rosiepink

Felt Making Tips & Tutorial

We are often asked questions about feltmaking techniques so we thought we would post a "tips" page based on some of those questions and we have also added another tutorial, this time about making basic flat felt.  (To view these, click on the buttons to the right).  Really these are aimed at those who’ve just started having a go at wet felt making and needle felting and are just some of the things we have learnt along the way.  There is no right or wrong way and you will undoubtedly find your own methods, but we hope what we have learnt will be useful to you.

You don't need expensive equipment and the basics of feltmaking are easy to grasp.  Take a look at the free tutorial and have a go!

We mainly concentrate on wet felt making and then use needle felting as a compliment to this. For example, this penguin was needle felted onto a wet felted antarctic landscape.

Have a go at creating your own unique felt masterpiece!

Felted Pebbles

We haven't had many felty projects on the go over the last few weeks but we have got lots of ideas that we want to get stuck into over the coming weeks.   However, Mum did make this set of pretty wet felted pebbles:

They are made of merino wool (topped with white silk) wet felted around real pebbles (approx 9 cm in length).  This makes them ideal both as practical objects e.g. paper weights, or just for decoration.   Its a bit of a fiddly process but is fun to do - basically you have to wrap the merino around the pebble in layers, felting each layer a little as you go.  Once you have three or four layers loosely felted, add some silk or other toppings and then roll around and around in your hands or in bubble wrap until well felted.

In the past we have made lots of small pebbles and beads of wool and silk (no hard centre) that we made into jewellery and other smaller items.

 

Back from Camping - and a New Felt Picture!

We have been away on various camping holidays over the past few weeks and are back refreshed and ready to go again.  Between us we took 100s of photos "for inspiration" (my hubby just doesn't understand why I need 25 pictures of the same seagull all in a slightly different position...!)  Here is one of the pictures which I think I will turn into a felty, fabriccy picture one day soon...

 

Well, the English summer hasn't exactly provided much great camping weather - we went to several different places including Devon (twice), Norfolk and Lyme Regis and got soaked most of the time except for a few nice days in Devon.   I don't mind the rain as it makes the tent feel quite cosy but as it's still supposed to be summer I thought I'd make another bright and cheerful picture - this time another interpretation of the beach huts at Hengistbury Head in Bournemouth...

 

Finished Picture

Hello, we'll be offline next week so I thought I'd just post a pic of our latest piece of artwork.  This has gone to Coastal Creatives gallery where it will hopefully find a loving new home.  Very sad to see it go, I really do love this picture - it is so colourful and happy!  Hope you like it too.

Felt and Stitch Artwork

Another piece of our felt artwork has found a new home.   Its hard to let some pieces go after spending so many hours creating them, but it is a wonderful feeling to know that somebody loves your artwork enough to buy it and treasure it.

I've been working on another picture over the last couple of days.  Its at the stage of being ready for free machine embroidery.  Its of more flowers by the seaside but until I pick out the flower details in stitch it could almost represent balloons and streamers of a carnival - I love the colours!

This is quite a big piece (the pic is only of a smallish section) so I envisage spending quite a few days at the sewing machine on and off..... 

Wet Felt Making Demo - DAW at Coastal Creatives

I spent a lovely day at Coastal Creatives as part of Dorset Art Weeks last Tuesday.  It was incredibly busy, lots of people came in to the gallery to see & buy our work, and to have a go at making a sample of felt.  If you came in to see me, thank you!  It was wonderful to hear so many positive comments about our work and meet so many lovely people.  Unfortunately mum wasn't there, but her wonderful felt pieces were!

Here is a photo of one of the gallery windows just set up for the day, showing some of our works for sale and some sample pieces.  The lampshade is a recent addition to our work and took nearly 40 hours to complete.  

Dyed Scrim - what beautiful colours!

Where are the weeks going?  Time certainly is flying by!

Recently, having run out of dyed scrim again, (we use this in our feltmaking), we decided to dye some in bulk this time to make the supplies last longer!  Here are some pics of the result of our day spent as wild washer women!

   

By the end of the day we had dyed about 60 metres - its very addictive!

As well as using the scrim in wet felt making projects it can be used when needle felting. This little sample below was created on an embellishing machine, by laying the wool top over the scrim, then the detail was free machine embroidered.  The scrim / felt combination seems to make quite a nice base for hand and machine embroidery.

Felty Pebble Pods on Display!

Here are some pictures of our felt pods, vessels & vases adorning the window of Coastal Creatives boutique gallery.  If you are in the area (Southbourne, Bournemouth) please do pop into Coastal Creatives where you will find a treasure trove of the most gorgeous handcrafted items from many South Coast based artists & designers, including us!

I (Annie) will also be taking part in Dorset Art Weeks on 27th May at Coastal Creatives where I will have a range of our work on display to admire or purchase!  I will also be demonstrating wet felt making so feel free to pop in to say hello!

Another Machine Embroidery Adventure!

We've been trying to find more time to devote to creating artwork and so last week I indulged in a day of creativity making a felt picture of a beach near Coverack, Cornwall.  We have a camping holiday pretty much every year in Cornwall and love every minute of it.  I always take loads of photos for inspiration as the scenery is beautiful!

Here is a photo of the beach:

and here is my felty, machine embroidered interpretation:

And some detail...

 

Felt and Machine Embroidery

Machine embroidering into felt is a wonderful process - the stitching on the felt always looks beautiful and gives the felt a new dimension.  It adds texture but it also seems to make thinner and decorative felt more durable.  Here are some examples:

We stitched some of the felt into this cuff:

                                    

It is made from the piece of felt shown in this post and is lined with silk then finished with a bright pink button.