Lyn
I won a giveaway - all this lovely merino wool!
Thank you to Marilyn Lott for sending me the wool. Marilyn is a qualified needlework teacher, a member of the West Country Embroiderers Guild and she runs workshops to encourage people to try new techniques. Here's a link to her blog Torbay Textiles.
Marilyn recently taught the making of felt cords and this is a lovely example of their use.
| |
|
"We are not amused with the hat..." :-)
Annie
Lyn
Don't worry Annie, I saw Grandma 'feeding' her Christmas cake yesterday - it looks scrummy and I'm sure there will be enough to go round!
The Christmas dining table just has to look good doesn't it? But I don't favour the perfect look that is shown in glossy magazines - it's expensive and definitely not fun.
And let's get real, there is going to be red wine, gravy and bits of greasy food all over it by the end of the day, so I prefer a quick homespun table that guests can enjoy and not worry about. Young and old can join in with making table decorations too - nothing has to match or be perfect - indeed a mishmash is preferable!
This placemat was very quick to make and a different one for each guest would be fun.
It's just a piece of cobwebby felt on scrim from my stash, backed with iron-on stabliser to make stitching easy and to give rigidity to the mat. The free-motion stitching was done with black thread and the stars are hand stitched with pale gold perle cotton. A scrap of white dupion silk was roughly appliqued on to make the snowpeople and the colours were added with ordinary felt tipped pens.
And a quick coaster.
Have some creative fun in the run up to Christmas - it's an effective stress reliever!
| |
|
Lyn
Three days ago I realised that there's only 5 weeks to the deadline for posting overseas in time for Christmas and I hadn't even thought about this year's Christmas card.
I don't have time to make my 80+ cards individually by hand, but I do like to send out cards of my own design, so I compromise by creating one piece of artwork then photographing it. The image can then be used to make many cards quite quickly.
After a few hours thinking and rough-drawing ideas, I decided a robin eating a berry that looked like Christmas pudding would be fun, so I wet-felted a piece of felt from white merino. When it had dried I loosely needle-felted into it the robin's colours with merino wool then I wet-felted the whole thing for just a few minutes so that the robin was still fluffy.
I used free-motion stitching, with black thread, to sketch in the details and a few hand cross-stitches to finish off the Christmas pudds.
Stitching on felt will compress it, so when I stitched an ever decreasing circle of black to 'draw' the eye, it made the orange felt around it stand a little proud and this gave a good effect.
The only part of the picture that is not felt or stitch is the white dot in the eye (the glint).
I prefer to photograph my felt outside, under light cloud, so that I can get true colours. This can be very time-consuming and frustrating with the rapidly changing English weather, but so worth it for a good result.
Until last year I had my images processed into photographs, then stuck them onto card. They looked good but it did take several hours, so last year I used thinner card and my home printer to produce my cards. It was time efficient but I didn't think the finished card looked as good as previous years. So this year I'm going to upload my image to an online card producer (fingers crossed) because each card will cost no more than it would if I had to buy the photographs, card, envelopes and double-sided tape.
Not only have I made my Christmas card artwork, I've also made a piece of Christmas wall art. Bonus!
| |
|
Lyn
I love the colours of autumn and I like to look up through tree canopies to see red, plum, gold and green leaves against a clear blue sky - I think the most spectacular displays come from maple trees.
When the leaves start to fall, my garden gets a thick dusting of oak leaves from an old, enormous tree in a neighbour's garden, so the oak leaf just had to be my inspiration for this ornamental bowl.
I stitched the bowl from a piece of handmade felt made with merino wool in 'autumn colours'...
...and a few scraps of dyed scrim and nepps for decoration (the felt was patterned on both sides). The bowl is 2" tall and 7" across.
One piece of autumn coloured felt isn't enough, so I made a pod using the same colours of merino wool.
It's 4.5" tall and it's a simple variation to the felt pod tutorial that you can find in the left-hand sidebar of this blog.
The first two layers are made with yellow merino wool to give a bright, pretty inside.
This is the third layer of fibres (to both sides):
And this is the final layer of fibres (to both sides):
The hole was cut from the top edge of the resist, through the green wool, and the felt was worked so that the final shape has a narrow oval bottom and a wide, almost round top.
I think mother nature should have the last word in this post - I went out into the garden just now and saw these colourful blueberry bush leaves. Beautiful!
| |
|
Annie
I've found I've really started to enjoy making greeting cards again. It's something I used to do a lot mainly with just papercraft, but have rediscovered handmade cards again using handmade felt, stitch and acrylic paint.
During busy times I've found it a great way to actually finish a project and feel a sense of achievement, even if it's tiny! It's also a quick and easy way to experiment which (usually) ends in a useful and well received end product.
Another benefit is that I also save myself £3.00 a time on buying a cardboard card from the high street and give myself a short while to indulge myself in creating a mini piece of art. It's also low risk because it's on such a small scale it allows you to try different colour palettes and techniques without waste. Win win win!
Thought I'd share a few I've done over the last month or so - it's been a hectic (but lovely) month - have been visiting family in Wales, Kent and Norfolk over 3 weekends, had house guests, and have just come back from a camping weekend in Somerset (a very pretty part of the world - shame it rained for most of it!). Making these small projects has kept me creating when I might not have done because starting a bigger project needs more dedication and is not portable!
The first is a little picture of flowers made for my Nanny-In-Law. We went to her 90th birthday party in Kent and had a lovely time.
I stitched the flowers first in free motion embroidery (on to heavy weight canvas / cotton calico backed with stabiliser) trapping blue, yellow and orange scraps of handmade felt in the circles of the flower heads. Then I painted the leaves and bumblebee with acrylic paint and added some little hand stitched details. I bordered it with free motion "zig zag" (back and forward running stitch!).
I painted the card with a wash of acrylic paint. The bubbles pattern is made of white ink scratched on with a wooden skewer. So it's really low tech but I think it looks nice!
This is the birthday card I made for Mum (Happy belated birthday Mum!) It's made in the same way as the blue card but with french knots added for a bit of texture. Mum loves green and all things garden and flowers.
I've been taking lots of flower photos recently - a huge patch of meadow flowers sprang up by the main road in Christchurch so I took my new camera up there to try to learn to use it. The photos were mostly under or over exposed (it's a digital SLR so it's going to take a bit of practice!) but I still got some nice pics with varying interesting effects. I liked this one, which inspired mum's birthday card above :)
I also took this one which appealed to my sense of messy riots of colour. Which gave me the idea for the card below. Always torn between messy and neat!
This card is a thank you card for Dee, my sister-in-law, mainly for the lovely gifts she bought for us (including introducing me to Liz Earle face creams for sensitive skin - it's made a huge difference in just 10 days!) and also for (and I'm slightly ashamed of this one) cleaning my oven for me while she stayed with us for a week!.... but secretly I'm thrilled of course! ;-)
I used a small piece of my failed Flowers Pic to make something new and fresh and bright which is always pleasing! Nothing goes to waste in feltmaking.
This was a bit of an experiment though. There was a pile of pretty tiny little scraps of fabric in lovely colours on my work desk so I scattered them on to the felt then I free motion machine stitched the dark outline of the flowers on top - this was quite tricky because the foot kept trying to push them off (I had to lift and lower the foot several times to trap the fabric). I found it harder to be spontaneous in the stitching while trying to keep the scraps on the felt, but the varied and random colours in the fabric added a bit of spontaneity back in so that was good!
I added some hand embroidery then edged the piece of felt in the same way as the other two cards.
All of the card toppers are simply attached with double sided sticky tape. You could stitch them on (and if it was for permanent artwork I probably would have done).
When Dee stayed we visited Athelhampton House - famous for it's gardens. It was beautiful and between us we took about 400 photos and did lots of ooh'ing and ahh'ing. We may also have had a cream tea ;-)
Here are a couple of the photos - I especially love the yellow and lilac in the first one. Nature is so clever!
A lot of the flowers had gone to seed by this time of year but that just made it even more interesting!
If you ever find yourself near Dorchester, it's well worth a visit http://www.athelhampton.co.uk/
| |
|
Zed has written a wonderful ebook and we wanted to share it with you because it's easy to see how Polymer Clay could be used to add a new dimension to felt making, knitting, crochet, sewing, jewellery making, paper crafting etc.
Right from the first page we were impressed by the clarity of the images and by Zed's easy to read prose. All instructions are clearly explained, and with over 200 high quality colour photos, this ebook is a fail-proof, visual guide that would be perfect for even a complete beginner.
Zed has developed her own very simple method for producing smooth, even clay and shows how to adapt it to lots of different techniques to create beautiful unique polymer clay pieces such as brooches, pendants, buttons or tiles for mosaic, without the need for any specialist equipment or expensive gadgets - the 'tools' that Zed uses are everyday items that most of us have around the house.
Zed demonstrates many techniques, including how to: use commonly available products for applying colour to the surface of clay; use beads and metal as embellishments; create a fake porcelain look; inlay; and apply acrylic paint for an aged look.
Every technique is achievable by anyone. For example: when Zed implants glass hex beads, with precision, into a piece of polymer clay, she shows that you don't need the steady hands of a brain surgeon - just a nifty little trick with an ordinary sewing needle.
There's also a lovely gallery of polymer clay examples that will inspire you to design and create your own unique items.
This ebook is great value and it's available as an instant download from Zed's blog, FELT by ZED or from Etsy, ZED'S ETSY SHOP
| |
|
Many thanks to all those who left a comment to enter the draw.
Just after midday today, 3 names were pulled from a hat by Bill (he's dad, grandad and great-grandad in our family).
The 3 winners of a free copy of 'Wet Felting: How To Make 3D Felt Vessels Using Flat Resists' are:
Drumroll.....
Sally, Thea and Ellie - congratulations!
(Thea - please contact us with a valid email address, as the one on the comment form is not working.)
| |
|
Annie and Lyn
Hello! We're enjoying the (late) arrival of summer, and moaning about the heat, in equal measures! We've been to the beach, we've been swimming in the sea (once you're in past the waist it's fine!), but we've also been working hard, honest :-)
We're pleased to celebrate the launch of our new ebook, 'Wet Felting: How To Make 3D Felt Vessels Using Flat Resists', by giving away 3 copies of it here on the blog.
Everyone that leaves a comment at the end of this post will have a chance to win a copy and the draw will take place at midday next Weds (24th July). Good luck! Of course if you buy a copy then win, we'll happily refund you ;-)
The 120 page ebook is an instant download (pdf format) and is suitable for complete beginners, and more experienced felt makers, who'd like to try felting with a resist. We've included a substantial section, illustrated with colour photos, demonstrating basic techniques so that nothing is left to guesswork for the reader.
The basic information and techniques section covers: Merino wool tops; Suppliers; How to set up a work area; How to separate a length of wool top and how to pull off a tuft of fibres; How to blend wool; How to place tufts of wool when making a piece of felt; How to make up soapy water; How to net fibres over, wet down, remove excess water, apply soap, rub and lift the net; How to create an organic, fine wavy edge to felt; How to create a defined edge to felt; How to use a bamboo rolling mat; What is fulling and how much will the felt shrink?; How to warm up your felt during fulling; How to make pre-felt; How to make a simple drying rack.
We show how to use a fully enclosed resist, a one end open resist and a two end open resist and we explain the advantages of each method. For each method there is a full tutorial showing how to make a vessel (they are pictured on the cover image shown above).
You can follow the tutorials exactly to make a vessel, or by using your own colours and artistic flair you will be able to make many unique, beautiful vessels.
If you make and sell your felt goods, you are free to sell any items you make following the tutorials in this ebook - even if they are exactly the same as those we made.
Good luck in the draw!
Most people reading this post will be interested in making all sorts of things, so we'd like to let you know about another draw taking place this week. Have a look at The Felting and Fiber Studio Blog where Zed is offering a giveaway of her new ebook 'Polymer Clay Simply Made'.
| |
|
Lyn
It's that time of year again. I find it difficult to buy something different for my dad for Fathers Day - and he's got enough socks and hankies to last a lifetime! So Annie and I decided to make our cards and some little presents during a stitchy afternoon, and here is what we came up with (we had to resist the usual flowery stuff and go for Things Boys Might Like!):
Handmade cards are always appreciated and can be made to suit your dad's interests. The fisherman and wording are 'drawn' in black sewing thread by free-motion machine embroidery onto scraps of handmade felt, leftover from previous projects, then stuck into place with double-sided sticky tape.
Quick Tip: To machine embroider on a small piece of felt, pin it onto a piece of thin paper, so that you have something to hold onto, and embroider through the felt and paper together. When you've finished, trim the paper so that it doesn't show beyond the edges of the felt, and you'll have a good surface for the double-sided sticky tape, making it easy to attach the felt to the card.
Annie made this robots card for her dad - inspired by a cute little chocolate robot she bought for him in the delicious Chococco tea room (a local Purbeck Chocolate Company). Cos if all else fails, there is always chocolate!
Gardener, fisherman, bird watcher or any other kind of outdoor dad, likes his coffee hot, and mug cosies can be knitted, crocheted, stitched or felted.
I made this one from a double layer of fleece material and the mug holds a man-sized three-quarters of a pint. The vintage car is free-motion machine embroidery on a scrap of dupion silk.
Or if he prefers to guzzle his coffee sat by the computer like Annie’s dad - here’s a double-sided drinks coaster. He loves the coast and all types of boats. When he wins the lottery he will definitely have a nice big sailing boat...And a fishing boat...And a captain's hat!
The pictures were inspired by some holiday photos we took years ago, shown above. The one of the fishing boats is the perfect image - Annie's dad always says we should put a seagull in the sky in any coastal picture - we usually don't, but in this case there really was one!
Homemade whisky marmalade (using your dad's favourite whisky) sounds like too much hard work. All those oranges to prepare.....but wait.....there is a quick and easy way to do it.
We've written a tutorial for this month's Make and Craft magazine, issue 8, that will show you how to make delicious whisky marmalade in just thirty minutes. We made 12 jars so will be eating it for a while! If you don't already subscribe to the magazine, you can download a single digital copy for just £1.99.
Have fun if you decide to make your Fathers Day present or gifts...and try not to eat any edible bits! The choccy robot is really asking to have his head bitten right off....mmmmm
| |
|
| |
|
Follow us on Instagram
