Experimenting with 3D felting and dying.

As you all know I make quite a bit of felt but I tend to only make flat pieces of felt and then cut them up and stitch them into the shapes I want, in essence you could say I make felted wool fabric. Recently a lovely friend of mine had a go at felting a bowl. She was a little disappointed as the technique she was using wasn't quite giving her the result she craved. After a bit of discussion and sharing of thoughts I decided the best thing to do was have a little experiment myself as I've only tried 3D felting twice before and both times the results were...shall we say...disappointing. So here are the results of my little play time. 

 This was my first attempt, a little pod. I made it around a flat plastic resist and although I found the process rather tedious, the results are actually very good. The pod is quite sturdy and the felt is very firm, in all it holds its shape perfectly. Bish-bosh-done! I'd completed the task, solved the problems, all done as far as I was concerned. I could report back to my friend with my findings and I didn't need to make another bowl again. But then...

 I had an email request from one of my regular customers asking if I made spectacle cases. I replied saying sorry no I didn't, but then the old cogs started to clunk into gear. If I could make a pod why couldn't I make a specs case. Well as you can see above I managed to make a little case with an opening so that the end would flip closed keeping the contents safe inside. Only...

The felt shrunk a little more than I had anticipated! But as you can see it fitted my phone perfectly, lol.

So I altered my template and tried again. The results were much better this time, as you can see

the specs fit inside perfectly and the end of the case will close over them. Yay! 

I must say, 3D felting hasn't grabbed me as yet, I probably will have another go at some time but it's really not doing it for me at the moment.
...

Something else I've been experimenting with is dyeing wool. This also is not really through choice but necessity. 

 So I took the plunge and purchased a small kit containing 6 bottles of dye powder a pair of latex gloves and some instructions. Look out kitchen here I come!

It looks a little complicated here but really it was quite straight forward if a little time consuming. 

Ta-daa!

 I also dyed some wool nepps (bobbles). I had to find a way of putting them outside to dry without them blowing away...so out came the netty bags that you used to get with your laundry tablets years ago! I knew they'd come in handy for something one day, teehee!

 Next I dyed some Mulberry silk, only I managed to burn it a little in a couple of places as the fibres weren't wet enough.

 So as you can see the wool nepps and the dyed wool have turned out okay. It just means my work load has increased a little bit, how can that be? Aren't things supposed to get easier the more experienced you become! 

I'll show you what I made with my felt next time.

till then

love Fi x

To the pub and back!

It's a beautiful day here in in the hills so I wondered if you fancied a walk to the pub for Sunday lunch?

You do?

Fantastic! 

Lets get going

 This is where we will start our walk. Today we're popping over the river to Hardraw for our lunch.

 We're heading down under the old railway bridge.

 We'll be heading right, along the river to the 'troll bridge' (well that's what we call it)

 Past a little bit of sandy beach, not bad considering how far inland we are, lol.

 Look at the little clump of flowers growing in the middle of this tree.

 Hmmm...something big and hairy sleeping in the middle of the path. Maybe that's the troll?

 No it was this little chaps mum.

 The troll bridge, we've not seen goats crossing it but there are often sheep trit-trotting across!

 Everywhere you look here in the hills there are pretty little streams.

 Up the steps everyone. Last one close the gate please.

 We peeped over the stone wall to look through the bluebells.

 A little village in the distance.

 Not far now.

 Hoorah! Our destination the Green Dragon. The Green Dragon boasts having the highest single drop waterfall in England, famous for being the place where Kevin Costner bathed in the film Robin Hood Prince of Thieves.  We didn't visit it today but you can see pictures of it here.

 Come on in to the bar, what will you have?

We found ourselves a little table in the the back room...

next to the window.

 Yummmy! 

 After lunch and little drink outside in the sunshine we wandered over the road and sat by the river while Sneaky dog had a paddle.

 Time to head back home.

Had to pop this one in. A line of much loved sheepdogs laid to rest along this dry stone wall.

 It's not as far as it looks really.

 Aaaaw, we've passed lots of little lambs.

but finish with the obligatory village cricket match.

I hope you enjoyed our little bimble to the pub and back.

Till next time

love Fi x

Crochet alteration.

Summer dress a little to short for ageing knees?

Crochet a simple edging around the bottom to give you that extra couple of inches length. Ta-daa!

PS I've also done this with T-shirts that were too short and sleeves on a shop bought knitted jacket. Works a treat!

Lara's Special Memory Journal.

Hello my lovelies, I've been waiting to share this felty make with with you until it's new owner had taken delivery of it. It's a bit like awaiting the delivery of a baby, I need to make sure it's safely delivered to it's new mummy in it's new home before I can send the photos out free into the world, lol, mad eh!

This piece was commissioned by the lovely Lara and her family in celebration of her 21st birthday. 

Lara requested a felted book cover for a special journal that would be used to record all those precious moments of her life so far. What a lovely idea!

This is the part where I stand and bite my nails...cutting the felt. I measure and measure and then measure again. A cut in the wrong place and I'd have to start from scratch and make a new piece of felt, wait for it to dry naturally and then spend another day machine embroidering it, so I really need to take care. There really is no room for error!

Phew! Perfect! What a relief.

Before I set about it with the sewing machine again shall we take a closer look. This side will be the front.

And this side is the back.

My signature hidden in the greenery.

One pretty but naked journal awaiting it's new coat.

After even more stitching the whole thing has to be turned inside out. It's no mean feat squishing all that thick fluffy felt through a small gap.

 Will it fit the journal?

 Have I measured correctly?

 Will it be too baggy? 

Have I left enough room for the book to close properly? 

Much more nail biting.

Ta-Daa!

A neat finish.

 Here is the front. 

And the back.

A perfect fit!

YAY!

And I'm very happy to say I've had the most lovely email from Lara.

Yes she's 'incredibly happy with it!'

Till next time

love Fi x

Embroidered Needle Case.

The last week of April was my Mums birthday. That was April the fourth month of the year.

Way back in January I remember sitting with my friends at our weekly sewing group, watching two very talented ladies working hard on some traditional hand embroidery. Both create exquisite, precise neat and sometimes quite complicated embroidery stitches. Absolutely beautiful work.

It was while I was watching their nimble fingers I remembered something my Mum had said about one day she must get around to making herself a needle case, one with labelled pages for different types of needles.  

So way back in January a little idea pinged into my teeny tiny brain! I'd make my Mum a needle case for her birthday. Yes! I had lots of time, four whole months, no rush then.

Fast forward to April, a very busy month for me stitching like mad in preparation for two craft fairs. Suddenly I only had two days left before Mum's special day! Aaaargh! Where had all that time gone, who had stolen almost 4 months away from me!

Well much frenzied stitching ensued. Even on the day of my arrival at Mum and Dads house I was very relieved to find that my parents had a hospital appointment and would have to leave me home alone for a couple hours before lunch. Perfect! That just gave me time to finish stitching the last two labels onto the pages inside and add the date to the back, phew! You can still see a slight purple fuzz around the date where the air erasable pen hasn't had time to vanish. 

I just had time to take a few quick photos before carefully wrapping it in tissue paper and hiding it away.

And yes, she loved it. All the rush and frenzy was well worth it in the end.

Till next time

love Fi x