Felt padding
Felt padding is a method of raising up metal threads. It can consist of one or more layers of felt in a colour that complements the chosen metal: yellow for gold, white or light grey for silver, and brown for copper or bronze.
Method
Thread a needle with a multipurpose thread in a complementary colour. Use a waste knot or holding stitch to start your thread.
Bring your needle up in the fabric and take it down into the edge of your first piece of felt at a slight angle (about 45 degrees to your base fabric), making a small stitch on the top surface of the felt.
Stitch around the piece to prevent it from moving whilst you work. The number of stitches will depend greatly on the size of your felt: as a rough guide, if it is large, leave gaps of about 1.5-2cm; if it is small, reduce the gaps to less than 1cm or even smaller.
Go back around your shape, filling in the gaps with more stitches so that they are 2-3mm apart.
Once the whole shape is held down, either add the next layer of felt in the same way on top of your first piece of felt, or finish off the thread using two tiny stab stitches on or next to each other, in an area to be covered or slightly under the felt.
Add a third layer of felt, following the same method, if required.

Common uses
Related Stitches
Identifying Felt padding
Usually not seen, felt padding sits underneath metal thread to create a raised effect. Under the metal thread you will identify this padding as layers of felt attached onto the fabric using simple repeated straight stitch.
References
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Various Authors, The Royal School of Needlework Book of Embroidery (2018) , p.226