Felted Macaron Tutorial

These felted macarons were inspired by a visit to a beautiful pastry shop -

(Here is our instagram )                                   

 -  and a knitting lesson.

The girls took a knitting class - actually kind of had a mini - stitch and bitch - at a local shop about 4 years ago now.  One of the first projects a young knitter can try are these oreo cookies.  Here is one we have left from our craft sessions. (on the right)

  

Well, I had some pretty pink cookie layers knitted up sitting around the craft table (for 4 years!) without a project in sight.  I thought that maybe if I tried felting them in a hot water cycle in my washing machine I might be able to make them look more like a macaron - and lo and behold - it worked!

If you want, you can follow the original directions for the oreo cookie from here.

In a nutshell - this is what I did.

Felted Macaron Supplies

Bits and pieces of macaron coloured WOOL yarn leftovers.

Knitting needles - I used the heart shaped ones I made here - they are a size US #7

Large sewing needle used for knitting projects

Making the macaron layers

Your pattern is simple - 8 stitches cast-on and 32 rows of garter stiches - or 16 ridges. (1)
Leave about an 8 inch tail after binding off and run that through the ridges on one long side. (2)
Cinch these stitches together so they meet at the top and stitch through to secure. (3)

Now stitch the two short ends together to make a little cap shape. (4)
Turn it inside out and now run the needle and thread through the ridges on the open bottom and cinch (5)
After you pull tight you will create a ball shape (6)

If your layer is going to be the centre of your macaron you might want to stitch it more flat (7)

Your flat layer is ready to be stitched into a macaron between two other layers (8)

Here are the layers ready to be stitched up.  I think they look like all those knitted poufs that are all the rage.  Only dollhouse sized.

Here are the layers of a macaron being stitched together.(Clockwise from top left)  I didn't stitch the outer light brown circles together to make them flat (just the brown centre) - when you wash them those outer layers will be puffier - just like a real macaron.

Here are two little guys ready for their hot wash.

These pictures illustrate how they come out of the wash and the final product.  

On the left you can see the puffiness.  While still damp, I flatten them out with pressure, to be more macaron shaped (right picture)

As you can see, the lilac macaron on the far left never really felted properly. Not enough wool content in the yarn - but I think that is okay.  I love the colour and the texture is kind of neat too.  It's fun just to pick some yummy colours and experiment.

 I thought they looked sweet with another lonesome craft project - this knitted mug - I got the pattern from here.  (pom pom emporium) I mean - some might say - what are you going to do with felted macarons.  Not sure - cute little pin cushions (I actually use the mug to hold some of my knitting needles) ... maybe a gift for a toddler's play kitchen ... 

who knows ...  maybe ...

just because ...

Happy almost Valentine's Day!