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A felted object in orchid, teal, yellow and white wool is on a wooden table. The object seems to hold no particular shape.
Buying boxes? Nossir! (or maybe I should have..): how to salvage a misshapen project.

Buying boxes? Nossir! (or maybe I should have..): how to salvage a misshapen project.

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Hello, my creative friends.

Here we are at the start of a new and exciting adventure: making a felt box out of, yes, wool!

You think that I am stating the obvious, felt is oftentimes made of wool and of course you can make felt boxes: just look at the internet and you will see tons of them for sale (mostly made with industrial felt)! But you would not believe how many times I have had to explain those two bits of information to people during the time that I was making my box: yes, I am felting it. Yes, it is made of wool. No, I am not going to sew it (if I possibly can), I am felting it. Yes, I make it by felting wool. W-O-O-L. How, you ask? You can make all sorts of shapes by felting with the right resist..no, I am not going to sew it, I assure you it will come out with the box shape. Well, hopefully.

To be sure, a box is just another type of wet felt vessel made with a resist, and yes, of course you can make it by sewing the single felted flat sides and a flat bottom together, but…sewing, where is the fun in that? (total respect to people who like sewing, eh, it is just not me)

Long story medium-short, we decided that we needed to organise our living room in a better way, changing bits of furniture and generally trying to sort out the chaos, also because we are in the process of adopting guinea pigs (oh, my! let’s see) and we need the space for an indoor cage. So, we are plus bookshelves and minus an office desk with drawers, and we need some kind of storage box that fits the shelves and, crucial, does not seem something that you find in your shed. Unfortunately, the size of our shelves is not standard, and a standard storage box will not fit, either because too small or too big. So I thought, let’s have a box that is good to look at and the maximum size that will fit in there, let’s make it ourselves!

(well, I would not want you to think that I normally talk to myself with that royal We. It is clear to any who know me that all that was just me and me thinking “What, 30 pounds for that soulless box that does not even fit properly? no way, I can make one better than that and spend less!” or something of the sort)

A white sheet of paper with measurements for two boxes, a bigger one and a smaller one.
The size of the bookshelves that we have comes in two flavours, big and small, both somewhat non standard, so I originally thought about making a smaller box as well, and took measurements for both. All measurements are in centimeters.
Calculations for a 40 per cent increase on a piece of paper.
I arbitrarily added a 40 % increase on all sides, and did the same also for the height of the lid (all other measurements being the same for lid and box, of course)

To start, I prepared my resist for the bottom of the box: this involved a bit of sewing, namely attaching together the various bits of bubble wrap in the shape of a very floppy box without a top, as I will make a lid to fit it (some time in the far future). It does not show well in photo, but here it is:

A bubble wrap resist is on a floor
Here is the resist seen with the bottom part prominent (naughty).
A resist made of bubble wrap is on a brownish floor with a rug.
And here is the resist bottom down: very floppy, you can not really tell that this is a box shape.

I hate hand sewing on bubble wrap, the plastic just clings firmly to your needle and it is worse than sewing sewing, in my opinion, so let’s not dwell on it.

I did not have as much wool as I needed, so I ordered some from World of Wool. I wanted to try out something different from my usual Merino, as I needed something coarser that could be hard wearing and stand a bit stiffer, because the box is not small and will be full of quite a few things that are on the heavier side, such as tape and packing tape, some cables, and so on. Unfortunately, I am not used to coarser wool, the room was in a chaos and I did not have time for much research on our brilliant Blog or Forum (yes, it is lame. Let’s say, it is not the best excuse for not doing my homework that I have ever found, I’ll admit, but if you give me a bit more time I can say that the guinea pigs have eaten my research), anyway, ahem, later on our wise felt experts from the FFS Forum have determined that apparently I picked the wrong wool.

Well, you know, it can happen to anyone if they skip research and sampling. Well, yes, I also skipped making samples, because, let me think, the guinea pigs ate my sample? OK, maybe not. I’ll get better, pinky promise.

Anyway, I got my generic “English wool” from World of Wool, and yes, it was a bit coarser than Merino but still quite soft..in hindsight I may have been suspicious when it felt so soft, I do not know. Actually, that is a mix of different breeds’ wool, some that may actually be quite good for stiffer felt and some that are not, although they are coarser than Merino. Perfectly fine felting with it for all sorts of uses, but , a word to the wise, do not use it to make big boxes, eh.

A label reading: White 56's English Top, Size 100g, Quantity 6, Total 600g.
Here it is, the challenging wool.

So, I got on my white horse and started felting on my resist straight away with a lot of good will. I assumed that the coarser wool would need less layers to obtain the same felt (do not ask, pre-christmas chaos guinea pigs mind fugue hobblegobble chicachicacha) and I decided on 4 good layers.

Here are a few photos of my felting the first box:

A rectangle of laid out white wool just sprinkled with water, on a bubble wrap.
Starting from the bottom, that was the biggest area.
A work in progress of wet felt in white wool is on a table covered in a white towel and bubble wrap. There is a smaller rectangle covered in a small layer of wool resting over a bigger rectangle covered in white plastic sheets.
First layer on a short side. I took care to cover each already worked on part with a layer of plastic (I used plastic bin bags) as I learned from Lena Archibold’s advice on how to work with a book resist.
Folds wrapped in bubble wrap open over a rectangular shape wrapped in white plastic sheets.
Figuring out how to fold the different sides to get an even result was a bit puzzling at first, I spent some time opening and closing folds, it must have looked weird from outside!
A rectangle of wool pre felt has a layer of Merino wool on top. The Merino wool is half rectangle in orchid color, and bright yellow and teal on the other half rectangle, overlapping a bit the orchid color.
Yes, we are at the fun part of the 5th layer, when I could use dyed Merino wool for the wow effect!
Another rectangular side of the box. There is a rectangle of laid out Merino wool, half the rectangle is teal and half is orchid color, and the two colors overlap a bit.
Here is another side. I actually decorated both four sides, but forgot to take photos of the two smaller. Anyway, it is the same colours for all the sides, only different layout.
A smaller rectangle of wet and soaped Merino wool, with the upper part in teal, a small central line in yellow and a bigger area in orchid color, all slightly overlapping each other.
This is one of the small sides, all wet and soaped, being worked on.
A roll of pre felt is on a wooden table, covered with a white towel and a plastic bubble wrap.
And here we are at the rolling stage. I also used throwing and variously manipulating the shape.

Wait, let’s see if you were attentive: have you noticed that I said “first box”?

Exactly: here is how it stood after drying, that is to say not at all:

A felted object in orchid, teal, yellow and white wool is on a wooden table. The object seems to hold no particular shape.
No words, really.

It took more or less a day to felt, and a few days to dry. I liked the colours (a last layer of Merino wool, the 5th, to do that), and the shape ended up exactly the right size, but it would not stand, and I thought that it was because the layers were just not enough. I had enough wool to start a new one doubling the layers, so I went back to it using the same resist and the same type of wool (not my cleverest day, fine).

A big bag of white wool is being weighted on a scale on a wooden table.
I weighted the remaining wool and I found out that I only had used about 150 grams of it, so I had still about 450 grams to try again.

The steps were the same, only more layers, so I will not show more pics of it, only the final result when the box had dried:

A felted box with the sides slightly collapsing is on a grey sofa.
One side..
A felted box with a side in yellow and teal is on a grey sofa. The sides of the box are collapsing in.
..the other side. I did not decorate the small sides this time, but left them natural white, as they are not going to be seen when the box is in the bookshelf.

It was better, but still the sides were not holding up.

At that point, it was definitely time for my felting fairy godmothers to intervene: I asked the classic “Help, what did I do wrong?” on the Felting and Fiber Studio Forum and, thank goodness, got kind replies that explained the generic English wool issue as probable cause (so, no, adding more layers was likely not going to cure that, in case I still had not clicked on to that) and gave me very good advice on what I could try next to avoid throwing the 2 boxes into the scrap pile and to salvage them.

The suggestions were:

– to try and stiffen the sides or corners with machine or hand stitching

– to try and put a wire armature inside the felt or stitch it on the inside of the box

– to use PVA glue to stiffen the felt

– to stitch the two boxes together one inside the other, and maybe also

– to add some stiff padding, sandwiching it in between the two boxes.

Or possibly to try a combination of the above suggestions until the aim was reached. Which is exactly what I did, apart from the PVA glue and the stitching, both left as last resort, the glue because I was not fancying working with glue with such a big object, and the stitching because I do not have a sewing machine and it takes ages to stitch by hand.

What worked? well, clearly not one thing only, I had to go on trying to the last, but in the end I have a workable box and we are already using it, even though there is no lid yet.

First, I added thick wire to the inside of the box corners, with a few stitches. The felt was not thick enough to insert the wire into it, that would have been better. Sadly, it did not solve the issue totally.

Then, I stitched in place the first box (the thinner one) into the second box, leaving the upper edges open for putting in some padding if required. It was better still, but not there yet.

Lastly, I started looking for padding. Floor underlayer was suggested as good for that job, but when I went to look at my local DIY builders warehouse I did not find the exact type and thickness that I needed, and I came home empty handed. The same research online left me with too many choices, some of them a bit on the expensive side because with a required minimum purchase limit that was also way too high for my storage capability (What, 20 meters rolls minimum?? I do not live in Versailles palace!)

Luckily, as I told you, we were changing some pieces of furniture and it so happens that some had polystyrene sheets in their packaging: initially, I did not want to use that for a few reasons (it breaks easily, it is not going to be washable, it can disperse plastic bits in the environment in time..), but in the end it was there and I could use it instead of chucking it in the garbage bin, so it is kept out of the dump for a little while more. And it was free for me, and readily available.

So, I cut it to size with a knife (bits of polystyrene everywhere, not my idea of fun but the kids where jumping up and down like it was going to be disco party in a minute) and inserted it in the pockets in between the two boxes, and then a quick blanket stitching all around the upper edges did the job. In time I may unstitch it and change the padding, if I will feel so inclined and will have the time.

And here it is, my box done!

(the bottom part, at least)

A felt basket or box without lid, full of miscellaneous objects, on a grey sofa.
That is one side..
A felted basket or box without lid, and full of objects, on a grey sofa.
..and that is the other. Already full of stuff.

Now, for the lid, we will see. Who knows, it might be ready in time for my next blog post..only, don’t hold your breath for it, guinea pigs may be coming and all of that (how did I manage with my lazy excuses before them is a wonder, my friends!)

I hope that you liked my adventures, feel free to leave me a comment, as long as you do not ask me about hand stitching the whole box or preparing resists by hand stitching bubble wrap together, any other thing is totally fine.

Best wishes!

Kiki

@kiki.textile.art

http://www.kikistextileart.com

Felted hat workshop #6?

Felted hat workshop #6?

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Felted hat workshop #6? It’s a fun workshop with Ann, so let’s take it again!

Nov. 29 2025, I was busy teaching needle-felted landscape for the Ottawa guild in the studio. As you saw recently, Ann took the workshop and was making an impressive forest with mist. She was also making funny faces as we tried to get a group shot!! (This was the best option, and really is pretty good…. I was so tempted to show you her best silly face!)

5 students holding up their pictures1) Most of the students from the felted picture workshop (one had to leave early) (Ann sent a shot of her progress on her picture, but I should let her show you in another post!)

 

Nov. 30th 2025, Wet Felted Hat workshop.  Glenn and I were back in the studio bright and early, but not quite as early as Ann. She had the tables set up and was laying out the tools we would need. I was going to be a student today, and she, the teacher!  She had me in the back by the door (out of the way…. I have taken this class a few times before, I think this is hat 6, or was it hat 7? I can make one on my own, but it feels safer to face the water in a group.).

Glenn was there in case I ran out of rolling power, partway through the day. In the meantime, he was working quietly at the back of the room on one of his game boxes (he was building inserts for the game pieces to fit in the box better). He seemed to be having fun and did stay drier than I did.

Husband setting up at table in front of snowy window2) Glenn at the table by the window

Ann with bag of wool balls3) Ann with a bag of balls of wool

More enthusiastic students arrived, and we wound up with a class of 7 students.  With a class size of 6, we usually are done at 4 pm, but adding more students adds more time for everyone to finish. We each chose a wool colour and a hat shape. Like my workshop on the previous day, we had students working on the same topic, but each was quite unique.

white hat with black edged brim and top of hat 4) Sample hat with brim

Ann showed us samples of some basic hat shapes.

a table full of various silks and other augmentation fibers Ann is standign to one side and showing a silk roving.5) showing us various types of fibre we can use to augment our hat

She had a full table of fibre to augment our base colour for the hat.  (Various formats: of silk, small curly locks, and other fibres.)

6) Drawing out the patterns for each student6) Drawing out the patterns for each student

She then adjusted the basic pattern for each student’s head size.

She demonstrated 2 ways to pull out thin wisps of staple lengths of fibre.

pulling thin wisps off the combed top then laying the down like shingles over the resist. pulling thin wisps off the combed top then laying the down like shingles over the resist. pulling thin wisps off the combed top then laying the down like shingles over the resist. pulling thin wisps off the combed top then laying the down like shingles over the resist.7.1-7.2- 7.3-  7.4) pulling thin wisps off the combed top, then laying them down like shingles over the resist.

7.5) A second way to pull off a staple length7.5) A second way to pull off a staple length

 

Our various hats

slightly ball and stick shaped hat resist covered with black wool8) My hat (black, strange shape), side one is done

Ann, helping with dreadlocks to augment this hat.  First lay out one side, then the other.

9) helping a student add dreadlocks to her hat9) helping a student add dreadlocks to her hat

Now time to add the scary water!!

adding water and soap to wet the wool adding water and soap to wet the wool10.1-10.2) adding water and soap to wet the wool

Gently pushing down, making sure the wool is wet all the way through.10.3) Gently pushing down, making sure the wool is wet all the way through.

11.) Side one, turn the edges around the resist.11.) Side one, turn the edges around the resist.

12) My hat is a bit behind the others!12) My hat is a bit behind the others!

 

The second side is placed over the resist and wet. Once wet through, flip and wrap edges. Be neat, or you get a Mohawk line on your hat!!!

13.1-13.2) Adding embellishment fibers over wet wool. 13.1-13.2) Adding embellishment fibers over wet wool.13.1-13.2) Adding embellishment fibres over wet wool.

13.3) Ann explained about rubbing directions, and what happens if you go the wrong way.13.3) Ann explained about rubbing directions and what happens if you go the wrong way.

 

The gentle rubbing (caressing the wool begins.) I am a bit behind the others in class, but I will catch up if I keep working!

14) The Tupperware juice container lid works great as a rubbing tool14) The Tupperware juice container lid works great as a rubbing tool

The water was starting to fight back,  I realized as I discovered my apron had dogged to one side, and let my knee take the wet, dripping attack! It was obviously time for the towels to come out, yes pinch test is a success, so on to rolling!

15) Finally I am rolling my hat!15) Finally, I am rolling my hat!

I am still behind; most of the others are cutting open their felt to expose their resists.

16) cut a hole to reveal the resist.  Then heal the edges.16) Cut a hole to reveal the resist.  Then heal the edges.

 

Once we had shrunk them down partway, we started to try them on.  (Ick!! Cold, wet wool hat….where is the dry warmth I remember from my other hats???)

17) trying the hat on.17) trying the hat on.

One had a flat brim developing; you can see some of the hat blocks.

18) Hat block and brim18) Hat block and brim

19) This was a technique, I did not favor, but seemed to be very effective! Ann is rubbing a hat while its on the students head19) This was a technique I did not favour, but it seemed to be very effective!

I think my weird hat reputation has been surpassed. This one looks like it will be truly intriguing. It’s not finished, I think.

vibrant yellow green hat! vibrant yellow green hat!20.1-20.2) vibrant yellow green hat!

These two hats are done21) These two hats are done

 

5 pm, already?!! I was still working on mine, but the basic shape is done. Next, I will rinse out the soap and do some final shaping. I am going to be run off my feet for the next 2 weeks at least, so maybe I can find time to finish it after that?

22) Packing up the room after the workshop 22) Packing up the room after the workshop

 

I was wiped after all that wet felting! As we headed to the car, Glenn agreed that dinner out at the pub, Rose and Crown, in Centerpoint (west end of Ottawa, which used to be Nepean), would be lovely, which it was. Then I fell into bed early. The next day was December 1st, which was the guild meeting. I was in to the studio early to beat the traffic and set up the library. This month I still have more guild work, including prep for teaching inkle weaving, and then there are blog posts and Christmas! For tonight, heading off to bed to get some extra sleep sounds very exciting. Maybe I will get a real rest in January!

If you have the opportunity to take a workshop with Ann, she is a fun teacher (even if there were no Smarties (candy) in her class!)

A stack of bowl cosies
A quick handmade Christmas present: bowl cosies

A quick handmade Christmas present: bowl cosies

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I had this big idea of creating a step-by-step tutorial for this post, but the flu is doing its rounds and I just didn’t have the energy. Sorry! Here’s an abridged version.

A few months ago, I went to a friend’s flat and she warmed up some food for me in microwave at dinnertime. She used a weird sort of mitten that she placed under the bowl, so that when we took the hot food out, we’d grab onto the fabric and not burn our hands.

Mind. Blown.
This thing was, she said, called a bowl cosy and I immediately wanted to make a dozen and hand them out.

 

A hand holds a handmade bowl cosy to demonstrate how it works. The background is blurred.
Now imagine a bowl on top of that fabric. No burnt fingers here!

These cosies are super easy to make, especially if you batch-sew them. They’re also great to use up scraps of fabric (some of mine were made with patchwork bits).

How to make a bowl cosy

  • Cut two 10″x 10″ (25cm x 25cm) squares. Fabric must be 100% cotton or other natural fibre.
  • Cut two 100% cotton/wool batting squares, slightly smaller than the fabric ones. I made mine ½” (1.25 cm) smaller all around.
  • Sew the fabric and batting together by making an X (see images above).
  • Sew darts as shown below, towards the wrong side of the fabric.

Image of a square with darts inserted where they should be sewn

  • Sew the now two bowl-shaped squares of fabric, right sides together, leaving an opening for turning.
  • Once sewn and turned, press and topstitch.
  • Tah-dah!
  • Make sure all fabrics are 100% natural, so they don’t melt in the microwave. I used nylon thread without issues but you might want to use cotton thread to be on the safe side.

I found a great illustrated tutorial by Lovely and Enough here.

These make great handmade stocking fillers and show you care about your loved ones not getting scalded hands. Nifty. You can even use themed fabrics to suit their preferences.

Two bowl cosies, one with cat-themed fabric, the other with dog-themed fabric

That’s it. I hope you found this idea useful, if you do, let me know in the comments or tag me on Instagram @eleanor.shadow 🙂

A stack of bowl cosies

Happy sewing, happy holidays, and see you next year 🙂

Slip knot book binding with fabric covered cover and watercolor paper pages
Decisions on Fabric Book Construction and Binding

Decisions on Fabric Book Construction and Binding

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As my group works along on our year long project of creating a fabric book, we decided it was a good idea to make decisions about construction, size and binding early on. That way we aren’t winging it at the end when we put the book together. Hopefully, the pages that we create will then be a bit more uniform, sturdy and look good bound together. So, I brought a bunch of samples of fabric books to our last meeting.

One of my favorite bindings for a fabric book is the raised chain band binding. The edge of the page that will be bound is stitched every quarter inch with a knotted blanket/buttonhole stitch. The knot keeps the thread from getting loosened with use. Then the pages are bound together with a raised chain band stitch. The pages open all the way and move easily. And I love the look of it. Here you see four different books with the same binding. Most have felt pages, some with a sheer fabric fused to both sides, others, just felt, and one with two pieces of felt, appliqued fabric and stiff interfacing in the middle. The book on the bottom left is a bit of a hybrid. It is embroidery samples mounted on thick watercolor paper. I added an edge of felt to the paper page so that I could do this binding instead of coptic stitch. I learned the raised chain band binding from Gail Harker.

Stick and yarn book binding with chopsticks and silk paper cover.

This is a book binding that I learned in an online class in 2008 by Sue Bleiweiss. It doesn’t look like she is teaching online anymore but she taught us four or five different fabric book binding techniques. If you would like to see more about this postcard book, you can see my post here.

Applique sample book with stab stitch binding

This is a felt applique sample book that is bound with a stab stitch binding. I learned this binding from Gail Harker.

Accordion book of machine stitched color samples with insertion stitch binding.

This machine stitched color sample book was another I made in class with Gail Harker. It is bound with an insertion stitch. There is a heavy interface in the center of the pages and then fabric collages are fused down. The back is covered by a dyed sheer fabric that is fused as well.

Coptic binding on sample paper Edgar book

This was my sample for the book about my dog that I created in Level 3 Stitch at Gail Harker Center for Creative Arts. It is bound with Coptic stitch. I bound the fabric book the same way. I find Coptic stitch to be really fiddly and difficult. If you would like to see the fabric Book of Edgar, there is a video of the full book at the end of this post.

Slip knot book binding with fabric covered cover and watercolor paper pages

Here is a new method that I found on Youtube that is called slip knot binding. There are several different tutorials on this stitch method. It is significantly easier than Coptic stitch. It looks similar and acts the same way as it allows pages to be opened fully and can hold heavy pages with a sturdy enough thread. So this book is made with the slip knot binding.

Raised chain band binding on book with stiffened felt pages and fabric applique.

We decided that we would go with this type of book construction. It is a very heavy duty page, can hold loads of stitching or heavier fabrics. It has two pieces of felt per page with a piece of heavy interfacing sandwiched between. And we’re going to use the raised chain band binding. If you would like to see more of this book, click here.

Raised Chain Band book binding on beaded book (with beads added to the binding).

And anyone who wants to see more about my beaded book, the post is here.

Finally Mer-Felting! in Toronto Ontario Canada part 1

Finally Mer-Felting! in Toronto Ontario Canada part 1

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Finally Mer-Felting! 

Monday, Oct 20th 2025.

Monday Morning arrived much too early. Instead of my original plan of donning my apron, a cherished reminder of my wonderful mother in law, and heading to the guild to work on the library, Glenn was loading a couple of suitcases and a project box into the car.  It’s going to be over the usual 5.5 hour drive, with a brief stop to feed the car and ourselves. We are adding a couple quick shopping detours once we get into the Toronto area (primarily, Board Game Bliss). So maybe it will be quicker if you meet me in Oakville? The hotel has a pool you could wait in, but its hours are limited, and it was really chilly the last time I was in it. (No wet felting in the pool while you wait!!!)

map showing root from Ottawa to Toronto ont. canada1.11) A map of  the edge of Ontario, between Ottawa and Oakville, to give you perspective of where we are going today

It was a long drive down, is it possible that either Ottawa or Toronto have moved farther apart?  By the time we got into Oakville, and found a spot to eat dinner, the Pool was closed. So, how about we meet on the Go Train platform just down the street from the hotel, and you can come into Toronto with me, it’s the 8:30 express train. Don’t forget your umbrella, the forecast is rain all day.

 

Tuesday, October 21st 2025

One of Glenn’s Brothers ( brother #4 of 5 brothers) is joining us today, having flown in from the States. I am sure you will like him, he is a math teacher and thespian.  We hiked down from the hotel to the Go station. Oh my! The Go train has a raised platform for wheelchairs and walkers to more easily get on and off the train. The Train worked beautifully and was very comfortable.  Unfortunately, when we got to the subway station, the lifts for the subway were not all working, so it took a bit of extra time to find the lifts that were and get back from the detour the helpful transit people had sent us on. Good thing the building we are looking for is not too far from a subway stop. We arrived just in time, instead of early, as Glenn’s brother thought we would be. (Avoiding stairs always takes much longer when using public transit.)

We were going to a posh law office in a very high tower, in a canyon of high towers, reflective glass and old stone buildings.

some of the landmarks i could see looking out the window i was sitting by 1.12) Some of the landmarks I could see

There were comfortable couches and snacks by the reception desk, and an open stairway in front of a tall window. This window alcove had 2 chairs and a few plants, and a fantastic view looking, I think, sort of south or southeast. (It was hard to tell on the 16th floor, all my normal landmarks are at ground level, and I never had a direct view of the sun. Later consultation with the map suggests I was looking west-ish.)  The Brothers wandered off to a room on another floor to do legal stuff. (I am not a beneficiary, I am not one of the 5 brothers, so I didn’t go with them. I am just here as Glenn’s Driver, moral support, and to do some felting.)  I gave up the too-low comfortable couch for the area under the stairs in front of the window with my box of felting supplies. I checked with the office manager that I would be out of the way there, and the huge window could prove interesting if the rain holds off longer.

interior desk, wating area and behind a hint of the open stairs.1.2) This is a nice office, I don’t want to be underfoot, and the lighting is better over by the window.

window in back ground with glass towers in for ground 2 plants and a chair with my project box of Mer-Felting stuff1.3) Settling into a corner under the stairs.

vew out window with buildings, Hudson bay, Old city Hall New city hall1.4) There were some iconic buildings in my view. The Hudsons Bay building, a church(out of shot to the left) and what I finally figured out was old Toronto city hall and New City Hall.

I spotted an odd building that may not have been a building. I have seen a program on a subway system, I think it was Boston, but it could have been New York (both were discussed in the program), they had buildings that kept their facades, but had been gutted to add ventilation systems for the subway tunnels beneath them. I think this may be one of those fake buildings. It looked very interesting. I would love to have had a tour of it!

old brick building with turbines in center of it.1.5) a shell of a building? 4 massive turbines stick out of the middle of what remains of the stone building.

As I was getting organised to start felting, I noticed I had more than just architecture to watch this morning. I have seen roofers working before, but it’s always from below (not a very enlightening perspective). This was a flat roof, too, so not something I have seen done in person before.  This will also give you an idea of the actual zoom on my camera, as I got curious about that, too.

no Zoom
Some Zoom
More Zoom

1.6-1.8) Oh no, now I have made all the guild members very nervous!!!

While they are getting to work, adding plastic sheeting and rubber membranes to the sides, I should get to work too. As much as the Mer-boyfriend wants to do his own abs, I should really give him a hand (ok, literally). I am going to focus on hand and arm musculature today.

I started with forearms and strengthening the wrists. The density of the felt was too soft, and the wire strength was overpowering the wool felt through the full forearm. I want the arias just above and below the wrist to be much firmer so the wire will be persuaded that bending at the wrist is correct, while bending in the forearm is not. If you are making a figure that will only be in one position, this is not as big a consideration. Since I don’t know how they will eventually decide to pose,  I want them to have options.

Diagarm trying to show one way of trying to help the wire bend where you want it to is firming ether side of the joint and less firm interior felting at the joint.2.1) Diagram of wool density around a joint

Note: if you would like the surface over the joint to have the same superficial density as the surrounding felt, you can use a crown needle or use shallow felting to firm the surface, but leave the under layers less densely felted.

needle stuck in forarm extensor muscles2.2) working on the muscles of the forearms (the extensor group)

working on superior aspect of arm just above the elbow 2.3) working on the posterior aspect of the upper arm just above the elbow joint

 

It’s handy to have good myology (Muscles) and osteology (Bones) diagrams for this. If you don’t have an extensive selection of anatomy and myology books, Google can be very helpful with its search “Images” tab. Good research is part of the fun of felting!

Once I had firmed up the arms, I focused on his hands. I have the fingers wrapped and have added the beginnings of the thenar and hypothenar eminence at the base of the palm. The fingers can be tricky or fussy to work on. If you only work from one angle, it will flatten the look of the fingers, so working all the way around the fingers works best. Make sure that your needle has the first barb close to the tip so you don’t have to stab deeply to move the fibre. This is again a good spot to switch to a crown needle; it’s not as fast with only a total of 3 barbs, but it doesn’t need to go as deep to engage the fibres.

working the needle around the thumb reduces the tendency to flatten the digit by only working in one areabuiding up the mucsles at the base of the palm (thenar and Hypothenar emences) there is no exam at the end.2.4-2.5) working around the thumb

the Young Mer takes a brake on top of his project box2.6) Mer resting and having a break in his project box (needle in lat border of the palm).

I checked in on how the roof repair was going. I was trying to figure out if the gravel part was done or if it was yet to be done.

watching roofers lay out plastic on top of black layer, and wondering if the area with rock is finished or yet to be worked on.zooming in i can see the gravel is the top finished layer and it is yet to be added to the secion being worked on.3.1-3.2) watching roofers lay out plastic on top of the black layer, and wondering if the area with rock is finished or yet to be worked on. Using the zoom, I figured out that the gravel is the top layer.

The reflections are interesting with the stormy sky and landscape reflecting in the glass tower in front of me. The clouds have varying looks of impending downpour pour but so far, no rain has fallen. In the glass tower in front of me, I can see a landscape reflecting what is past the building I am in. As the light shifts and changes, the reflections shift too. It is distracting from my felting, and now I wish I were working on a landscape (don’t tell the young Mer, I will get back to working on him again!)

gray sky and building reflecting in glass tower in front of me3.3) Storm clouds and reflections in the glass tower before me.

If you look to the lower right side of the reflected building, you will see the landscape that captivated my attention. I am not sure if it was just the shifting lighting or if it was the segmentation of the image by the window frames. I spotted a brief sliver of light on the fall trees as it passed and disappeared.

close up of landscape reflected in glass with a patch of sunlight brakeing through the clowds3.4) The landscape reflected in the glass with a sunbeam piercing the clouds, highlighting a stretch of trees and houses.

The clouds cleared for a moment, a bit later, but were quickly followed by a thick grey miasma of impending wetness….

storm clouwds behind building but blue sky reflecting in glass clowds streach over the city and only a hint of blue sky left in the glass reflection3.5-3.6) It was particularly striking with the blue sky reflecting in the glass and the storm rushing in behind the building.

blue sky and white clowds reflecting in glass of tower3.7) The storm rushed past, determined to dump water somewhere else since the sky cleared and the reflections of clouds were fabulous

I next turned my attention to the old City hall (the new one is a half-circle tower, not nearly as interesting a building). The old tower and main building are dwarfed by the much taller buildings around it. Unlike the many new reflective towers, this building has ornamentation and detail to look at. I hope you are fascinated by architecture as I am and will be inspired. If not by the architecture, then maybe it will give you thoughts of who would live in a building with such interesting windows and what they should wear?  What would the gargoyles look like if they got up and flew off? Or, maybe the patterning around the clock face tower will inspire a vessel or scarf?

old city hall with new city hall in the back ground 4.1- old city hall disappearing into the new building surrounding it

copper roof and some of the window patterns in toronto old city hall4.2- just peeking over the building, the fabulous fenestration and detailing are just visible,

Gargoils jsut under clock face on tower one on each of the 4 corners 2 are visible in this shot4.3- Gargoyles!! Oh, the dentils in the roof and repeated under the gargoyle’s ledge! What is that pattern just under the clock? If only I could get closer…

detail of clock face and what i thot was a pillaster untill i zoomed in.4.5- Oh yes, I can get closer!

more decritive moteafs on a gable end of part of the roof4.6)- more patterning on this gable end, the sun with swords, circles with a bar and plain weave?

the light is deepinging the shadows showing more of the deail embelishment of the stone work and gargoil4.7-In the late afternoon, the sun came out, giving this raking light, creating depth and accentuating the details

light reflecting of nabouring glass town is cast on building and roof making intersting distorted patterns 4.81-  As the sun swung further around and pierced between buildings, it finally struck the glass neighbour of old city hall. Bathing the old building in reflected light and shadow patterns from its towering neighbour.

the shadows are darkening between the towers but the sky is blue with flufy white clowds. the relections on old city hall are continuing.4.82) Sunset is approaching, and the reflections off the glass tower onto the stone and copper roof are intriguing but almost lost amongst the urban landscape. 

young Mer showing progress on his hand. he is smileing and looks pleased.5.1)The young Mer showing the progress on his hands

close up of hands5.2) Hands can be a suggestion, or you can spend a long time adding knuckles and surface detail (ask Google to show you surface anatomy, and you should find diagrams of the superficial features)

By late afternoon, I had been switching back and forth, from felting to photography, as the light shifted and played off the reflective surfaces. That landscape I had been watching in the reflection of the building across from me occasionally had highlights of sunshine between clouds, causing parts of the landscape to be illuminated while other parts were darkened. It was very dramatic.

another late afternoon patch of sunlight hits the landscape behind the reflected building 6.1) Another sunbeam strikes the landscape reflection in the building across from me

The sun was getting lower, and I was hoping for a fabulous sunset.

the cast light is getting weaker but still creating intersting relections on nabouring buildings6.2) The reflections and cast light were getting interesting!

 Glenn was sent down by their lawyer (for brothers #2 through 5), to say I could go upstairs and join brothers 4 & 5, since a possible agreement had been found… but when I got there, ah, not quite yet. Glenn had carried my Camera, which accidentally stayed in the room with him, and I went to the hall by the elevators. There was a small table beside the door labelled mail-room and a perfectly placed pot light. So I unloaded my project box and got back to work. Unfortunately, I missed the sunset, since there were no windows in the hall. I did have a lovely chat with a lawyer (not involved with mediation) who was working late as well. I give her a quick demo-brake, explaining needle felting and the Missing Mer-teen dilemma and making a Mer-boyfriend to tempt her out of hiding.

The process ran into the evening, but I had an audiobook and was happily felting. Eventually, they were done. No one ever saw brother #1, but he must have been there somewhere. Brothers #4 & 5 and I all headed back towards the subway, the Go-train, and eventually back to Oakville. (Drat, it’s too late and the pool is closed again). (The floating would have been nice, but I am really not fond of the wetness of the water. Water would be much better if it was warmer and drier.)

Wednesday, October 22nd 2025

Very early in the morning, we said goodbye to Brother#4, as he headed off to the airport to fly back to the States. It was very good to see him. Hopefully, we will be able to visit the 3 brothers living in the States in the future, but not until the law applies equally, women regain their rights, and sanity returns.

 

We also packed up and contacted Monika, of the Olive Sparrow, to check if it would be ok to drop in on the way home. She is not too far off the Don Valley Parkway, south of the 401 highway. She would meet us in about 2.5 hours, lots of time to get to the other side of Toronto!!! ………..

We loaded the car with suitcases, the project box, and the Mer-Boyfriend looking out the back seat window and waving at passing cars (I did take the needle out of his fingers so it was easier for him to wave, if he wants to)  (to be continued shortly)

Remember, the sneaky comment button is still hiding at the top of the page as I am writing this, if you would like to comment or just say hi!

Felting Glasses Cases

Felting Glasses Cases

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Although a recent eye test showed I didn’t need a new prescription, I decided to buy some new glasses anyway to give me more colour/style choices and also hopefully reduce the time I spend trying to find my glasses.  I have a place at home where they’re supposed to live but I often thoughtlessly plonk them down somewhere and then get cross with myself as I play hunt the glasses. 

On seeing my new glasses’ accompanying dull acrylic felt cases, I decided to make some wet felted wool cases of my own, either for myself, or to sell or give as gifts. 

I want the cases to fit snugly, so that the glasses don’t slip out but also don’t need any kind of closure fastening: a simple wet felted sleeve. I like the simplicity of this idea and also the challenge of working them to exactly the right size.

While on holiday recently, I bought a carded (mostly) Wensleydale wool batt from a farmers’ market in Ithaca, New York, that I thought might be suitable and I was looking forward to trying it out.

Here’s some of the batt, the work of Windsong Farm in Burdett NY www.windsongfarm.com

I like a sturdy glasses case as it has to withstand being bashed about in my capacious handbag, so I decided on 4 layers of wool: two natural white merino tops and two of the Wensleydale batt – which includes quite a lot of locks.

I calculated a generous size for the case and multiplied the finished dimensions by 1.7 to give me a nice firm felt.

Resist
2 layers of natural white Merino
First layer of Wensleydale batt
Second layer of Wensleydale batt with a few extra locks

And here it is dry: side 1, side 2 and end-on to show how thick the felt is.

I was happy with the result, though because of the thickness and shrinkage it took quite a long time to felt it fully. 

My second case I decided to treat more like a seascape picture. First, I rounded the corners on one end of the resist to give the case a more rounded bottom. I laid out two layers of wool: pewter for the top half that would become the sea and white for the lower half, that would become the beach. 

I laid two layers of blues with white angora highlights over the pewter section to form the sea, and  two more white layers topped with a strip of very sheer recycled spotted silk scarf which I hoped would look like pebbles for the beach.

I then ran a line of kid mohair top along the length of the case where the sea meets the beach to form a wave. I find this type of mohair felts with a nice wiggle that suggests a breaking wave.

layout layers 1 & 2
adding the sea
a silk scarf for the beach
kid mohair for a breaking wave

Joining the silk so as not to leave a gap or have a bulky overlap was a bit fiddly but I find it works most easily with a very sheer silk. It’s interesting how dominant the wave looks in the photo because of the curvature of the sides.

The finished seascape case

Once that was done, it occurred to me that perhaps people view their glasses cases more in portrait mode than landscape?  I decided case 3 would be less ‘landscape’! I also started to think more about how people use glasses cases. I’m sure some, like me, have them rattling around in a large bag.  But I suppose some people want to put them in a pocket, so may want something a little thinner?

As I was rummaging in one of the giant boxes of charity shop silk scarves I’ve collected for nuno felting, I found a very sheer small orange scarf with wonky purple circles that I thought I’d try for case number 3. I laid out 4 very fine layers of orange merino tops (to reduce the overall thickness).

My plan was for the orange of the silk to merge with the orange of the wool so that the circles were more prominent than their background. I added three pieces silk to each side of the case.

4 thin layers, of merino, 3 wonky silk circles per side laid out then prefelted ready to full

I’m still felting these very firmly.  You can see the shrinkage when comparing the finished case to its resist. I’m not completely sure why, but I’m getting more shrinkage in the width than the length.  Probably it’s because it’s easier to roll it in that direction, using my hands and various thicknesses of pool noodle inside the case during fulling.  Whatever the reason, it’s nice and firm so I can afford to chop a bit off the length of the resist.

Left – finished & dry; top right – testing the fit; bottom right – showing the shrinkage

For case 4 I decide to go thinner still (I’m thinking of someone putting their glasses in a jacket breast pocket) so switch to 2 layers of wool – this time a natural marled grey merino – which I think looks quite pebble-like.  I added a little white wool to the surface to enhance the pebble look. 

I forgot to take progress shots but here is the finished case.

It is definitely thinner and a little softer, though it’s still felted very firmly. 

Now I’m starting to think about the time these cases are taking to felt.  I have a week in a gallery in December and will also be offering some things for sale in two other galleries that that have a local handmade artesan ‘market’ throughout December. I could sell some cases as they might make nice gifts, but I’m not sure how much people will be willing to pay for a glasses case.

Cases are generally supplied free when you buy glasses and I know most people have no idea how long something like this takes to make. There’s not a whole lot I can do but I thought that making two at once may reduce the making time a little. 

So, cases 5 and 6 will be twins.  I cut a new double-length resist and laid out some natural marled grey Corriedale wool.

I like the white veining on the merino ‘pebble’ case but it’s fairly subtle so I add more of it to these ones.

Top: double-size resist with wool laid out and wetted tightly round the resist. Middle: case 5 (rounded bottom). Bottom: case 6 (rounded both ends)

I keep twin one (case 5) the same as the previous cases, with a rounded bottom and flat top, and cut a rounded top of twin two (case 6) to make it overall more symmetrical.  Actually, I really like the symmetry of this rounded one, but realise that the top is a bit more flimsy than previous cases: presumably because I’m overlapping more wool at the ends of the resist than in the middle, where I have cut these two apart. 

Because I prefer the single to the twin cases, I decide to make the next pair alongside each other but separate.

I have some lightly prefelted ‘pebbles’ that I made earlier, so set these out on the bottom halves of two resists (on two layers of merino wool) with 4 layers of blue & green merino wool and strands of white angora on the top half to create the idea of sea.

Left – layout; right – prefelted

I soon abandoned working on  both at the same time as the pebbles were a bit tricky to felt round so many corners so I worked on the two separately

Comparing the finished one with the wetted out one, you can see that I lost quite a bit of  the pebble definition but I’m still fairly happy with them and they are very sturdy. Indeed, when dry and lightly shaved you can see more of the pebbles, in particular the nuno elements.

I have some Corriedale wool that I dyed ages ago (to make this bag)….

….so for the next pair I go for a blue, green, purple colour fade.

This time I use just 2 layers of wool and they are (not surprisingly) considerably thinner and slightly smaller than the previous pair. They are also much quicker to produce as the layout is fairly simple.

Finished: cases 7 & 8 colour-fade hand-dyed Corriedale

For number 9 I try lightly prefelting 2 mussel shells (one for each side) which I felt into a sandy-coloured background.

Left & middle – layouts side 1 & 2. Right – nearly finished case

I only made this yesterday and it’s still a bit damp. The finished image isn’t a great photo as I’ve taken it in domestic electric light but it gives you the overall impression.

And finally, another recycled scarf but this one is white dots on a red background from a fairly open-weave wool fabric.

To get round the fiddliness of joining / overlapping fabric on this size and shape of resist, I cut out two sections of the scarf and laid one on each side, with gaps along all the sides.

Here’s the layout and here’s a photo of the finished glasses case. I only made this today so it’s very wet. I’m hoping the dots will be a little clearer when it’s dry.

So, what have I learned from all this? Well, I’ve enjoyed playing with all the different layouts. I drew up a list of ideas and I haven’t even completed half of them so there’s plenty more to play at when I have time. 

I think my favourite more complex ones are the combined pebbles & sea.  For the more simple layouts I like both the grey & white pebbles and the blue / green / purple hand-dyed Corriedale ones.  To sell the glasses cases I will have to focus on the simple ones as the more complex layouts take way too much time to make. I’ve already made a couple more of the grey & white pebble ones and will probably make a few more simple brightly coloured ones before I move onto other things. I’m not sure yet which ones I will keep or give as gifts. Do you have a favourite? Or any you don’t like?

A Mer-person at Kanatacon gaming and felting convention; Saturday

A Mer-person at Kanatacon gaming and felting convention; Saturday

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Surprise, it’s the continuing adventures of a Mer-person’s (and Jan’s) busy weekend. Last post, we made it through Friday at the Kanatacon. Let’s see what happens next. (I am sure you can already guess!)

Saturday Morning:

Glenn, the Mer and I hopped in the car early so we could line up for the sale. Unfortunately, by the time we reached Kanata, it was raining, so they kindly let us line up inside.  We were number 26 and 27 (the mer waited upstairs with the felting stuff since he wasn’t shopping). The instructions were that you could select up to 5 games, then go buy them. If you wanted to buy more, you went to the back of the line and went through again.

3 photos of games piled high on long rows of tables filling the room and people strarting to shop through them5.1) The first time through, a lot of games are already gone! I hope I can find the alpaca and lama games!! How many gamers in front of me are Fibre People?

Success!!! I have scored the Fibrr barring animals!!! I also found 2 card games with birds for one of my sisters in law ( they were sent to her, but I have not heard if she likes them yet).

boxes of games, lama alpaca cute monsters and cats on covers5.2) First round of shopping, I got both the lama and the Alpaca games!!! Plus 2 that had tempting descriptions, and the boxes looked interesting.

tables mostly full of gamers playing various games5.3) A quick look around, and there are still shoppers downstairs.

I took the elevator back upstairs, dropped off the games with Glenn and took a quick look around the convention before getting back to work. One of the tables near me was playing a board game about Rome. It is a visually stunning game with detailed buildings, cards with drawings, a colourful board and many tokens. It all fits in a very, very, big box.

4 photos of the game about rome with small buildings and monuments in close up5.4)A game about Rome, lots of buildings and monuments

This is where we are with this young Mer-person. We are now at the part I have most trepidations about, creating the bumps running down the fish’s back and sides. (Scutes -back and Denticles -sides)

Mer-boyfreind back facing towrds us, lying on reference photos of stergons6.1 )Saturday Morning, after the first round of game shopping.

After reviewing my reference photos, I decided on the lighter (“White”) sturgeon. With further inspection, I could see that the first few(4ish)points along the back were spaced a bit closer together, and the rest were farther apart. The number varied from 11-14 Dorsal scutes; I went with 12. To get the spacing, I used sewing pins.

2 photos showing pins used to space out the Scutes along the back6.2)pins used for spacing

I kept adjusting until the spacing seemed correct. Next was to add small amounts of wool to create the point of the Scute and to felt down the space on either side of the point. For the second one, I realised it worked better if I lowered the space between the points first and then made the point. It is more of a half cone on each side of the ridge. The body colour also accentuates the cone-like shape.

felting the first scute (bump) pins mark spots for more scutes6.3)working on the first cone link-shaped bump

A second shopping with dropped prices was announced, so back downstairs I went (ok, I did not do the stairs). I mostly wanted to see how much had gone and what was left. I was not very quick getting to the basement, the elevator needs a key, and it took a bit longer than the stairs. This meant I was at the end of the line in the hallway, which left me standing by the cashing out table at the back of the sales room!  So I got shots of the remains of the game piles and the fervour of reduced price shopping! It was actually calmer than some of the fibre festival shopping I have seen (Black Lambs’ bag of cashmere and silk mill ends comes to mind)

2 photos and insert of games piled on tables with people shopping 6.4) At 11 am, the second go through with reduced prices on most of the games started.

boxed games Gillotene, Patchwork, Code, Cards agenst humanity (family edition)6.5) I found a few more games that looked interesting, but most had no fibre theme.

The table beside where I was working had a game going; these were a pair of steampunk airships battling each other.  (The map and miniatures were very cool; the math to figure out if their various cannons and guns hit each other eluded me, but they seemed to be having lots of fun even with the math.) They spent over an hour chasing each other around the board, trying to blow each other’s airships up.

2 airships heading towords the other players 2 air ships. they are moving above a hex map of landscape and a bit of water.6.6) Steampunk airships battle over a landscape of hexes.

Switched to a new book;  Kristen Painter’s “Embrace the Suck: First Fangs Club, Book 5” (this one has some mobster-like vampires, and other supernatural naturals). Now time to get back to work.  I continued blocking in the general shape of each scute.

2 shots of the smaller superior scutes6.7)the smaller closer closer-spaced scutes

have all the scutes blocked in.6.8) Scutes are blocked in

With the scutes blocked in, it was time to turn and work on his upper human body. I need to firm up his arms. I brought the reference diagrams I was using for a minotaur project I was working on.

Mer with feling needle in his chest, sitting on little table, in back ground gameing contiues.7.1) Turning to the human parts, let’s firm up and define muscles 

Firming forearms is not as exciting as it sounds, so I took a break and I tried a bit of the skin tone on his head and some of the fish colour on the fins. I think the skin tone is close the fin colour will need more work.

Mer on table arms are firmer but still need more work.7.2) building up the definition of muscles and firming up the wool in the forearm 

I got a bit distracted listening to the new audio book and concentrating on the arm myology, so there are not a lot of progress shots.

I had a few of the gamers come over to see what I was working on this time. I did a few explanations of needle felting as I worked.

This is always a fun spot to felt and watch the gamers have fun. I should go with Glenn on their regular gaming night occasionally, too. (I might even try a game?)

I know that sometimes I am not a particularly fast felter, I am not in a rush, and I enjoy the process, and I felt quite firmly. So it may not look like I have accomplished much for two days of felting. Good thing the young Mer-person seems quite pleased!

Husband holding Mer-person, both looking happy.7.3) Glenn and the Mer in progress, both looked quite pleased with the weekend so far! (and it’s only Saturday!)

Dare I tell you what happened Sunday? How about we save that for later?

Do you have any sheep-related games in your collection?  Have you tried the Alpaca or Lama games?  Have fun and keep felting

A Mer-person at Kanatacon gaming and felting convention; Friday

A Mer-person at Kanatacon gaming and felting convention; Friday

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What a busy seven days! No wonder I feel like falling over and having a nap on the floor (which is lying and saying it’s very comfy and I should fall for it!) Chunks of the last seven days were even fiber related!!! I will not overload you with all 7 days at once,  or even all 7 of them! But let’s start on Friday, Oct. 17, which was the day my last post went up, about squishy-fish-centres.

The Fish-person in question from the last blog (AKA The Mer-Boyfriend), and I, along with a green folding tote of fibre and needle felting tools, and a cloth bag of snacks and more fibre. We all got in the car and headed off to Kanata (Glenn will be joining us after work), to go to the Kanata Games Club’s annual 2-day fall convention. This is a popular convention and is at the church they have their regular gaming evening the rest of the year. This also explains why the convention starts on Friday, since someone else already has the church booked for Sunday activities.

By the time we got there, Gaming had already begun. From previous years, I knew that the few empty tables would soon be full of gamers. Good thing I brought my own chair (walker), and I had my little folding table still in the car from demoing earlier this summer. I had the same spot at the back of the hall by the coat racks as last year. I can watch the fun, but am out from underfoot and not too far from the bathroom!

picture of friday morning bordgameing, logo for kanata gameing convention, photo showing part of mettle table, and felting suplys with mer-man in progress1.1) little table and felting supplies for the next 2 days

signs saying which games were going to be play tested and demoed. second picture of seting up a new game1.2)  The temporarily empty 2 tables directly in front of me will be filled with Playtesting and new game demos’

I got myself sorted out, got my audio book playing (Wen Spencer’s “Black Tie and Tails: Black Wolves of Boston, Book 2” (mostly werewolves) I was almost finished that so soon continued with Dianne Freeman’s “A Daughter’s Guide to Mothers and Murder: A Countess of Harleigh Mystery, Book 8” (nothing supernatural in this one).

mer person, 2 braids of fiber simmiler to the photo reference of a white strugon.2.1) I consulted with the young Mer about his fishy-part’s colours. It’s a bit early to start adding the top layer, but I am putting off deciding how to approach the Scutes and Denticles.

I have had fun with variegated braids for landscapes, since you can pull out a bit of whichever tone you want. If you don’t like blending to get the colour you are looking for, this may be an option (but blending is not difficult and fun to do too).

one of the braids unbraded to show the colours sitting beside refrence photo2.2) Part of the braid undone so you can see the colour variations.

Since I can’t work on the final colours if I don’t have the under layers to the correct shape, I need to put away the fish colour and work on adding the fins.

mer-person on foam nealing pad, with punch tool and photo reference. showing v notch in dorsal fin starting2.3) Adding the Dorsal fin, it has a “V” notch on the back part of the fin and is thicker at the leading edge.

wrapped wier and adding fiber over wrapped tail wiers. mer person's tail is on foam mat curved bladed sissors, punch tool and fiber sitting on top of it. reference pictures are sitting adjacent.2.4) starting the Heterocercal and Caudal tail fin

showing the building up of the fiber along the upper front endge of the tail fin. ref. photo is shown to comparie to tail2.5) There is a thicker area along the top edge of the heteroceral tail fin

As I was working, the convention continued around us. There was lots of cheering as well as quieter playing.  I am not sure which game this was; it caught my attention due to all the various game pieces.

hand moving game pices on game bord.2.6) I am not sure which game this was, but all the odd playing pieces caught my attention.

close up of fins in progress a bit more progresson fins this photo shows full mer-person2.7-2.8) the tail, Pelvic, and Anal fins have been blocked in, but the shape is not correct yet.

If you were curious as to how I am making fins.

To give each fin structure and poseability, I used floral wire.  To give it extra support, I added a couple of supports for the dorsal fin and a lower wire for the caudal section of the tail fin.

There are two choices: the wire can be part of the armature, or added as a supplemental element (not attached). I used both methods this time. The Pectoral fins were added to the armature when I reached the hips as I wrapped the first layer of core wool. I twisted the wire around the central aluminium wire armature, then out to the sides. I then kept wrapping wool below the wire along the fish body. The two parts of the tail are also directly attached to the main armature.

pictures showing the floral wire attached to the main armature3.1) fins that are part of the main armature, Pectoral and Heterocercal tail and caudal fin

 

The second option is to insert the appendage without attaching it to an armature. This is often done with individual bird legs if you are not making a full armature. For the birds, you can insert the straight wire and use a drop of glue to help secure it until you build up the fibre to support the wire. You can also insert a wire with a curve or loop to make it harder to pull out after more fibre is added around it. I used a single wire for the anal fin that went through the core wool, then the wire was twisted back upon itself.

A single wire can be used to create a single fin, as I did with the Dorsal fin, which went through the fibre in 2 spots, leaving a loop in the centre and one longer and one shorter wire on either side of the centre loop. I again estimated the length for the three sections of wire and twisted them.  When you are (prototyping), ok, guessing the lengths you will need after the rest of the core wool has been added. You can come up a bit short. I suspect the anathetic was hanging out in the measuring and estimating section of my brain. You may notice the change in plan as we get further into the project.

photo and exlanitory diagram showing the pathway of the wire in the core wool. more fiber will be added after wier is inserted.3.2) single wire insertion to create a secure Dorsal fin. (More fibre will be added to the core wool after the wire has been added.)

I this case, for the pelvic fins (there are two fins, one on either side of the abdomen), I ran the wire through the core wool at the level I wanted the fins to start, estimated the length, making a bend in the wire, then twisted it (this will both strengthen and shorten the wire). Then built up the core wool fibre of the fish body to further secure the wire.

Pelvic fin wires inserted through wrapped wool. the wire is then folded back to the estimated length. shows twised Pelive fin wires.3.3- 3.4) Pelvic fins are a pair of fins on the underside of the fish before the single anal fin.

It is easier to hide the wire and attach the fibre for the fin if I first cover the supplementary support wires with wool. So, like wrapping tiny toes and other fine appendages, start with a thin, narrow piece of fibre (or roving), you can always add more, but it’s a pain when you have added too much.

I secured the fibre that I will be wrapping around the supplement wire to the body at the base of the wire. Once secure, I will wrap the length of the wire. When the fin wire is wrapped, I added a thin layer of fibre over the wrapped wire, and tacked it into the fibre that wrapped the wire. I folded the fibres over the leading edge with the wire and then used the punch tool with fine (40-42g) needles to secure it to itself and compact the fin. I expanded the fin area with more thin layers of fibre and secured them with the punch tool.  I am keeping the fins thin, since fins are thin and I will be adding more fibre when I add the surface colour. If you wanted to do even thinner fins, you may choose to build this underlayer with your finished colours. I used the final outer fibre with Mrs. Mer’s fins, which are white and relatively thin (butterfly Koi).

felted fin resting on foam mat with punch tool sitting beside3.5 ) using the fake clover punch tool to flatten the fins at his hips.

Tip: support your fin on your work surface edge and use the punch tool to flatten the felt as much as you can. Pieces of pool noodle can be helpful to support parts of your work as you needle felt an appendage. Sara has a mini version of her stabit rice and burlap pad that can be used in the same way.

Tip: We are felters, we are not spinners who shun scissors as the work of the devil, and would never cut their spinning fibre. If you get the fin to the thinness you want and the general shape, you can use scissors to correct the shape. Remember to check that the cut edge is solidly felted.

In the evening, there was an announcement that we could go downstairs to view the games that would be on sale tomorrow morning. Luckily, there is a small elevator, close to where I was working, so I could check out the sale too. After looking through the extensive piles for games with sheep themes, we did not have luck with sheep, but I did find one game focusing on alpacas and one about llamas. If I get them tomorrow, I will take them to the next long weekend social and see if we can play them.

two shots of the gient game sale with insert of alpca and lama games.4.1) previewing the room full of games for sale.

It was getting close to 10 pm, Glenn had fun with the games he had played, and I had a good day of felting and audiobooks. It was time to head home. We will have to get up early if we hope to get such exciting games with fibre bearing animals! (I promise not to leave you in suspense for long!)

PS the comment button is at the top of the page, if you would like to use it.

Fish should not have squishy centers!

Fish should not have squishy centers!

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A few weeks ago, I turned my attention back to working on the latest Mer-person (the boyfriend for Miss Mer) and realised I had a small problem. It is very fixable, but I thought you might like to chat about what and how it happened.

 

A quick review of the newest Mer-persons progress so far;

3 fotos, the armature, head body and fist arm initial wrapping in white wool, second hand close up has 5 fingers and a thrumb... 3 photos: front and back of upperbody and head, adding first wrapping on tail1.1-1.2) 05-2025 Cangames (you can see what happens if you get distracted winding fingers…I fixed that too.)

mer-person (under layer underway) self stabing while holding a ball of core wool 1.3) 06-04-2025 Mer-boyfriend trying to get me to rush his felting

adding more fiber to fish parts at demo in Dunvagon Museum1.4) 06-15-2025 Blacksmithing weekend and felting the mer-boyfriend

visiting the guild mer-person lounging langudly on table (back vew)1.5) 07-14-2025 Social

Mer-Person with felting needle self felting his 6pack abs.1.6) 08-08-2025 Friday Twist shop and demo

As you can see in the review, I had a few problems with counting fingers and rushing to build up the shape. I do have an excuse, as I started this project, I was still heavily distracted by lingering anaesthetic. I think there may be a few tendrils of the stuff still clinging to bits of brain, but most of it has now left the building. (Yah!)

 

When I was wrapping, especially in the Fish parts, I had not kept the second layers of wrapping as tight as I would have liked. This was exacerbated by starting to block in the superficial features before getting the understructure as firm as I would like. This meant that the Fish parts were now close to the correct shape at the surface, but squishy if you applied pressure to the felt. Squishy does not suggest strong young fish!!! (Fish also usually do not have the ability to fold mid fish.)

 

Working on superficial features (shallow poking of the wool with 38T333 and 42T222 needles) gave me a nicely felted surface with a much more loosely felted under layer. (I got excited, I jumped ahead and started into the fun sculpting, before a firm under layer was achieved!)  Well, that is not what I was wanting. How am I going to fix that?

 

Diagram of superficial felting with a less felted core.2.1) Diagram of superficial felting with a less felted core.

 

Since I am still working on the understructure, I can fix this now without too much difficulty. I will need to move fibre at a deeper layer, and since I am making the under structure, not the finished surface layer, I don’t have to worry about surface pitting if I move to a courser needle (a 36T-333). Pitting is telling you to keep felting, until the raised area (the parts not yet felted) is even with the lower spot (which is felted more).

 

Why would I move to a courser needle? I want to move fibre, but I will not be adding more fibre superficially at this point. Also, if I work deeply with a finer needle, it is more sensitive to minor directional changes (which can lead to OOPS!!) I would prefer not to have to go searching out broken needle bits from his fishy parts.

Synopsis: A Courser needle is more aggressive when moving fibre, and is less fragile than a finer needle, especially when working deep into the under layers.

 

Diagram inserting the needle deeper to affect the under layer 2.2) Diagram inserting the needle deeper to affect the under layer

 

Synopsis: The barbs affect the fibre by grabbing one to a few fibres as they are passing through. If you only work to a shallow depth, you will only be affecting those fibres. If you are working to a greater depth, you will affect the fibres that are located there and some of the fibres above them.

 

There is another way squishy interior felt can occur;

As with Wet felting, some breeds of sheep have fleece that is less inclined to create a dense felt than other breeds. I have had trouble with a couple of the Rideau Arcott fleeces (created with a mix of breeds) I have used. No matter how much needle felting of that wool I did, it remained spongy, but it was holding together, so it was felted.  A Less than appropriate wool choice is not the problem this time, since I am using Corradale carded roving, which I have used before without problems.

 

Before I started to firm up the understructure of my fish person, he was able to fold his tail tightly in half and fit in the smaller project bag. Now, after hours of poking, he will have to go into the big project bag.

 

mer-person at wet felting workshop. he is face down on the table and may have fainted?3.1) 10-05-2025 Slipper workshop (I think the wetness was too much for him?)

 

He now bends and stays in position, but no longer stays when the bend is extreme. (The increase in felt stiffness has strengthened the wool. He is poseable, but the wool felt is getting closer to overpowering the wire. I can stop increasing the firmness now, and work on adding more of the understructure superficial detail and the missing fins. (I will return to shallow poking rather than deep stabbing!)

 

I should mention the importance of gauge choice and wire type for your armature. It is important to figure out the gauge of wire you need for the size of your sculpture, and the pose or position you would like your figure to be in. You can make a blind guess, an educated guess from previous experience, or you can make samples. (I know some fiber artists, I am looking at a couple of my weaver friends, who are vary avers to sampling but it can be both educational and inspirational even if you don’t get the result you expected.) 

 

I organised a study group during COVID to make samples of various gauges of mainly aluminium and Steel (floral) wire. It gives me a reference sample I can use to select a good wire gauge to try for a new project.  (Before the samples, I could adjust the armature to make it stronger by adding steel floral wire to a limb to give it more strength. This can be done over part of the wool under structure, as long as more wool would be added on top.) I have also had to add lateral supports when the lumbar spine of Mr. Mer broke (I wound up doing surgery with a sharp awl, inserting Harrington rods running up each erector spinae muscle and down into the upper Hamstrings.)

  awl inserting harrington rods (10g aluminum coated wire) lower section is imbeded from lower lumbar to below his glutes Mr Mer showing where the two rods is hidden on one side of his back4.1-4.3) 01-19-2022 Mr. Mer’s Fishy parts, augmenting armature after felting is well underway. (Insertion of Harrington rods in progress) fixing this far into felting becomes harder to hide the surgery, but not impossible.

 

With armature wire gauges and felting, you have 3 options for outcome.

1) Wire overpowers wool (felt):

  • The wire holds the wool/felt staying in position when posed.
  • A lighter gauge of wire could have been used and still held the wool in position (working with heavier wire than you need can stress your hands and may develop metal fatigue if you are moving the figure often)

2) Wire = wool (felt):

  • The wire holds the wool staying in position when posed

This is the balance you would like to achieve, since you will not have worked with over-stiff wire.

3) Wool overpowers wire (felt):

  • When posed, the wire is moved out of position by the density or strength of the wool.
  • Augmenting the armature might be possible if you catch the imbalance before you finish the understructure. It is increasingly difficult to strengthen the wire the closer you are to finishing the sculpture. (but you can see with Mr. Mer it is not impossible to strengthen the armature quite far into the felting.)

 

If you have the opportunity, you may also want to make samples of various gauges of wire or combinations of gauges if you don’t have access to a full range of aluminum and floral wire (there are sources online if you can’t find a range of wire locally).

 

Investigate locally easily available types of wire first. One of the English felters uses rubber-coated garden wire for armatures.  A few felters on YouTube, like pipe cleaners, but craft pipe cleaners are weak compared to the strength of other options. If you are doing very lightly felted structures  (a lot of the faceless fairies are only lightly felted), pipe cleaners might work to su0pport the wool. What pipe cleaners are very helpful for is wrapping around your armature, to help secure the wool as you wrap it. Cheap quality pipe cleaners, in areas of high humidity, have another problem: they can rust.

As you find more gauges and types of wire, make samples of them too. Keep notes, was it easy to shape or twist, or did your hands tire quickly? (Note: Uncoated aluminium will leave marks on your hands.) Also, try a gauge and augment it with a second finer wire too; it will give you more options if you don’t have access to a full range of aluminium and floral wires. I made a series of legs, with feet, and to test floral wire as fingers, I made arms with hands. I can now refer to the samples when I start a new project.

 

I have been puttering along, firming up his fishy bits and then moved on to work on his upper musculature. I will have to print off another set of photo-reference if I cannot find the book with the last set. (found it!)

 

Front vew of the firmer fish bits back vew of the firmer fish bits5.1-5.2) The fish parts are now quite firm. I think I am almost ready to start adding the little spikes.

I will try to remember to take some more in-progress shots while I figure out the fish details. I apologise! I am afraid that for this part of “stiffening-of-the-Fishy-under-structure” felting, I climbed into bed with a big pile of pillows and felted while listening to the end of the new Lynsay Sands vampire book. Then started the latest Wen Spencer (this one has a vampire and werewolves) audiobook, and forgot to bring the camera! (Needle felting in bed is not the suggested location for optimal felting and avoiding self-stabbing as you fall asleep while felting…. a table is really a better choice)

 

Photographic collection of some of the refference photos i have collected to help with the next part of the project adding the spikey parts5.3)Some of the sturgeon reference photos I have collected, focusing on the spines/spikes.

 

 

What’s next;

You may remember last year, about this time, was the Kanata games (and felting) convention (last year I found a sheep game). It is coming up, and I wanted to have most of the basic shape blocked in and firmed up so I could start working on the fiddly bits of the ridges and rows of spikes. If all is going really well, I hope I can start to add some of the colour layers during the convention.

 

PS: I can think of a reason you may like to have that firm outside and softer felted inside. I am sure one of my cats would have appreciated something to pounce on that squished in a satisfying way.

One way to achieve this would be; wrap your fist layer securely (around the armature, if you are using one, which will keep the felt from rotating around the armature), then wrap the next layer a bit looser. Then, focus the majority of your felting on the shallow depths, and you could recreate the squishy inside effect. If you wrap around a bundle of fresh catnip leaves, it will be even more appealing. Just make sure the outside is well felted, so no one can tear off and eat the wool, to get to the catnip!

 

Even from what is technically an anaesthetic-incused mistake, you can notice something and save that thought for later use. Who knows when it may be a useful idea?

 

I will update you on his progress at the convention!  Maybe there will be more felters this year! Stop by between games if you are there. I hope you too are enjoying this late summer/not-really-fall and getting the last of your summer fibre purchases washed, before the weather remembers to look at the calendar and realise we used to have snow in about 2 weeks from now. (Really, there is no rush! I am enjoying this not-fall and am perfectly happy not to be having snow any time soon!)

PSS, if you would like to comment on any of the posts you read in the blog but cant find the comments button, it has vanished from the end of the post! (it is either very shy, or trying to avoid work) since it is now hiding all the way back at the top of the post (where no one would ever think to look for it! silly button you have been found and will hopefully be put to work!)

 

Registration Now Open for Hanging Felted Spiral Online Class

Registration Now Open for Hanging Felted Spiral Online Class

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Helene is teaching another session of her Hanging Felted Spiral online class and you can register now. Registration opens today and class begins on October 18.

This is a four week online course and you don’t have to be present at any certain time. You will have access to videos and Helene’s support throughout the four weeks and will be able to download the PDF’s for future reference.

 

Have you wanted to learn more about sculptural felt? This is a great way to learn about how to layout fiber for more elasticity, how to use a book resist with multiple “leaves” and Helene’s ideas on how to further these ideas into future projects.

Here are a few of Helene’s students own spirals. Aren’t they fantastic out in nature?

Jump into spring and learn to make a spiral with Helene. Online class starts on October 18. Learn more about the class and register here.

 

Helene also has an ongoing class, Wet Felting a Vessel Using a Simple Resist which can be taken at any time.  If you know the basics of wet felting but want to move forward into creating three dimensional objects with a resist, this is the class for you. Click here for more information and to register.

If you are a beginner and want to learn the basics of wet felting, our beginner class is always available and you can sign up here. This course has unlimited access and is a great place to start if you want to know how to wet felt.