A Memory in Felt and Stitch

Lyn

Cowes week is the oldest and largest annual sailing regatta in the world and today marks the end of the 2016 event hosted by the Isle of Wight.

Back in 2010 we took our young grand-daughter to Lepe Beach where there is a great view of the Solent and the Isle of Wight. The beach is mainly stones and shells but if you look hard enough there is just enough sand to make a few castles.  

Path to Lepe Beach on the Solent with the Isle of Wight in the distance

As the tide was still coming in, we managed to paddle out quite a long way and we saw a small yacht come aground on the sand bar close to where we stood.  The captain's enthusiasm must have exceeded his ability! The sails flapped wildly and there was much shouting and confusion.

But mostly we just stood there in the sea, hand in hand, watching the yachts go by.  It's that precious memory that I wanted to catch in felt and stitch.

Memories can be sharp on the good bits and fuzzy on the rest, so I decided to only colour the figures to highlight the important part of my memory.

I made a piece of bright white merino felt then I started to stitch hand-made felt on for the clothing, but it looked too solid.  Out came the stitch-ripper.

I rummaged around in my scraps box and found some frilly edges (when I make felt for cutting shapes from, I don't bother to neaten the edges so they end up frilly).

I stitched pieces of frilly felt onto the figures and found that the effect is dreamy - perfect for my memory picture.