Felting and Fiber Studio

The previous post on the start of my sample folder is here:

https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=60081&action=edit&classic-editor

For the pages of my folder, I have used some more pieces of the linen sheet that I had discovered in a charity shop. The pages I have made are double sided, so I have eight pages in total, along with the front and back inside covers.

I stitched some more pieces of fabric, and the fabric elephant shapes to the pages. The fabric pieces are hexagon shapes from a previous project some years ago.

I have also used 2 fabric placemats, and I stitched these to 2 of my linen pages. These are not really practicable for use as placemats, but they are very decorative items. They had been gifted to me by a family member following their visit to Japan some years ago. So I have more of them for other uses – I wonder if I could use a couple for nuno felt? An experiment for next time perhaps.

The linen sheet is really interesting.

There is a line of fine mending on the linen that is not immediately noticeable, but on closer inspection it is more visible.  See below photos. The repair to the linen is lovely and gives further life to this fabric. It can be imagined that it’s life was not part of a ‘throwaway’ culture that is often talked about today. The cloth can still be used as bed linen or to make clothing, and now, many years later it remains useful to me. I think this repair shows how skilled women and girls were at mending and needlework. Fabric may not have been as plentiful or affordable perhaps, world conflicts will have impacted many people, and make do and mend became the norm.

I have placed some of my flat felt sample pieces in my folder.

The pages are attached along the centre of the folder using a few stitches with embroidery floss and tied to secure.

I am really pleased that I have a place to keep these little pieces, and that I will know where they are in future rather than rummaging around in various drawers/boxes. I may add more pages in due course.

I needed something to keep my various sample pieces in one place, and that I would know without much head scratching or searching around for any particular piece of work. Of course, I would need to not misplace this folder too!

I had a fabric tote bag that had become a little frayed at the edges of the straps; the pieces of tweed used to make the bag were fine, with no damage or fraying. The bag just needed a wash.

The bag had been a Christmas present to me from my daughter several years ago, and I used it daily. I am not a ‘bag’ person, that is, having a bag for every and any social occasion, or day of the week for that matter. This bag was made at Garvald Textiles, this is a textile studio offering creative opportunities for adults with various learning disabilities, and the studio sells many of the items made by the artists there. My daughter worked for this registered charity in Edinburgh when she lived there some years ago, and much of her present buying that year was made from this source. Leonor may be aware of them, I think she lives in Edinburgh? Photo of the label attached, and remaining leftover bag pieces.

I have made another bag for myself from scrap pieces of tweed fabric bought when I visited Harris in the Western Isles.

To make the folder, I cut the body of the bag into smaller pieces and the stitched them onto a shaped piece of spare calico. I was hoping that I would have enough squares, but I did use another spare piece of tweed to complement the colours. I used my sewing machine to zig zag each piece together onto the calico. The size I was aiming for was an open A4 folder.

For the inside I choose to use up many small pieces of fabric, and to quilt them on to another piece of calico using a ‘crazy’ quilting theme, and also using hand stitching/embroidery. I embellished some pieces with embroidery, a piece of lace, a crinoline lady, and a couple of heart shaped pieces of fabric. I had 2 vintage hankies, and these I folded into ‘butterfly’ shapes and stitched them down

Both the inside and outside were completed separately, and then stitched together, inside out, before turning the right way out and securing the opening. I did think of adding some bias binding to the outside edge, but in the end I just stitched all around the edge with a blanket stitch.

I added a few felted leaves to the front of the folder, I had made these ?last year, and I think they complete the folder front very nicely. I added 2 pieces of ribbon to use for closure, but I will review this in time for my next post, and I will add some ‘pages’ to my folder to attach my work to.

I am very happy with this piece. I have reused some items, and other pieces I used were already in my fabric scrap box.

Another clothing post from me this time.

I found this coat in a charity shop. It is a long/mid calf length coat from a UK/British designer, the label has ‘Out of Exile’ on the tag inside the coat. I was not aware of this design label, but on checking with Mr Google, this brand does make desirable items of clothing and, are expensive to buy new. I paid £5. The coat had a good weight, and is probably a viscose mix fabric. Please excuse this photo, it is the only photo showing the coat length that I managed to keep on my phone. I probably need lessons in photographing black fabric!

This coat is destined for No 1 grand daughter – she loves dark/black clothes and loves a ‘Goth’ image. I showed the coat to my daughter and she liked it too, and agreed that grand daughter would love it.

When I inspected the coat, I could see very little damage. There was a little tear at the back, and the buttons were a little loose. The damage looked to be easily fixable. No 1 grand daughter loves a hood, so I did have to think about how to make and attach one, I do have a large hood on my raincoat, so I made a pattern from that.

To repair the tear at the back, I used a piece of ‘grunge’ red cotton fabric. I cut a diamond shape and stitched that to the coat using a blanket stitch also in red embroidery floss. The coat is unlined, so I used a little black interfacing at the back of the tear. I cut two more diamond shapes of the red fabric and attached one to each pocket flap using a blanket stitch. I loved the effect of the three patches on the coat.

The coat has beautiful black shiny oval shaped buttons, and all were intact – no marks or scratches seen. I restitched the buttons using the red embroidery floss, and then restitched the button holes using the same thread. I added some black stabiliser to the rear of the buttons for strength. There was a little weakness there, but no tears were visible.

Fabric for the hood was very troublesome to find. Who knew that there could be so many shades of black? Anyway, I did find some that I was happy with – a dress from the charity shop, that had a lace overlay. I used the lace to make a outer layer of the hood, same pattern as the hood. I am so very happy with the coat and it’s new look, even though the photos don’t do it justice. I managed to salvage enough lace to attach a little frill to the cuffs as a finishing touch.

I am sorry that some of my photos are not of better quality, the model was less than enthusiastic on the day, and occasionally she is just not keen on modelling clothes for her Mum.

I do love mending clothing, and trying to fix a problem area on an item of treasured clothing that has been well made, rather than consigning it to the waste bin. Thank you for reading.

Click to access felt-scrap-bowl-tutorial.pdf

It has been a busy month for me, with family visits, and babysitting duties. With all that excitement I had totally forgotten that my scheduled post for the forum was due until the other day. What to do?

I have been wanting to try Ruth’s scrap felt tutorial for a little while, so I thought this is an ideal time to try my hand and make a bowl. The link for Ruth’s tutorial is above.

I have some pieces of commercial scrap felt in a variety of colours,  bought some time ago from a craft shop sale. I also have some small pieces of me made felt. Some glittery yarn was used. I found some Madeira Avalon water soluble firm stabilizer in a cupboard. I used a 12″square of the Avalon, or rather 2 squares of it, and sandwiched the felt pieces, and the glittery yarn in the middle. Ruth suggests to very lightly dampen the felt pieces to stop them moving about; I very lightly spritzed the arranged felt pieces before placing the water soluble Avalon on top. This definitely stopped the pieces moving. I placed a few pins around the edges to secure, and transferred to my sewing machine.

Stitching, was as Ruth suggests, in a circular pattern starting around the outside edge, and working towards the centre. Then further stitching in a spindle/spoke pattern to further secure all the pieces. All the pins are now removed and nothing is moving! Then I made some small circles all over the piece in a different thread colour.

Completed stitching, top and bottom.

The water soluble material was trimmed and I rinsed the piece in some hot water, for perhaps 20 – 30 seconds. Ruth suggests that some of the stabilizer should remain to help stiffen the bowl as it dries. I placed the felt over a glass dish to dry overnight.

I changed the dish to a tin of beans after an hour or so, and I think it will provide a  better final shape. I am really pleased with the outcome, so much so I made another bowl and that is drying just now. The second bowl is more ‘holey’ than the first, both are very firm, and wondering if I should have rinsed out more of the water soluble.

Photos of completed bowls, and holding some spools of thread (4 large, 7 small).

Thanks for the tutorial Ruth, I really enjoyed making them.

I feel that you can never have too many cushion covers for cushions. They are such useful items of soft furnishings, and they can help brighten a room in no time.

My offering this month is a mixture of felt, thread and fabric waste, and free motion stitching to make a cushion cover. I wanted to give the impression of looking into a puddle with leaves floating on top.

This is the front and rear, before cushion cover making.

I used a variety of left over threads, pieces of felt, and fabric trimmings. I placed all of these on a piece of white fabric, and covered everything up with a piece of tulle. This was stitched down very securely, and it did begin to look as if it was a watery puddle.

I had some pieces of felt, left over from another project, and I cut some leaf shapes from this, and placed them over the stitched down tulle. I added some leaf veining as I arranged and stitched them down, in a fairly random placement on the surface.

I do think it turned out quite nicely. Then I had to choose some fabric to complete the cushion cover, in a colour to complement the orange leaves. I had found some purple fabric with a oil slick type pattern, in a charity shop last year, and as soon as I placed them side by side I knew it was a perfect match.

When I was in hospital, there was a good view of some trees from the window of my ward. This is a tree that I became fascinated with. I am still convinced that I can see Mr Mer sitting in the branches! Maybe it is just me!!

When I worked on the stitched piece for my last studio post, I still had a decision to make about adding ‘something’ to the central square. I had left it blank and I was unsure about whether or not to add anything to it. Looking at it again in time for this post, I decided to add some more fabric scraps and further rows of running stitch to secure them to the background linen.

This is my stitching as I had left it on my previous post.

I have added a variety of small fabric squares into the centre blank square of my stitched piece, and I have managed to fill the blank space quite well. The fabrics I chose complement the fabrics that are already on the outer border, and measure about 1″ – 1  1/2″ square ish!

I have added a row of double herringbone stitches at two edges of the stitching, to secure the edges of the fabrics that I feel are not secured well enough with the running stitch.

The orientation or direction of the stitching echoes the outer border.

Whipped running stitches add definition to the inner square, and to the outer smaller squares, and add to the overall effect.

I have really enjoyed adding more stitches to this piece. I continue to find stitching very mindful, and calming. I am so pleased that I found this linen sheet at the charity shop that day, a lovely happenstance.

I think the completed work looks good, I will decide about adding some machine stitching and perhaps a little applique, as another layer when I look at it again.  Open to suggestions from you too of course!

I have another hospital stay looming when this post is due, so I probably will be late in acknowledging comments, but I will read them.