Little Steps

Little Steps

Between recuperating and traveling, I haven’t done much heavy felting lately.

I have been doing  some small projects to try to stay in touch with fibers.

The one felt project I did do was to make some felted rocks for my son Matt in Florida.  Last time he visited us, he was intrigued by the felted rocks I keep in the guest bathroom in a crystal dish that was my mother in laws.  Since I had made his wife, Lia, a clutch purse, I thought I would do something for him.

20151130_133447 20151201_155954I used different wools, silk throwsters waste, silk roving and yarns to embellish them.

I didn’t find the right dish before I brought them down there, but will look on our next trip.

While I was doing a little felting, I decided to try felting some soaps.  I had never done it before and had bought several bars of Yardley soaps. (Purple and Blue on top.)

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One was English lavender and the other aloe.  Both were very fragrant to the point I had to put them in another room to dry. Too perfumy for my taste.

I have a small pillow I use to sit on at my vanity.  I had some matching old sheets and decided to make two covers for them. Yes, I could have felted a cover, but I wasn’t ready.  Besides I feel guilty about my Pfaff sewing machine sitting idle. So, I cut out two cases, stitched them and added a design just for fun.

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What projects have you been working on since the New Year started?

 

24 thoughts on “Little Steps

    1. Thanks Serena! They are fun to make. A little fiddly if you try to to use a lot of embellishments since they tend to move around. Please let us know how they turn out when you try them. Look for flat and not real pointy rocks otherwise they poke thru the wool. Have fun!

    2. A comma makes that sentence sound so much better!
      “I will, thank you for the tips”

    3. And I’ve just realised I seem to have two accounts!!
      Xx Serena !
      I’ll sort that later!

    4. No problem. I hope you have fun and if you have any other questions post them on the forum. And pics of your soft rocks. 🙂

    1. Thanks Lyn! The love the slate dish. I’ll look into it. It’s very masculine. Perfect for sitting on a work desk.

  1. I love the rocks Marilyn – such a good choice of colours. I think they would look good in a slate or driftwood dish.
    I like the way you’ve colour matched the soaps to their fragrances.

    1. Thanks Lyn! The colors for the soaps may have intuitive, it wasn’t intentional. 🙂

  2. The rocks look great, Marilyn! They make really good decorative elements, and look very natural, too.
    I like the design of the pillow cases, does your Pfaff come with them? Fancy 🙂

    I have a question about your soaps: have you tried using them in the meantime? My first couple came out too wooly, and I had trouble getting a lather because the wool just wouldn’t get wet enough…
    Oh, and I’m planning a felted soap tutorial on my blog, let me know if you’re interested in it for here 😀

    Glad to know you’re feeling better!

    1. Thanks Leonor! Yes, my Pfaff comes with designs. It was my gift to myself when I retired (my Viking had died and had to be replaced) and it sits idle most of the time. :-(. This was before I started felting. Now I’m usually too busy felting.

      If it wasn’t for the strong smell, it was fun to do. I’d be happy to post a tutorial on the blog for your felted soaps. I haven’t used them since they are so fragrant. I’m used to using olive oil soap. But they were very soapy while felting. It may be the brand you’re using and your water. I noticed while we were in California, the same soap I use had less lather than at home.

    2. Oh, the water? How interesting – my dyeing is also influenced by the water here! Glad you mentioned, I’ll have to test this.

      I’ll let you know when I have the tutorial thing set up 😊

    1. You’re right Cathy on both counts. At this point with two little boys, the rocks are safer in a dish out of reach. 🙂 Thanks!

  3. I really like the felted rocks and Lyn’s ideas for display are great. I have felted one nuno scarf and I’m making a batt every day to keep my hands in the fiber.

    1. Thanks Ruth! Making batts is always good to get your fiber fix. :-). So is dyeing I’ve found.

  4. I love the rocks, Marilyn! The soaps came out nice too. I did a nuno sample at the wellbeing centre the other day, the only fibrey thing I’ve done this year.

  5. Thanks Zed! It was a good way to keep my hands in fiber without overdoing it. I guess it’s been a slow start for us this new year. We’ll catch up I’m sure!

    1. Thanks Ann! Yes, they’d make good paperweights if only there weren’t little hands around. :-). I like the driftwood, too, and the idea of a zen garden. Hmmm.

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