I am making felt toy numberblock characters for my grandsons out of felt. What is the best adhesive to use to adhere the felt faces and arms onto the felt sewn blocks so they stay on?
3 Answers
Another option is to needle felt the two together.
You’ll need loose wool fiber (cat hair and dog hair also work great) and felting needles (very sharp, use with caution!).
There’s lots of great tutorials on needle felting on the internet.
Any sort of glue you try to use will be ineffective. Felting the two pieces together is simple and permanent, if you get all the edges.
The only other really effective option is to thoroughly sew on the pieces with appliqué embroidery methods.
Stitching.
Glue is not a good way to add fabrics to fabrics for children to play with.
Glue can get lose and the small parts you have glued on can get in the childs mouth or nose. I have never seen a glue that can not be peeled off by clever little fingers.
Instead of stitching on pieces of felt you can embroider details.
Tacky glue
This will help as is more thicker than ordinary glue
Hot glue
You're probably more familiar with this one, the pros with this one are that it adheres and dries fast.
Fabric and Permanent glue
proceed with caution with these...
Permanent glue
The strongest hold but, there is a con here: the smell, but it's not that kid-friendly.
Fabric glue
sticks hard and dries fast
Avoid: craft glues
This glue is a ruiner, it makes it dificult to stick and it will end up with a darker tone.
Alternatives to adhesives
Sewing
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Some quick feedback that might help improve this answer. BTW, note that this is an application for children, presumably young, so consider that in the recommendations. A number of the terms aren't specific to a particular product, they're characteristics or uses that could apply to a range of glues. Tacky isn't necessarily thicker, these usually have more initial stickiness but can be thin. Permanent only means it's difficult to remove once dry, but can be many different kinds of chemistries, not all of which smell. (cont'd)– fixer1234 ♦Oct 29, 2021 at 4:06
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Fabric glues range from strong bonds to weak temporary ones. Craft glues range from watery to thick paste. A more useful way to recommend glues is to refer to specific products. If the product isn't available in some places, people can still look it up and identify something equivalent that's available.– fixer1234 ♦Oct 29, 2021 at 4:06