design board flannel or felt?
 

I plan of purchasing what I need to cover a 48" x 72" cork board to use for a design board. I know lots use flannel but Joanne's has a sale on felt for $2.99/yard and it is 72" wide. Does anyone know if it works as well as flannel. Also what color do you all prefer? White or cream?

I believe the felt would not be washable.

It should work, the story boards we used to use were felt. White or cream is your choice, either will work.

I didn't know that you washed them!

I just vacuum my design wall if I start getting strings on it-- in 14 years have had no need to wash the covering.

I suspect that today's felt is washable because so many of them are poly. I would wash first so that there are no surprises later on.

If it is poly will it work to hold up blocks with out pins?

A large flannel backed tablecloth would probably cost less and works just as well. I bought mine on clearance for $2.00 at Big Lots and used push pins to attach it to the wall.

Cari

I use white felt stretched over the pink insulation boards from hardware store. The felt holds blocks up beautifully, and when you have a larger piece with lots of seams which make it heavier, a straight pin into the insulation does the trick. I too vacuum. Did not wash, but certainly could have -- poly felt is washable. I went with felt because I was able to get a 96 inch width so no seams in the wall. And it was a lot cheaper than equal amount of good quality flannel would have been.

same here. works great too.

felt is very washable. my last sewing room my design wall was dark brown felt glued with elmers to card board that my new refrigerater was packed in when delivered. we then bolted it to wall of sewing room. it was up for 13 years, i cleaned it with a clothing lint brush. when i took it down in preperation to move, the cardboard and felt were the biggest job of the move. it was almost indestructable. i don't have a sewing room in current home and have black felt hung over deck doors of dining room where i sew. hem at top and bottom. hooks at top for hanging & hardware store wooden dowel in bottom to make it hang down straight. i have another large piece of felt that i use to take with to sew group meets and when sewing with a friend at her house. it's gotten rather dirty thrown in back of truck, so i washed it in machine on gentle cycle. worked fine, it's been washed several times. it shrinks, probably fades, tho doesn't look it & i didn't check. i started using felt before the books were telling design walls should be flannel or batt. it was an idea i had that was affordable & it works great!

my plan is to use foam boards when i get basement done to use for sewing. where did you find 96" wide felt? i've only ever found the 72" wide.

I don't have a permanent design wall yet. I use a thin wool ARC blanket & everything sticks to that just great. I toss it in the wash plenty often because I also like how warm it is in winter. As long as you're not putting it in hot water or high heat, it should hold up fine. By the time it's felt, the wool fibers have already shrunk & condensed, so they're actually less prone to shrinkage than regular wool.

I just washed mine. It's flannel.

I'm using an old plushy-type mattress pad which works well. I think it's poly.

I use a big sheet of batting. Flannel has worked too, but the batting hasn't let anything slip down.

I have felt and it works great, came from JoAnn's, bought 2 yards. Mine is hanging loose.

I use warm and natural (I needed the 90" width and did not want a seam)-- have had it for over 15 years and the only issue is it collects threads. It moved with no problems -- DSIL built it for me out of foam insulation and a 1x2 frame and it is awesome.

i guess i'm the only one using an old flannel sheet? works great...

Cotton batting or flannel has what I call "an affinity" for other cottons, such as blocks. Most blocks will pretty much stick there when slapped on a design wall. I have had much less success with felt or other synthetic fabrics or fibers because the cottons don't stick well to them.

Jan in VA

I got my felt at a local specialty fabric shop called Seattle Fabrics, but I know that Joann has wide bolts of felt too. You can also use batting king sized.

I've actually done a side by side experiment of my synthetic felt and a cotton, heavy duty flannel. They have equal holding powers. Neither does well with blocks with a lot of seams and bulk but both hold basic blocks just fine.

Thank you RST that is exactly what I wanted to know. Without doing a side by side test. Nice of you to reply with your results.

I found that fleece (also available in wide widths) does ok, but not as well as flannel an felt. I still consider it a viable alternative though.

I just put up an old piece of flannel tacked to the wall in my sewing room. I am piecing a queen size Charming Addition and a design wall is a must with that one. So far the flannel has worked just fine.

I use an old flannel sheet.

Never even considered washing my design "wall". I do go after it with a clothes brush now and again because of the little threads and fabric detritus that ends up sticking on the board. Works wonderfully and leaves my wall just like new! I would go for the best deal felt or flannel and the color you like best, white or cream.

Heaven! I wish I had read something like this before I made my design wall. I used green insulation board, covered in felt, and then added a layer of batting. Six months latter I find myself standing and picking threads off the batting like we are a pair of monkeys grooming.
Gotta go now, I have to go take off a useless, and thread filled, layer of batting!

I have always used flannel. When you wash it, blocks will just stick to it. I don't think that felt would have the same type of magnetic qualities that flannel has. Buy your flannel when JAF has the flannel on sale. Pick a good quality of flannel.

design board
 

I got some fleece on sale and used that. It woks very well and if it needs to be laundered not a problem. I used a pale yellow.

I've used a king size piece of warm and natural batting. When it gets stringy, I just use a roller picker upper and it works great. I've had the same piece for 8 years now with no problem.

FYI - The 72" felt sold at JoAnn Stores is made from recycled plastic bottles!....And it is washable. Interesting huh? If you can get it on sale or with a coupon, it's a great buy

I'm another with fleece ... quilt blocks stick with no problems at all.
Many times I had a completed flimsy on it and left it for extended periods of time, with no problems and no pins!
Yes, a large quilt top at 100"x100" !!!

I chose black for a few reasons ... I had seen too many cream/white design walls in stores that just looked outright grubby and filthy. Also, a designer once told me that black let us see a true colour better.

No matter the colour, stray threads and such gather. A quick wipe with a lint brush or roller, soon has it looking as good as new.

The width of fleece is a nice bonus, with fewer seams. I wrapped each board separately, and then screwed the board to the wall. There's been no sagging. Those joins work great to help get things lined up and straight.

I've had mine now for well over five years and have had absolutely no regrets ... other than wondering why I had not done it sooner. I was fortunate that I was able to cover a whole wall, 10'x8', which for a big project it is amazing. Or I can have several smaller projects on it at a time. You can never have enough design wall space ... and yes, I even have a few portable ones for even more space! :)

My design wall is covered with Warm and Natural batting. It works really well. I have never considered washing my design wall and rarely even pull threads off of it. I sort of like the thready design. :) It still holds stuff up, despite the pieces of thread.

Dina

Me too. Everything stays up just fine.

I paid $2.50 for my flannel backed tablecloth. Guess I should have shopped around! :D

Regardless, it works great.

Watson

Joann's polyester felt is indeed washable. Makes great fillers for crayon bags, purses, wheelchair bags, etc.

Same here. I have 4. One of my tops are layed and wrapped in a flannel back tablecloth. I use skirt hanger to hang on my curtain rod in my sewing room. Mine also have the gingham look with one inch grids.

When I made my design board I just used batting I had laying around but with nothing behind it so pins don't stick well. 1st mistake I made on it. Just recently I read where someone used auto headliner with has a sponge type backing on it so will be replacing my present design wall with headliner fabric next. Thinking on either a pale beige or pale grey as there aren't a lot of choices in colors for headliner fabric. Also will make it wider.

Geesh! I like the idea of using fleece which I have tons of it here and no use for it at the moment. Might have to change my thoughts on the headliner if I can make use of the fleece. Have some still in plastic totes since 2007 so time to get it out.

I've used headliner for velcro boards for my son who has special needs and uses velcro backed symbols for communication. I don't think it would work all that well for sticking fabric blocks up without pins. I do think it would be nice in that not a lot of thread or lint would stick either. If you want to use pins and want a very sleek look with fewer seams, I think headliner might be a nice choice.

I should clarify that I've not personally tried using headliner fabric for a design wall, and it might work well. It's just my experience using it in another application that suggests to me that you'd want to use pins to secure blocks. Since I like information shared from a place of actual experiment and trial rather than suppositions, it's only fair that I apply that same standard to myself ; )