“Pancake Day, or Shrove Tuesday, is the traditional feast day before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday … Shrove Tuesday was the last opportunity to use up eggs and fats before embarking on the Lenten fast and pancakes are the perfect way of using up these ingredients.” – Historic UK
What better time to share a felt play food DIY for felt pancakes, ahead of Shrove Tuesday? This craft is so easy, you don’t even need a template!
I made my pancakes out of two slightly different brown/beige coloured felts. One colour for the top, the other for the bottom. This is in homage to our family where one side of the pancake always cooks faster than the other and ends up a darker colour! Plus, I like the easy dimension that it gives these pancakes.
Step one: decide on size
I made three pancakes out of two sheets of 20cm x 20cm felt – two large and one slightly smaller. I aimed for 10cm in diameter and adjusted accordingly to get the most yield out of my felt. These are quite small for felt pancakes, but for little hands, they’re just about perfect. Plus, as kids grow they can become American hot cakes or NZ/Australian pikelets!
Step two: cut out circles & get stitching!
Once you’ve decided on size and cut out your circles, using a sharp wool needle, take coloured wool of your choice and blanket stitch around the edge, binding the two sides of the pancake together.
Step three: stuff & tie off the wool/thread
Before stitching the entire way around, leave a small hole and stuff with a small amount of stuffing/felt scraps; just enough to give the pancake a little bit of height.
Finish blanket stitching around the edge, tie off the wool and you’re done! The quickest, easiest felt play food DIY. You could use this combo of circles and blanket stitching to make a bunch of different foods – biscuits, fruit slices etc.!
Add some felt blueberries to your pancakes and you have a lovely play brunch this Shrove Tuesday (or any Tuesday, pancakes are definitely a year-round thing).
Leave a Reply