Christmas Stitches Class

I'm taking a class called Christmas Stitches. It's by Carina over at Carina's Craftblog

This is my modified version of our first project.  Since I am a VERY visual person, I needed to make a prototype of the cone since my sewing skills are pretty basic.  Now I will work on the "official" one, that has a much nicer embroidery pattern. The bonus of this, is I have now learned how to line some of my felt purses with material! :)

The lazy girl scarf....

If you know me, then you know that I am the worlds least patient person.  So of course I had to figure a way to cut out a bunch of steps in making the previously blogged scarf.  If you have read lately then you would know that I have been in a frenzy of batt making since my hubby bought me a drum carder.  I felted flat panels just beyond a prefelt stage, but not completely to a hard felt stage.  Well I now have a huge pile of felt panels that I really had no firm plans for..... So..... I used a rotary cutter and cut these panels into 3 1/2 inch strips of felt.  I then sewed them end to end to create a long (approx. 60 inch) strip.  I did this to two blue panels I had made.  Next I sewed both of those strips down the middle.  Then I cut a fringe on both sides of the sewed strips.  Finally I re-wet and soaped them, concentrating on felting the fringe.  No joke it took about 10 minutes total.....and this is the adorable (if I do say so myself) scarf- and it's long enough to wrap and have nice long tails!!!

I did it!

The other day, Heather, who by the way has a fabulous blog sharing her felted creations, posted a scarf that she had made.  I fell in love with the funky look and decided I HAD to try and make one.  Well let's just say the first one was a Disaster with a capital "D"!  I slept on the idea and woke up this morning deciding I was going to try it again.  I modified her instructions a bit and this is what I ended up with......

Things to work on...make the fringe a little shorter....make the scarf a bit longer-that merino/silk blend shrunk much more than I expected it to....at least my fear has been overcome...and believe me that first scarf was something to fear...LOL :)

Here are a few....

So much fun!  I have a couple that I started wet felting right away...so I will only have "after" photos. :)  I love the fact that I can buy raw wool, clean it, dye it, and then make a batt!  The top blue locks were from a recent purchase of raw wool that I cleaned, and dyed yesterday.  They dried overnight and now are a soft fluffy batt.  There are wool hair balls all over the place now! 

Having fun making batts...

Love, love, love my drum carder!  I have been making batts all day today!  I will try to get some pictures today.  It has been awesome to watch color combinations that I have had in my head come together on the carder. 

Woohooo

I am so stinkin' excited!  My hubby bought me a drum carder!!  Oh my goodness I am already planning all of the fabulous fibery batts I am going to make....aaahhh :)  Happiness!

I had a wonderful morning here.  I pulled about 4 pounds of undyed merino, some silk material, silk fibers, and some pencil roving out and had a go with my new fiber dyes.  I spread it all out on the picnic table out back and mixed and played like a kid with a new box of crayons!  I set the dyes with the microwave.  I tried the oven first but it dryed it out too quickly.

Here are some shots as they were drying.

Alpaca fiber- does it wet felt?

I was wondering if anyone has any experience wet felting alpaca fiber.  I have some that is mixed with wool and it felted fine, but how does just alpaca felt?  If you know, I would love for you to share your experiences!
Kelly

The rug...

I have learned tons from this experience.  First and foremost, wetfelting a rug is VERY wet business! :)  It was a perfect day to work on this outside.  We have been having warm but dry weather here and that is a rare thing, so I took advantage of it!
I got quite a workout so I figured I can have a nice big piece of my homemade pumpkin bread tonight!
Here are some pictures of the process.....needless to say, I think my antics while making this rug were entertaining to my family...I'm quite pleased with it!

My wool cleaning experience

I have had a fun time washing...no, I'm not running a fever... :)
I spent about 30 minutes going through the fleece and was amazed at how little VM there was-my hands were so soft and slippery from all of the lanoline.  PeeWee was one clean guy!
I pulled out approx. 1/3 of the wool and placed it in a huge bucket of very warm soapy water.  I made sure it was submerged and left it set for about 15 minutes- I had to resist the urge to stir it around- didn't want to felt it yet! I pulled it out of the bucket and layed it out on my picnic table (I did this all outside).  I did a very gentle rinse to clear up the water.  Now it's laying out in the Florida sun drying.  I am loving the silver gray color and cannot wait to make my rug!  I have two more batches to go.....

Fabulous Mail Day...

Have you ever had those days where you enjoyed getting your mail?  I mean we are used to getting bills and a bunch of junk that we never really look at...not too exciting there.  Well, yesterday was a fabulous mail day for me.  First, I received my Peace Felt from Anne-Marie in the Netherlands.  I am absolutely in love with the piece!  She represented the land and sky with the panel and added a ring of flowers. 



The next wonderful piece of mail was over 3 pounds of raw romney wool from a farm in Michigan.  I have finally gotten enough courage up to try to clean my own.  I REALLY want to make a small rug from the wool.  I ordered it from Oak Willow Farm on Etsy.  Wonderful service-check them out!

And finally. I received an awesome market bag I ordered from Beth's Market Bags, also on Etsy. If you are a fan of oilcloth, then you will love her bags.  I was so happy with my purchase that as soon as I opened it, I ordered another one!  I do have to say I cannot remember a time where I was so excited to receive mail! Well enough rambling from me, I hope you have a wonderful day!

Kelly

My projects



What are you felting?

So, tomorrow is Felt United's 2nd International Day of Felt!  The color scheme is blue, yellow, and green.  I promised myself a full day of playing with wool!  I plan on making a variety of items, but top on my list is a project for a tree in my garden.  All of the wool I have ordered is here and this evening I am going to finish up some household chores so I can devote myself to a day of wooly fun!  So what are your plans?