Felt Padding

Padding gives depth to your goldwork and felt is the simplest way to achieve this. Choose felt to match the dominant metal threads - i.e. yellow for gold and green for green!

 

An easy way to make sure your felt pieces are the right size and shape is to cut out paper templates from your original design.

Depending on how highly raised you want the finished goldwork to be, cut between one and five layers of padding.  Cut out the paper templates and then cut one layer of felt the exact size of the template.  This will be the top layer. The rest of the layers should be progressively smaller and follow the same general shape.

Position the smallest felt piece in the centre of the shape to be padded.  Cast on a length of machine sewing thread in a fine needle.

To secure the felt, make a small stitch every 8mm (1/4”) around the shape, bringing the needle up in the background and down in the edge of the felt.

Once the felt is securely attached, go around the shape again adding more stitches in between (1-2mm or just under 1/16”) apart.

If the shape is long and narrow, or very small, a different method may be used for the underneath layers.  Make long stitches right over the width of the shape. Simply bring the needle up on one side of the felt and make a stitch right over it.  Stitch the top layer as normal with small stitches around the edge.