http://www.megacrafty.com/2011/09/tip-easy-way-to-make-felted-balls.html
http://thatfuzzyfeelingsblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/my-new-sewing-machine-progress-report.html
Chain Stitched Jupiter Embroidery
Mr. Finch’s Stitched Moths, Animals and Other Insects
Knotted Feather Stitch Elephant
http://www.liveinternet.ru/users/2964668/post113681387/Â mostly Russian distaffs
I have managed to finish the first stage of my felt boots. They are now felted. You saw the tongues already. http://wp.me/p1WEqk-16m.
Next I had to make the loops so I will be able to lace up the boots.
First you make short ropes with fluffy ends
Then you have to felt them into another piece of felt. then I can cut them out to sew them onto the boots.
Then onto felting the boots.
You do not wrap all the sides around the resist.
You have to insert the tongues.
Here they are cut down the middle and you can see me working the back so there will be no ridge.
Here is one after fulling bedside the unshrunk boot.
and both boots done, on top of one half the resist.
I have started to make the embellishments.
Have you tried anything new lately?
This week end I did something I claim not to like, weaving. What I really mean is I don’t like what most people think of as weaving, on a table or floor loom. I don’t like getting the warp ready and putting it on the loom and tying it all up and then sitting and weaving. I like finger weaving and I like what I was doing one Sunday, Inkle weaving.
This is a table inkle loom. I was using a floor version but I forgot to take a picture and couldn’t find one with the weaving on it.
I took the beginner class for the second time. I took it the first time a few years ago. Its not like most weaving where you only see the cross threads or you see the treads going in both directions. This is warp faced weaving. It means you see the threaded that are held on the loom not the threads you are putting back and forth. it also only makes narrow pieces. You use it to make straps and belts and trim.
This is the beginning. you can see at the bottom where I started isn’t as nice as it is a little farther along. In the beginner class we make a scissor pouch.
this is twisting the fringe the a really cool tool that makes it supper fast and easy.
You can see the little snip scissors inside the pouch.
This is the finished pouch . You wear it around you neck and when. you need to cut some thread you slide the snips out and there you go.
What I like about his kind of weaving is its so fast to warp the loom and the weaving goes really fast. When I finish my felt boots I may make some decorative trim for them.
This week I feel like the worlds slowest felter. I managed to get the two tongues for my boots made and that it. They look huge when you start but when your done they are the right sized. The final shrinking does take some work but these are boots so they need to be sturdy.
One of the reasons I haven’t had time is the lambs. This little guy is called Mr Boots. He is one of a set of quadruplets. He was the first born and got cold while his 3 sisters were born. He was 4 pounds when he was born and looked like a lamb shaped chicken wing, all skin and bone and no substance. He ended up in the house in a dog cage in my living room. It’s a good thing I am not house proud. He is filling out and has a really good set of lungs.
These are his 3 sisters under the heat lamp staying warm. They are doing well and no longer need the lamp.
We are heading in to some warmer weather this week so things should be a little easier all round. I hope that I have more to show you about boots in my next post.
Last time I told you about organising one section of my room and clearing off the table. My next area is the sewing area. It’s coming along. It started like this:
There is also a bunch of stuff on the floor under and around it that you can’t see in the picture. I have made progress but the shelves to the bookcase have disappeared so it’s hard to fill them up. I did switch the old singer that needs a part for a newer one. I haven’t tried it but it may need a cleaning. I still have the pfaff I can use. I want to set it up for free motion embroidery. It is a work in progress
As part of trying to do some fiber art everyday I have been working on converting a hat to a purse, well, 3 hats actually. The hats started out looking like this:
IÂ cut the holy part off and did this:
This should add some interest with great texture.
Here is one that has the texture done. The colour on the left one is more what it looks like I think it’s called Laurel.
I had planed to get the lining in before posting but that didn’t happen. I will show you when I get it done. It will also get a zipper too. I haven’t decided if it should be a clutch or I should find some sort of strap for it. What do you think?
Lastly I have started my on-line boot class. It took me a while to convince You Tube to let me see the videos and then my Internet went out for a week. So all I managed to do was my sample and get my pattern drawn out. The sample of gray Finn wool shrank a little more than 50%.
There was a lot of measuring and some math to get the pattern the correct size for the shrinkage. This is what it looks like at the moment.
My mom came for a visit so I couldn’t lay out the boots today. I decided I want to make a leave motif on the boots when they are done so I cut out leaf shapes in white and black. the booths are gray. I stretched a couple with some vintage “artisanal silk”. I am told it’s not real silk but its pretty. I don’t know if I like it. I was thinking of sewing some veins on with my machine to see how that looks. I have some dissolvable interfacing I thought if I put the leaves on that I should be able to stitch them.
So I haven’t been able to actually do some fiber art every day but I have been thinking about it everyday and getting to play most days.
http://www.peaceindustry.com/page.php
Recycled Knits and Fabrics combined with Felt Scarf by Sassafras Design
Heather’s Red and Yellow Scarves
http://mjuliarossi.blogspot.ca/
Have you been following Liz’s journey with her students for Holocaust Memorial Day?
http://www.feltinhand.com/gallery.htm
http://woollove-functional-fiberart.blogspot.ca/2013/01/under-big-top-scarf-part-1-of-2.html
http://www.wendyfeldberg.ca/galleries.html
Simple Directions for Covering a Lamp Shade with Felt
Acrylic Leaf Printing for your Art Journal Pages
Shrunken Books Tutorial from Maggie Grey
http://cornit-felt.blogspot.ca/2012/06/about-our-roses.html
http://wendyfe.wordpress.com/2013/01/10/eco-prints-to-start-the-year/
We cleaned the house for Christmas. It’s always nice if the guests can get in without tripping over something. What that means is everything ended up in my studio space. Most of it is supposed to be there. Wool follows me home so I can work on things while making dinner and watching TV. While I had a mess anyway, I switched out a dresser/cupboard thing that wasn’t working for one with lots of draws.
As you can see there was lots of stuff. Here it is all put away.
The table is clear and everything is neat and tidy in this corner for now. . The lampshade is one of the things on my to do soon list and the empty boxes are for sorting the next area that you can see just beyond the table. That’s supposed to be my sewing area. Before and after pictures to come.
The other thing that is going on here is early lambing. Here are twins wearing fashionable pink wool jackets because it was -23c the morning they were born. One has ended up in the house on a bottle but the other is doing fine with mom.
Temperatures are back to normal, -10ish during the day so things are better. We still have to keep an eye on the sheep and we always put the moms and babes in their own pen for a few days so we can make sure everything is going well before they go to a group pen of moms and lambs.
Like last year I chose not to make a resolution per say but to choose a word. I could easily make the usual resolutions that would be good for me like loosing weight and getting more aerobic exercise. Although these would be good things to do I know they are not likely to get done. I like to eat and I hate exercise.  A resolution to make myself miserable is not one I want to make.
This year I chose  two words that go together. Explore and Perseverance.
I want to do more “art”. I want to do this with felt. I love to make scarves and hats and other useful things but I would like to make things that are just to look at. Thread painting and free motion embroidery are one of the ways I plan to do this. I love the way stitching looks on felt. So I want to explore some of the possibilities of this to make pictures to hang on the wall and maybe later to wear. This is where perseverance comes in . It will take much effort in my busy life to do this. Not only to find time for felting but to find time to do felt that doesn’t have a material end. I find it hard to make things that won’t generate income. I want an end product some one might want to buy. I am getting better at doing things for my sanity with no “real” benefit. I anticipate much self talk about not thinking about the end product but enjoying learning how and being creative. You know, all that stuff about it’s the journey and not the destination.
I am sure I will be distracted along the way but that’s OK. I am an older ADD person. I am from the generation where they told you to smarten up and buckle down and your just not trying. It’s taken a long time to come to terms with. This is the way I am and it is a good way to be. I have insatiable curiosity so I like to look down all the side streets( allies, paths, through the door, over the fence….)  along the way. It takes longer to get to the end of the road but it is a much more satisfying trip.
I hope you find what you are looking for this coming year and I hope you enjoy hearing about how we are getting along and what we are doing through this Blog and our Forum.
Back in January I picked a worked for the year, Breath. I think I managed to do that more or less. Stopping to think about what I want to do. I tried some new felting things and learned to use a serger. Signed up for some new shows. I went to the medieval fair all dressed up and had a great time. So I did breath and do some things I have been wanting to do for a while.  I still haven’t worked on complicated resists much but I am still thinking about it.
It’s been fun and educational doing this blog with Ruth, Karen and Zed. Through the forum I’ve got to know some friends better and meet some new friends. All in all despite some sad times this year it has been pretty good and on track.
I am not sure how it got to be this late in the year but the calender doesn’t lie. I have finished my last show of the year. I had a bigger booth than usual it was 10×20. Usually I want a 10×15 and have stuffed myself into a 10×10. The small booth is really to small but 10 x20 is huge. I also had to adhere to a strange rule, nothing above table height in the first 5 feet of the depth of the booth.  It is very restrictive.
When I first set up I had my long table on one end to define the booth and then put the small one at the other end.
This left the boot feeling wide open and not very inviting. I moved the small table to the make an L shape so I could stand behind it and needle felt some sheep and talk to customers.
It was more inviting to get people to stop and then they felt comfortable going  into the scarf and hat area of the booth.
Of course as soon as one person is in the booth looking at something others will join them. All in all it wasn’t a bad show.
The next couple of will fly by getting ready for Christmas ( how did the house get this messy)Â and having guests for Christmas (10) and then sorting things out afterwards in time for New Years.
So in case I don’t get another post in before Christmas I will wish you a Merry Christmas. If you don’t celebrate Christmas I hope you have a great time this holiday season no matter what you are doing or celebrating.
One last thing; as I was writting this post I got text from my some from the barn to say we have a new unexpected lamb.
Fleece Navidad. Sorry couldn’t help myself.