How to Make Flannel Figures
When you tell a story using a flannel board, you use animals and people made from felt and flannel. They can be as elaborate or as simple as you want depending on how much time you want to put into the project. Since a flannel board can be as small as an eight-by-11 clipboard or as large as a blackboard, the size of the flannel figures you will need varies. Make yours large enough for people sitting in the back row to distinguish their features.
Things You'll Need
- Scissors Stiff felt Assorted scraps of flannel fabric Card stock Pencil Animal cookie cutters (optional) Animal and people stencils (optional) Iron Ironing board Fabric glue
Instructions
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1
Draw patterns for your flannel figures. If you are a good artist, make freehand drawings of each character on a piece of card stock. If you have weak drawing skills, trace around a cookie cutter, stencil or a coloring book illustration. Cut around the card-stock outlines.
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2
Trace once around each cardboard pattern with a pen on the stiff felt. The felt will provide the background for your flannel figures so that they will retain their shape and easily adhere to the flannel board while you tell your story. Cut out the felt figures.
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3
Iron the flannel fabric scraps before tracing once around each pattern with a pen. Match the color of the flannel to the characteristics of the person or animal. Decide ahead of time if you want to make more realistic flannel figures or if you will make them fanciful, like puppets. Cut out each flannel figure.
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4
Glue the flannel figure to its matching stiff felt background. Allow this to dry completely before dressing the figure or adding facial features, props or hair.
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5
Cut out and glue on small amounts of flannel, felt, yarn or other fabric scraps to add details to each flannel figure. If you know how to embroider, you can even use bold embroidery floss and careful stitches to decorate each figure. After the flannel figures are dry, they can be used over and over to illustrate the stories you are telling to the delight of your audience.
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Tips & Warnings
Store flannel figures flat and out of direct light to make them last a long time.
