Cookies for Jenaleigh

My good friend Martha is anxiously awaiting the arrival of her baby girl, Jenaleigh Kate, due in May. Along the way, she has come to a point where she needs to stay in the hospital for a time so the medical staff can keep an eye and a monitor on little Jenaleigh until she is ready to meet the world in a few weeks. In an effort to keep her sane, I'm sending her a little kit to make some cookies for Jenaleigh to (eventually) play with and enjoy. Maybe someday, someone (wonder who?) will make her a little felt tea set so that she and mommy (and Daddy!) can imagine that they are having tea and eating sugar cookies in a far away palace....

Back from "dreaming I had a girl" land, I realized that she would also need directions for how to make these cookies from felt cutouts. I had initally imagined this posting to be a tutorial for how to make felt strawberries, but that must be set aside for another day. Cookies are more fun anyway!

First, I'm going to share another piece of sewing advice from my Gma. Patterns are great tools, but much like defined toys, they limit the amount of creativity and imagination that can be built into each project. Gma taught me to see something and imagine how it was created, and then to re-create the process in a way that makes sense to me. This is why I dread making clothes and rarely do so. Simplicity, McCalls, etc patterns confuse me and require a great deal of concentration...which is usually in short supply at my house! So, often, I will look around and see what I can use to help me bring my idea to life.

For this project, you will need:

*Cookie-colored felt (I'm sending Martha light khaki and tan to make sugar and chocolate chip cookies)

*Icing-colored felt (Martha's kit includes pink and purple icing "blobs", red hearts, and dark brown strips for the chocolate pieces)

*Coordinating thread (I primarily use 2 strands of embroidery floss on all my felt projects, but any type of thread will work)

*Stuffing (optional)

First, look around and find yourself a good circle. Or, bust out your compass from elementary school to make a perfect one. I usually gather up a couple and then decide which will work best. I decided that the oatmeal lid was a smidge too big and the mason jar was a little small for this project. The glass was just about "right" for cookie making.

Next, you'll use your sample circle to make 2 felt circles for each cookie you want to make. I like using these disappearing ink pens on light colored felt, but regular pens work too.

Now, it's time to pick the decoration on top. I chose to do a heart shape on the top of this cookie, other options include: chocolate chips, icing "blobs", small beads for sprinkles, etc.

Next, you will attach your icing to one felt cookie circle. I used a simple running stitch here (in-and-out) for the purpose of saving time, but a blanket stitch would look nice as well.

Once your decoration is attached, choose another thread color and you are ready to connect the two circles. I always start my thread so that the knot will be on the inside of the layers and not visible on the outside.

I used a very simple whip stitch on this cookie, again in an effort to save time. A whip stitch is an edge stitch where the needle goes into the fabric, then around the edge to another point on the opposite side of the fabric.

When making these types of projects, a blanket stitch looks very "finished." To find a good tutorial on creating a blanket stitch and it's various uses, visit Stitch School. In an attempt to crank this tutorial out during naptime, I only did a few blanket stitches so you could see the difference.

When you are near the start of your stitches, stop sewing and stuff your cookie with a little fiberfil (if you want). The cookies work fine without any stuffing, but I like for them to be a little fluffy!

Finish stitching the remainder of the edge, knot your ends, and you're done!

See Martha? I promised it would be easy! For some great insight into Martha's pregnancy and unexpected hospital stay, follow her blog Bedrest, Blessings, & Baby.