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Month: June 2024

moose bags and wicker basket with felt chichadee in curling arnena
2024 CanGames (and Felting) Convention Part 2 – Moose-bag

2024 CanGames (and Felting) Convention Part 2 – Moose-bag

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Beginning of another moose bag.

We left off on Saturday, having just finished the Chickadee, let’s continue from there.

compleated moose bag on white plastic chair moose bag in embroidery hoop ready to start22) the latest moose bag sitting on the table with the partly 3-D moose bag sitting on a chair full of bags of wool. (proof that noose bags make good project bags)

This time I want to peel part of the moose off the bag while leaving parts in graphic 2-D.  I may or may not leave the writing visible but I will need an armature construction. I want a head, antlers, lower jaw and neck. I also need a spot where I can securely attach the armature to the shoulder/neck of the moose print on the bag.

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23.1-23.2) Adding the beginnings of an attachment point at the shoulders and then using the shape of the moose to shape the armature for the head

I used the bag to guess the size of the armature I would need. I added a jaw so I could open the mouth and add pond lilies later if I wanted to or the moose seemed hungry.

extending wire for lower jaw24) extending the wire armature for the lower jaw

As I started to wrap I realized the mouth length was too short. So, I added a supplemental extension to the lower jaw. Once the wool is felted over it, the lower jaw should be quite secure.

fiber added to lower jaw 25) Needs more lip but looking good so far

Opps! I missed a step here, I built up to the spot behind the eyes where the antlers will attach and then stabbed a steel floral stem 20ga through. I used the end to make the main branch of each antler then added the 26ga floral wire as the points/ribs. I then added more wool around the base and between the antlers so they don’t slide

using reference to build the understructure26) Using Reference pictures to help understand the shapes of the moose face

As I was finishing the wire twisting, Glenn arrived from the game he had been playing. It was time to pack up and go home.

Sunday was a family visit and lunch at the cottage but we made it back in time for Glenn to attend the evening game. I found an empty table, beside the life size kill doctor lucky game! The convention was almost over but there were still games going on, and now the felting convention was back underway! I had one of the couples who had checked in to see what I was doing stop in to see how I had done with the chickadee and liked the beginnings of the moose.

Sunday night gameing at the curling rink felting suplys on table in front of picture 27) back at the curling arena, many of the games are finished but a few are still running. 

The last few moose I have used the Maori short staple batt fibre, both for the underlayer and the overlayer. This time I didn’t think I had enough of the colour to do both so I continued with the world of wool core carded roving for the underlayer.

securing the wool to wrap the antlers to the head 28) Using the head to anchor the fibre, then wrapping up the base of the antler.

wrap the main trunk of the antler then wrap the branches29) I focused first on the main trunk of the antler then worked on the branches/points on the way back.

moose with wraped anlers the wire is stuck into the woven willow basket30) wrapped wire armature of Moose antlers and head stuck in the weaving of willow basket. Kill Dr. Lucky game progressing in the background.

game bord is drawn on sheets on the floor. players are standing in various "Rooms"31) The Kill Doctor Lucky game.

The sheets have the Rooms drawn on them. Some rooms can see into other rooms. Doctor Lucky is very annoying and has made many enemies, all of whom are at his house tonight. They all want to kill him but not let the others see them do it. With each move, you end up in a new room (not a hallway), and you get a card. Sometimes it’s a card that helps you kill or save Dr. Lucky, sometimes it’s an extra movement card or room card.  If someone makes an attempt to kill Dr. Lucky you can try to save him from cards in your hand, or if you find him alone in a room no one can see into,  you can try to kill him yourself! He is Very annoying.  https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/257/kill-doctor-lucky

There is a board game version of Save Doctor Lucky if you are opposed to killing him, but he is annoying!

secure wool to armature to create a base to add the colour and webbing32) carefully firming up the wool wrapping around the antler armature

antlers and under structures ready to add colour to antlers. chickadee is stitting on the handle to the basket33)The underlayer of moose in progress and  complete chickadee supervisor

Next to add the brown for the antlers. It will take a lot of poking to firm them up to the stiffness I want.

starting to add and firm up antlers with Maori short staple batt fiber34) I switched between single-needle and multi-tool

I am starting to lay in the spaces between the finer wires. The multi-tool punch helps firm and things the felt.   go slowly and feel for the wires so you can avoid them.

The second game of Kill Dr. Lucky was well underway when Glenn returned from his game upstairs. So it was time to pack up and head home.

Long weekend Monday.

As with most Mondays, there was a guild social scheduled.  Since it was a long weekend it would start earlier and would have the option of sheep related board games!

Long weekend Monday sheep (and cat) related board games35) Long weekend Monday at the Gild Studio,  Sheep and Kitten games.

Sheepy Time (a push-your-luck type of game), Sheep in Disgise and Exploding Kittens, I have not yet played so I am not sure what to expect. Yes, Kittens are not sheep but I just bought it at the sale and was curious if I could get anyone to try it.

walker with bag of library stuff and 2 moose bags and a basket full of felting stuff36) walker carrying guild library bag, 2 moose bags and a basket of felting stuff

I brought the felting I had been working on over the weekend and the bag of library stuff with me.

I worked on the library for a few hours then set up for felting.

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 37.1-37.2) Bat on a stick and chickadee are supervising work on the Moose’s head. Close-up of supervisors.

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38.1-38.2) Ann was working on her May felt and stitch.

I had been adding bits of fibre to the antlers, creating the large curved shapes, then spending long periods of time stabbing it into a firm thin felt. It still needs more flattening and firming.

adding fiber to the space between the branches of the antlers39) This was the point I reached by the end of the long weekend.

Poor moose will probably have limited opportunities for further work until June 22nd which is the 75th anniversary party for the local guild (OVWSG).  I did get the antlers looking a bit better and have started the undercolour on the head. I am sure he will look much more moose like as soon as I add the ears and do a bit more nose sculpting.

using photo reference to get the nose angles closer to correct40) Progress; adding undercolour for the head and continuing to sculpt the face

I hope you enjoyed the last bit of the gaming (and felting) convention.  As well as the progress on the latest moose-bag. Until we chat again, have fun and keep felting.

 

 

 

May and June and the Moose Bag

May and June and the Moose Bag

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The last time I showed you my May page, I just had a little to go.  Once I finished the stitching I cut away most of the stabilizer so I wouldn’t have to rinse it as much to get it all out of the felt.

colourful felt with stitching and wash away stabilizer

And this is it all done. It’s a bit sparse but I like it well enough.

Hand made felt with stitching. tulips, MOM, maple leaf and crown for Queen Victoria's birthday.

 

The tulips are for the tulip festival we have every year. Many are sent as a gift of thanks from the Netherlands.  The Dutch Royal family was in exile in Canada during WWII. We designated part of our hospital as part of the Netherlands so Princess Margriet would be born on home soil.

The maple leaf and crown are for Queen Victoria’s Birthday. She gave us self-governance so we have a holiday.

And of course Mother’s Day, at least here in North America.

 

I picked out a new piece of felt for my June page. I have some ideas for June. I was thinking I may do some more needle felting this month along with the stitching but I am not sure yet. I like the way the fiber goes across leaving lots of the white background showing.  I did this a long time ago but I am pretty sure the fibres are silk. The other thing I am not sure of is which way is up. the difference is more pronounced in person

 

The other thing I did was add some yarn to the antlers of my moose bag. I think it is all I will do. I like him the way he is. Not very ambitious but there you go.  I may add something to the other side of the bag. The yarn is handspun silk. I am not sure how well it will stand up to being on the bag.

 

 

Multicolor wet felted tree trunk with felted branch and tea bag leaves stitched on to hand dyed green background fabric and laced on to matte board.
Felt Tree Trunk Piece Completed

Felt Tree Trunk Piece Completed

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After by last post about creating a tree trunk, I was working on making the leaves a bit more pink. I think it’s a little hard to tell from these photos, but I added pink with colored pencil.

The photo on the left shows the leaves before adding color. The photo on the right is after I colored them with a pink colored pencil. It is much more evident in person that the color is different.

Multicolor wet felted tree trunk with felted branch and tea bag leaves stitched in place.

Then I needed to add the branch and leaves. I hand stitched them in place and the leaves are not directly tacked down to the bark. They are attached to their respective branches so they can be moved to different positions or even flutter a bit in the breeze.

Next was to stitch the lichen in place. Again, it is hand stitched down. I orginally had a lot more lichen on the bark but decided I didn’t want to overwhelm the beautiful colors that were already in the bark.

Multicolor wet felted tree trunk with felted branch and tea bag leaves stitched on to hand dyed green background fabric and laced on to matte board.

Then to decide how to finish and frame. I hand dyed the background fabric and hand stitched the bark in place. Then I laced the green fabric around a piece of matte board so it’s ready to frame. This piece is 14″ x 28″. I have decided to call it “Hanging On”. Next up is to take my recent pieces to the framers and get them all framed. I will share the framed pieces once they’re finished.

Decorating a small blanket

Decorating a small blanket

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I spied a small woollen blanket in my local charity shop earlier in the year. I think it probably was used as a cot blanket earlier in it’s life. The blanket measures 38 inches x 46 inches, the colour of cream and has a lovely blanket stitch all along the folded edges.

 

No label on the blanket, but it is wool, and there are one or two nibbled areas from one or two moths.

     

 

I have a plan is to turn this old unloved blanket into a usable blanket for the younger grandchildren when they visit – to use in the house, or as a car rug, or to cuddle up with if tired. I will add a soft backing to one side – either a piece of flannel or fleece, and that should prevent the itchy scratchy feel of a woollen blanket that so many of us will be familiar with.

 

I decided to add some colour to each corner, and perhaps along the sides, throughout the rest of this year, and it may be done for Christmas time. I found my bag of scrap felt pieces and made a few layouts until I was happy with one that provided some colour and interest.

             

 

I have stitched these shapes down using my sewing machine. These pieces of felt are left from other projects, and some are prefelt (probably) and are placed with some artistic licence. I used a needle felting tool from Clover (green/yellow) to secure the pieces to the blanket, and I was quite surprised by how well it worked. I also have the fake/copy item (blue).

 

I continued adding to my layout, trying to give an impression of a little piece of my garden.

                 

 

To secure the work thus far, I decided to add some water, soap and some friction to ensure that everything will stay well and truly stuck on.

                   

 

I will continue working on this blanket through the rest of the year, and will show my progress in my posts. I am pleased with it so far, and now I must think of what to do for the next corner. I will also  attempt to cover with some wool or embroidery stitches on the areas where some moths have had a lunch or two. A little needle felting and some embroidery stitches should do the trick.

The garden is looking so nice despite all the rain we have had so far this year. Here is a photo of a bumble bee on one of the alliums, no matter how hard I tried he would not stay in one spot, and my beautiful peony with so many blooms, and keeping fingers crossed that they survive the rain.

 

6 students and tutor holding up natural dyed scarves
Dyeing to Eat

Dyeing to Eat

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I thought the title might be a bit more catchy than ‘Dye and Eat’.  But that is just what I did this week.

Let me retrace my steps a little.  A few weeks ago I attended the AGM of our guild Feltmakers Ireland (https://feltmakersireland.com/).  Our Keynote speaker was a lady named Malú Colorún.  Malú who is originally from Mexico is the co-founder of Fibreshed in Ireland.  The Fibershed movement originated many years ago in California and now has affiliates worldwide. It is a not for profit movement which promotes a virtuous circle in clothing production.  I feel the easiest way to describe this is to show you a screen shot of a table on the main website:

Chart showing Fibreshed mission

If you would like to find out more about the organisation, you might like to visit the main website at https://fibershed.org/mission-vision/.  You will find a directory of all affiliates under one of the drop down menus, there may be one in your area.

Malú also runs a natural dyeing business.  Here is a link to her website: https://talu.earth/the-team.   She collaborates with a number of knitwear designers based in Ireland and also provides a bespoke dyeing service to businesses and individuals.  Along with this, she runs regular workshops in natural dyeing and when she mentioned this at our AGM, I just knew I had to attend.  That was a few weeks ago  and it turned into one fun evening, so much fun and great learning that I want to share it with you.

There were six students, including my eldest son, an engineer and software designer who in his spare time is apprenticing as a Beekeeper.  It makes my heart swell to see how in tune with nature he is. 

The session was a busy 3 hours and Malú had scoured and mordanted the materials and started extracting the dyes before we arrived to speed up time the process.    Our first lesson was immersion dyeing and we were each given a skein of wool and a linen triangular scarf to dye.  We had two dye pots to choose from; avocado which yielded a beautiful pink shade and sage which had a lovely yellow colour.  The group was lovely and bonded very quickly, Malú is a super facilitator.  Once we had our materials on the heat, Malú sat us down and explained the processes of scouring, mordanting and extracting dyes.  We learnt about different fibre composition and how they need to be treated differently to get the best out of the dye.  Here are some photos from the first part of the night.

  • Pots, plant and equipment all set up for the evening's workshop
    Our tools and materials for the evening
  • Teacher immersing all of our fabric and fibre in water in preparation for the dye pots
    Malú had already scoured and mordanted all the fabric and skeins before the workshop in readiness for the dyeing processes
  • dropping the prepared skeins into the sage dye pot
    dropping the prepared skeins into the sage dye pot
  • Students preparing the fabric and fibre for the pot the pot on the right was sage and produced yellow while the bottom one was dye from avocado stones and peels
    Our two dye pots for the evening; top – yellow from sage, bottom pink from avodado
  • close up of the tutor providing instruction
    Here Malu is talking about the organic waste that we will be using during the evening’s dyeing session
  • Tutor, Malú providing instructions
    Malú is a great teacher and had us all enthralled
  • close of up oak gall balls. these are high in tannins
    Oak gall balls. High in tannins. You can see the hole where the little was crawled out



Then we got hands on experience of eco dyeing.  Malú produced a variety of leaves and skins
for us to work with and we quickly became engrossed in laying out our patterns,
and rolling tying up the fabric. Soon they were all added to a pot and left to
steam away while we got to learn our next technique.



  • Fabric strips being prepared for ecoprinting
    Preparing for eco printing
  • Eco printing layout on cotton featuring nettle, bramble, sage, onion skins pomegranate and other leaves
    This was my layout for the ecoprint sample. It wasn’t very successful but that’s ok
  • fresh dye materials placed on the table including carrot tops, nettles brambles, sage, onion skins pomegranate
    Malú collected an array of leaves and other materials for us to sample during the evening. We used these in the Eco printing and the bundle dyeing
  • Student's rolled and bound pack ready for the steamer, sitting on the table
    Here is my one!
  • 6 ecoprint packs placed in a colander ready for steaming
    Here are our bound and rolled eco packs ready to be steamed

There was great excitement when we removed our pieces from the immersion dye.  Quite a few of us had opted to tie dye our materials so it was great to see the results.  Then Malú gave us the option of trying a third technique with our materials.  We could choose to bundle dye them if we liked.  Of course, everyone wanted to have a go!  So we used the same leaves and skins we had used in the eco printing.  I started with my scarf.  I wanted to try the onion skins as I had heard they can produce great results.  To these I added pomegranate and a few leaves, and wrapped it up on itself.  I used much the same with the skein of wool.  Again, they were popped in the steamer.

  • Tutor is using a colander to remove the fibre and fabric from the yellow dye bath
    Malú is removing everything from the dye bath now that we have gotten colour. This gave us time to bundle dye our pieces
  • Dye bath on the stove. The dye is yellow from extracting the dye from sage leaves
    Here’s one of the dye baths hard at work. Ben wanted to get a graduated colour so you can see his is immersed in both dye baths
  • Student's scarf dyed yellow with sage leaves being prepared for bundle dyeing with carrot tops
    John’s scarf is looking good with all the carrot tops.
  • Student's layout, white skein, red onion skins and sage leaves
    Ben agreed that his layout looked like a gorgeous pizza about to hit the oven!
  • Skein that has been tie dyed with sage producing a yellow mottled effect, now being prepared for bundle dyeing
    Recording my layout of organic material before I bundle it up

At that point Erik from Fondita Mestiza arrived with lots of yummy Mexican food for the group. The title of our workshop was Flavour, Stories and Colour – An exploration of dye, textiles and food.   The evening was a collaboration between Erik and Malú.  What a delightful concept!  Erik provided the beautiful food while Malú used the scraps and made it into dye for our workshop. We sat around telling stories and Erik provided some background to the origins of ingredients and dishes served. I should have taken more photos of the food but I didn’t want to tempt you away from the post and have you snacking!

  • Preparing the table for our yummy meal
  • Yummy mexican food!

Malú showed us her book of experiments.  It was filled with a colourful array of natural dyes. I took a number of photos of the journal to show you what can be achieved from natural dyes. This is Malú’s personal journey and I thought it only fair to block out her notes as she was so generous to share them with the group. I am sure you will all understand this. So I hope you will enjoy the amazing colours she has achieved in her research. This is only the tip of the iceberg of what was contained within the journal.

  • Colourful samples from different natural dyes and fabrics
    Beautiful colours extracted from natural dyes on natural fibres
  • Beautiful browns shown on a variety of natural fibres
    More gorgeous coloured samples
  • Mustard, brown and beige dyes on natural fibres and fabrics
    More gorgeous colours extracted from natural dyes by Malú
  • Yellows browns and pinks - wool skein samples
    Beautiful results achieved with Galway wool, Ireland’s only remaining native wool.
  • Extract from Malú's dyeing experiment journal. Reds yellows and pinks ion natural fabric and wool skein
    A sneak peak through Malú’s experiment book

We then unfolded all of our samples.  My scarf and skein worked a lot better than my eco printing sample.  I will definitely try the eco printing again as I have access to eucalyptus leaves which I understand practically guarantee success.

  • Student's scarf being unrolled vegetable matter still intact
    Here I am starting to unroll my scarf. Lots of dye stuff needs to be taken off
  • Students opening their dye bundles which are placed on the table
    Excitement mounting as we opened our bundles
  • Student's scarf laid on table immersion dyed pink from avocado then overdyed yellow and red from onion skins and pomegranate skin
    Myscarf which was immersion dyed pink from avocado then overdyed yellow and red from onion skins and pomegranate skin
  • Student holding up their naturally dyed scarf main colour yellow with over dye of onion skins and leaves
    Karina’s scarf
  • student's scarf using yellow and red materials placed flat on table
    Chloe’s finished scarf made using immersion and bundling techniques
  • Triangle scarf dyed using immersion and bundle techniques yellow from sage dye bath and red from onion skins
    John holding up his finished scarf
  • 6 students and tutor holding up natural dyed scarves
    Happy campers with our natural dyed scarves

It was a memorable and enjoyable evening which left us all biting at the bit to get the pots out. But before I take my leave, I will show you John’s and my dried pieces.

  • Eco print fail. The leaves left very little mark on this fabric
    My ‘not great’ eco print’ I think this one is for over dyeing!
  • Eco print sample in the centre of fabric. Concentration was on onion skins (red and yellow)
    John focussed his eco printing on the centre of the fabric. He focussed on onion skins and got really clear results
  • Skein that has been tie dyed with sage producing a yellow mottled effect, now being prepared for bundle dyeing
    Recording my layout of organic material before I bundle it up
  • Skein tie dyed in avocado dye, pink, then bundle dyed with a variety of organic materials
    Here is my skein. The photo does not do the colour justice as it is a lot richer than this.
  • Salmon pink skein of wool which has been dyed with avocado peel and stones
    John’s skein. He immersed his in the avocado dye bath but decided again bundle dyeing it. Love the colour!
  • Triangular linen scarf light yellow with dye from the various materials used on the night
    John immersed his scarf in the sage (yellow) dye then used a variety of the organic materials when bundle dyeing it
  • Sage dyed scarf on model
    Here is John’s scarf dried and ironed on one of my mannequins
  • Scarf flattened out. Tie dyed in the avocado bath then bundle dyed with lots of organic materials
    My scarf again, flattened out. I love it!
  • Scarf tie dyed in avocado dyebath then bundle dyed with a variety of organic material
    Here is my scarf. The camera has not done it justice as the colours are a lot richer in reality. It would look amazing on silk!