Sunday, October 31, 2010

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! :)

Saturday, October 30, 2010

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 :)

Monday, October 25, 2010

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! 

Sunday, October 24, 2010

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. 

Saturday, October 16, 2010

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.

Monday, October 11, 2010

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

Sunday, October 10, 2010

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

Monday, October 4, 2010

Friday, October 1, 2010

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?