DIY Felt Board Tutorial

I went down memory lane the other day and found a very old tutorial I had written about a felt board. I thought it would be nice to share that tutorial with you here at the Making Life.

So for your own pleasure, here is a felt board tutorial for you!

Post from 2014:

Every year at Christmas time my sister-in-law and I go into a frenzy working in what we call “the elf shop.” We drop hints to one another about what our projects are, but since they are usually for each other, or for each other’s kids… it’s more fun to keep it a surprise.

Crafting is an art far more developed than construction paper and popsicle sticks. There’s something truly rewarding in making something for someone. Not only does it fulfill a type of creativity void, but it is also a way to give someone a unique gift that no one else in the world will have. And for those of you like me, who sometimes are on a tight budget, or who like to keep it thrifty, this can be a good way to give someone something valuable without spending a lot of cash.

This year, one of my main projects were felt boards for two of my nieces. In this post, I will be explaining what we (mostly my husband) did to create the board that would be the backdrop to the felt images I made.

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What you will need for this project:

• Several yards of felt fabric
• A plywood board the size you want your felt board to be
• Strips of wood for the back of the board
• Short screws
• Electric Drill
• A saw
• Scissors
• D-ring small picture hangers
• A tape measurer

Gathering Your Supplies

First, you will need to locate your plywood.

I got a pre-cut piece of plywood at Lowe’s for around $6.

I also got D-ring picture hangers for about $2.60 for four at Lowe’s. We already had scrap wood at our house for the back of the board (I will explain this part later), but you can find something similar at Lowe’s or Home Depot.

I got my felt fabric at Jo-Ann Fabric on sale for around $3 a yard.  They usually have pretty good sales especially if you get their sales flyer. I chose blue fabric because I wanted my background to look like the sky, but you can choose whatever color you think suits your project.

I have read on other blogs that say gray was a good neutral choice. You can read a good felt board and felt dress-up doll tutorial here at: From Dahlias to Doxies.

Step 1: Cut the Fabric

I placed the plywood in the center of my felt fabric and cut my fabric about 5-8 inches wider than the plywood the whole way around.

You should leave enough fabric that you can wrap it around the back of the board and pin it.

This does not need to be exact so don’t worry about cutting perfectly straight. I also cut out a piece of fabric the same size of the board. That was meant to cover the back of the board. I liked the idea of having no plywood exposed, even if it wasn’t meant to be seen all the time.

Step 2: Putting the Back Pieces Together

Ned did this part, but I have a pretty good idea of what he did. First, he measured and cut the scrap wood to size. Then, he placed the back piece of fabric on the plywood.

He then folded the front piece of fabric around to the back so there would be no exposed plywood, and the two pieces of fabric would overlap. Finally, he placed his pieces of wood on the plywood and screwed them into place with his electric drill.

Basically, this step serves two functions. The first is that you can use the wooden slats to secure all of your fabric in place. The second benefit is that it gives you a place to put your d-rings so you can hang the board on the wall. Another option is to use a staple gun to secure your fabric. I think this would work very well, however, it would not be as easy to attach your d-rings if you wanted to be able to mount your board on the wall.

In our case, it also didn’t hurt that we didn’t HAVE a staple gun.

Step 3: Attach the D-Rings

These wall hangers were also attached with screws. He measured them so they would be about 16″ apart (or the typical space between wall studs).

The d-rings are 16 inches apart. This was intentional so it would be the same width as most house studs.

And that’s it! You now have a felt board. You can make it any size you like for your space!

Back to 2019:

I remember painstakingly creating Daniel Tiger and the gang. I had always hoped to create a tutorial for that as well, but not sure anyone would want to follow my tedious directions.

That’s all for now from the Making Life. Look for many more posts to come.