Transform

These are some of the samples/pieces that I started working on during the ‘Change, Transform, and Disintegrate’ course at City Lit...

 The person next to me was doing a Felt course and when I saw her working on felt it seemed a good way to go with my theme of the Rabbits’ skeleton.

 For once I feel pleased with the results and I think this is going to give me the incentive to stick with my theme. I imagined them displayed rolled up and looking like the layered beads one sometimes sees intricately carved out of bone.

 Louise Baldwin suggested the idea of vessels and this is another way to go. Everyone’s theme and the work they produced was unique and it was an interesting group of people with a good deal of varied experience.

Felt

This small felt bag was made just before Christmas, and as you see I have been braver and made it without seams and still managed some free machining. The colour is probably more delicate and prettier than the photos show.

It’s basically merino with silk wisps and some beading. I don’t have my two previous bags and brooches as they were given as gifts. I did my best to give some handmade presents, which included three key rings made out of pieces of mecano by Reform, and a moleskin zine self published by an artist whose drawing I admire. Other presents came from Charity shops.
One guest gave us a pot of delicious homemade Beetroot and Orange Chutney in a lovely decorated jar complete with designed label.

I know most people are too far away but just to let anyone interested know, I am organizing three workshops at The Hurst, Tadley(0118 981 12397) starting on Saturday 6th February. They are linked and will be about designing an embroidered panel using ethnic textiles as a design source. My tuition on HEN is ongoing, i.e. you can join 'The Painted Kantha' or 'Printing with Found Objects' at any time.

therainbowgirl Treasury

A nice surprise to be in this treasury of felt and stitch. See it here.

Doldrums

Generally messing about and needing to get out of the doldrums.

I was trying to remember how to make a felt bowl as it is a long time since I made one. Well this turned out tiny enough to make into a little pin cushion. I used the wool I brought back from Ireland and so tirelessly washed and combed – before finding it wasn’t much good for felting – to fill the pin cushion
I tied in tiny buttons to shape the edge and a piece of acquired dyed blanket for the top. So there you go.

Book give-away on the Hand Embroidery Network here.

Felt

Last week I decided to give myself a break from planning the evening classes and workshops and to treat myself to making some felt.

I would like to be positive but having been to the enrolment evening last night, to which a handful, a very small handful of people came, I think the classes are unlikely to run. Languages, computer studies etc. look to be in the same boat. I am however pleased with my plan and samples and will hopefully be able to use them in the future. Thank you to the people who said they would attend if they didn’t live on the other side of the world!!

Here is a link to my new felt hero Lisa Klakulak. I think her fantastic pincushions are my favourite although I am a fan of all her way out and intricate constructions. I like the colours, the shapes and the details which make her felt so contemporary.

Nuno scarf

When I made the felt balls I also made a nuno felt scarf. I used a piece of muslin which I had previously dyed with procion as the base. I think it worked quite well but the difficulty was in having enough space to make it long enough, so it really is quite short, but as its not meant to be a winter muffler I think it is fine.

Merino tops being arranged on the muslin.Fibres being rubbed through a piece of net, using soap flakes and warm water.Rolling the felt between bubble wrap using a bamboo mat.Throwing the soapy parcel of felt on to a ridged surface; a CD holder from a charity shop.A good tip I found is to add extra wool along the edges to keep the shape. It takes a bit of time to get the wool to adher to the edges but works OK in the end.

Guess What.

I’ve been doing some felting .Just to see if I could remember how and also to use the wool which I gathered in Ireland when we were there this time last year.

I didn’t expect it to felt well so I used it for detail on top of white merino and needle felted some detail with black merino. There is also a bit of Leicester on the surface.

It’s quite hairy but I think that gives it character, but not to be used with a smart black suit!

Happy Easter

This is a small bowl, 4 1/2 inches, that I made this week from merino tops. The band round the outside is made from Suffolk/Jacob cross fleece which I washed myself. It was felted in rather than being added later. Inside I have added whisps of flax. I am pleased with it; the best bit is how light it feels.

Peru

This is such fun, I found it via Flickr. Its particularly great because I just gave this piece away - now I can pretend it is in a gallery. You can click to see it full size. Find the toy at dumpr.net.

Felt course

It was the last session at the felt making course on Saturday. You can see from the picture that we had a really productive and good humoured day


It is hard work rubbing the felt by hand to get it to take shape, but really satisfying. I have learned how to card wool now to blend colours. A really confusing process, which looks so simple when somebody else does it. I think it is well worth the trouble. I also learned how to dye wool using acid dyes. A really exciting course and I will miss it next Saturday, especially as I have now worked out the buses to Waterloo.

Felt course

I would highly recommend the felt making course at The Mary Ward Centre for anyone living near to London. As you can see we learnt a 3d felting method, and also were give information on different types of wool. There was time to make a few samples from wools such as Blue Faced Leicester, and to try out Camel Fleece.

Next Saturday we are going to learn how to make flaps and pockets which should be fun, I have to say that it was hard work as well.

This little construction was felted in three layers around a sort of 'flint' that you find on the beach in England. It was hard waiting for it to dry so that I could cut it open.

Felt

If you look at one of Raspberry's recent posts, see my links, you will see she has been making felt balls; hers have developed into key rings. Here are a few of mine.

There are also some felt beads, that is felt and silk wrapped over paper beads. I’ll do more with these one day. Have you made felt balls, how did they develop? What did you use them for? I have cut them and used PVA to seal the edges and attached as decoration to a bag. I prefer to make them Sheila Smiths’s way i.e. wrapping and using a felting needle to shape them.

For the next three Saturdays I am going to a felt making course at the Mary Ward Centre in London. I have never been there before but it seems to have a really interesting history and is in the Bloomsbury area
of London. I am really looking forward to it and will let you know what we do.

Felt bag

I decided to make a felt bag last weekend; to see if I still could and also to use some dyed wool which I bought at The Knitting and Stitching Show in the autumn. I thought you might like to see some of the stages. Starting to lay out the wool over a cardboard template. I have used warm water and soap to ‘glue’ the fibres together for the first stage. I washed it out with diluted white vinegar at the end.

I am so pleased with my charity shop find, a rigid plastic CD stand. Just the thing for throwing the wool onto for the final felting stage.Below is the bag without its final decorations.Making felt balls using a felting needle and the rolled cords for the finishingsI made an insert to give the bag a firmer base. I am pleased with the end result, but my stern critic, you know who, says I should spend more time on the design stage, which is why I am thinking of taking an Access to Art and Design Course next autumn.

Rock Fall

I've been working on the piece of shaped felt, trying to get it finished and framed for an exhibition in the local library, only to find that the organiser has left without letting anyone know. At least it gave me a push to get it completed. You can click for a closer look.

The stitching is mainly piles of Bullion Knots, French Knots, and picots of Buttonhole Stitch.

Shibori Felt

I have had my first go at this type of felt today, inspired by a piece I saw at Windsor by Angela Scolding which was based on a crab shell. Mine is very much a first attempt but I am pleased with the effect. I followed Sheila Smith's instructions with whom I once did a felt making course at Urchfont Manor.I felted Merino tops and African Wild Silk onto scrim which I had dyed. I found a bag of glass shapes in a Charity Shop which were ideal for the shaping.

Here it is all tied up and soapy, and then taking shape as the real felting begins.I have now left it to dry. Don't you think the scrim side looks so tactile; I have made it my desktop picture. I plan to embroider the piece at some point.