Sue Spargo has made some fabulous 3d felt beads (Baubel Zipper Pulls) using scraps of felt, ribbon and embroidery.