So its been way to long since i did any felting , so today I decided to brave all the packing and although I didn’t want to dig to deep I grabbed some wool and started

I’ve been so inspired by Heather lately and her journal covers that I thought that would be a good project to kick me back off

I’ve used some of my gotland fiber, merino, sari silk ribbon, silk waste and silk threads.  This is the first time working this way as Heather has done, an all in one cover so no sewing ends together.  I liked it 🙂  I didn’t work inside out though,  as I really wanted to see what went on the top  .

I made the resist using really thick plastic and also another small strip to add in the centre front to make a pen pocket , I think I was being really clever lol  but hey it worked 🙂

Starting the layout

I’d already added in silk and threads and everything else when i decided to try to make a pen pocket, so i made another smaller bit, added a strip resist ( you can just see it poking out the top)  and placed all back top after moving some of the fibre around and putting everything back so was covered,  i thought myself pretty darn clever with that one 🙂 And it worked perfectly.

Finished book cover and i really like this one, So I made a few mistakes but I’m really happy with the first one, ( notice the  tribute color )  Heathers  favorite color is orange so i couldnt help but add some in 🙂  I also added a leather closure with a toggle button , in orange of course  haha

I forgot that gotland was slightly harder to felt and it took me a long time of rubbing before I was game enough to take out the resist and start fulling,  some of the fibers just didn’t want to stick but I keep going until I knew that it wouldn’t fall apart. I did make the resist slightly too large and it did shrink down a fair bit but not quite enough for the book I wanted, so had to make another one with a smaller reist.

Starting the second one, i was liking it at this stage

and although i running out of light, i was really liking it here, i’ve added another strip for a pen pocket to

now i dont like it so much,  i find the colors to be really insipid and just not me,  my daughter loves it so i guess its hers now 🙂

 and it’s a bit puffy in the corners where it refuse to felt down properly, this ones even been in the drying to help a bit bit its still not quite right,   anyway thankyou for the inspiration Heather, I’ve had a fun afternoon and once I get them just how I like them I’m going to make some for my girls at work for Christmas presents

Question,  when you’ve chosen the note book or journal that you want to use how can I work out measurements with cutting the resist so by the time alls said and done it actually fits the book I want, i did check in ruths book and worked the resist to suit ( thanks ruth )  but i was still either to big or to small in size !!!!

So whats everyone working on right now, don’t forget to put some pics on the forum and in flickr

Happy Felting xo