How to cheat on badges- tutorial

[BirdBones]

A good while ago, dear Lime Riot started a thread about Craftster Scouts badges
( see here: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=407643.0) and I have been fiddling with achievement badges for all sorts of crafting capabilities and catastrophes ever since.

... mostly because it's fun and gives me a feeling of using the otherwise empty time I have to spend on public transportation each day...

But how to get the details you'd like when you lack the capabilities of some of the advanced miniature-creating folk? Well, if you'd like to have something like this:



here is how you go about it:

First off the material you will need:


You'll need:
felt of different colors, according to taste
Needles and thread
scissors
clear packaging tape
a bunch of small pictures (see picture below)
ribbons and buttons or pompoms according to taste

Step 1:


cut out your picture (giving it an outline of about 1 mm is best to make the stitches less visible) and stick it face down on the tape

Step 2:


fold over the edges, completely covering the image in tape- that way the picture is safe even if it gets wet

Step 3:


Cut off all excess tape. Then pre-poke the wholes for stitching all around the image along the outline-works best if you keep them 1mm from the edges and 1 mm apart.

Step 4:


Cut out pieces of felt according to taste- go for wonky lines, that way noone will notice, if you sew on the image a little crooked - and sew the image onto the first layer.

Step 5:


Now attach the first layer of felt to the second and the second to the third- that way you get a little more texture.

Step 6:


Now attach a back piece of felt, so all your stitches and loose threads and in my case knots in the thread are hidden from the eyes of anyone . To get a little more volume, you can stuff it with polyfill. If you want to make the stitching more visible, use embroidery thread for the final seam.

And ta da!

If you're not that fond of stitching, you can also
 needlefelt:


and here are some
samples of little pictures for badges
 ( please PM me, if you have a problem printing it out, I'll send you the pictures via mail):





And you will see pretty soon, that this is fun and highly addictive and it might look like this in the end:



and in a couple of weeks time, you stash might look this way:

Let me know, if you find this useful and I am happy about any critique or thoughts about improving this idea!
 

[witchybelle4u2]

Awesome! I love this idea. (I meant to do it like that! has to be my favourite.)

[jexxican]

Sweet! This is a great way to make lots of things, ALL the things! not just badges! Thanks for the tute.
My 2 faves on there are the "Altering reality" and the bloody sewing machine you used in the examples.

[elderflower]

What a great idea.  Thanks so much for the tutorial.

[jillybeans]

What an awesome idea, BB!  You definitely have been busy!  I love the designs you made!  So cool!

[Kookaloo_Starr]

I love these!! and will be bookmarking the tute THANK YOU 

[LimeRiot]

This is fantastic!! I love all of your badges. Thank you so much for sharing your technique and your awesome drawings!! You're fab .

[pinokeeo]

Lovely idea.  Great job on the tute.

[microjivvy]

Well aren't you just the smartiest of the smarty-pants.  Given the mushy-ness of felt, I've long wondered how you get all those marvelous details in your badges.

BTW, I don't consider it cheating at all -- it's a mixed media badge, pure and simple.

[pinkleo]

Just Fab!  Thanks for sharing!