Earlier this month I went along to a talk I’d seen advertised at the Louth Textile Group. The speaker was Textile Artist Holly Capstick who specialises in mixed media textile portraits and free motion embroidery.
It had been a while since I’d done any fabric projects but I’m a big fan of free motion stitch and so seeing the examples of work on Holly’s website made me want to know more about her techniques.
Holly is a very generous speaker and gave her audience lots of tips and advice on creating textile portraits. We were encouraged to handle the work on show and seeing it at such close quarters really helped us to understand the process of layering which she uses. These are some of the fabulous portraits Holly brought to show us…..
Needless to say I drove home that evening feeling very inspired by what I’d seen and keen to have a go myself. Holly was running a workshop the following day but there were limited spaces and I was too late to get booked on it. So the next morning I decided to have a go at home and found this photo of Mark to use as inspiration.
I got the image up on my iPad, cropped it to just show his face and changed it to black and white.
The next stage was to make a (very) rough outline tracing to ensure the correct positioning of the eyes, nose and mouth. I placed this under my cotton fabric on the light box and traced it using an HB pencil, at the same time adding a little of the shading.
Holly works with paint and fabric snippets, built up on a base layer, and tops this off with a sheer silk organza. A search through my fabric stash confirmed what I suspected, I didnt have a fine enough silk organza and my synthetic sheers were all too shiny! In a way I was pleased because I wanted to create a portrait inspired by Hollys work but which looks like my own so I chose to work more simply with a base of cotton fabric, the hair and shadows created using a fine black tulle and black organza for the neck of the jacket.
I was keen to just get on with this so although sampling came to mind I dismissed that thought and got straight on with the stitching. Not the best decision I could have made! About a quarter of the way through I realised the thread I’d chosen was too dark for the wrinkles (wrinkles, what wrinkles said Mark?) so I ended up having to take those out and do them again. The bit I was most concerned about, to the point of dreading it, was stitching his teeth. I think I held my breath all through that bit but fortunately I managed to keep the stitiches where I needed them and his teeth worked out fine.
I’m really pleased with the result, its very different from what Holly was teaching but more true to my style. I did think about adding colour but decided to stick with black and white and maybe try a coloured version next time.
Members of the Louth Textile Group who were at the Portrait Workshop said it was great. Holly not only provides excellent tuition but also a light box and sewing machine for each participant to use which is particulalrly helpful as it saves you lugging your machine about!
These are two of Hollys workshop samples….
And a few of the students work in progress photos….
These are what they created on the day and will finish off at home. I know a couple of the ladies who attended and although their work wasnt finished at this stage their faces are instantly recognisable. I might have a go at doing my own portrait next….. if I can find a light enough thread to make my wrinkles less visible!
First of all a recap of my recent activities to give you a background to my most recent piece.
I have been very taken with preparing and then attending my local Art Trail in the first 2 weeks of September: if you remember, my last post was about how I prepared a few new felted items for it, because I wanted to bring a mix of new and old things.
My small corner. I actually did not bring a lot of items, as I could always get more from home if needed and I did not want to get a very crowded look.
A closer look at the table. You may be able to spot some of the items I was working on the last time that I wrote a post.
Here is a closer look at the left hand side.
I have to say, this event is the most fun one among the various exhibitions and events that I participate in with my local art group, the Ealing Art Group: we meet tons of people, and our families and friends are encouraged to pass through. We set up demonstrations of our art in the little yards in front of the hall (weather permitting), to pass the time and to call passers-by inside (some of us tried also to improvise a little dance routine to catch the attention of people going by, but we felt that it was a bit too much in the end..). And we chat a lot among ourselves, as it is the only time in the year when we actually pass hours together in the same room (the other exhibitions are manned or womaned on a rota as a group, whereas each of us has to take care of their own stand in this one).
I had an interesting time demonstrating wet felting while battling the wind and chatting to visitors: you can see it in my please-take-that-shoot-quickly-before-it-all-flies-away smile! I like to think that at least I caught many children’s hearts by giving away wisps of pink and green wool all during my demos!
This year we had a brilliant attendance on the first weekend, weirdly not matched by proportionally higher sales, and usual good attendance on the second weekend: we think that it was because other non-related events were going on in the area during the first weekend, so more people were out and about.
While I was in the middle of this, plenty of new ideas for felting and mixed media pieces were coming to my mind of course: I do not know about you, but that is what happens to me whenever I have no time and I can chat with other creative people and see what they make.
One of the ideas that I thought that I could start on without much fuss was a new wet felted piece about flowers. I need to explain that the artist exhibiting her watercolour pieces right in front of me in the room, and a good friend, is very fond of representational abstract artwork of bright flowers, and I was inspired to make a bright and colourful small piece. What I really set up to make in the end, though, was something quite different.
First of all, I considered that I had bought two canvases 65 x 90 cm (25.6 x 35.5 inches) that I had never used yet, so that a bigger artwork was in order. And, most of all, the base prefelt that I prepared for my artwork was in pewter, as I did not have enough wool of a brighter colour and also, to be totally candid, when I actually got to it, I did not feel like a brighter colour for my base.
So, you just have to take my word for it, my initial idea was of a jolly and quick little flowery piece, but good intentions did not last the first five minutes of actually setting up to make something for real, as it so often happens to me.
I put my chosen canvas on the working table to understand the approximate size of my base felt and started to lay the wool out, from the setting up of the edges to the filling of the area inside them with two layers of Merino wool. In hindsight I maybe should have gone for my usual 3 layers for the base, but as I was laying out the wool to cover the whole area I had started panicking that the project was too big for the time that I had, and so I was trying to cut times where I felt that I could. That resulted in a coverage that was not as good as I wanted for it, also because in the following steps I ended up deciding to not cover all the base with other colours so as to provide another layer on top of it, as I often do instead.
That is how I started:
The size for this new piece was almost at the limits of what I can make on my table when it is closed.
I tend to layout my base layers not very carefully, as it is supposed to just be a support base to the actual piece. This was my first layer.
After laying out the base and lightly wetting and soaping it, I started laying out the colours for the background from the darkest greens and greys to the lightest (light lime green, yellow and light greys and white):
I tend to have light coming from the upper right hand in my pieces, it just works this way for me in most cases. It is also true that the table that I work on has light coming from the right naturally anyway, so maybe that is one reason.
I wanted a good contrasting area, so I went for pretty dark hues in my background, but that meant that the whole piece was already fast moving from a jolly uncomplicated colour riot to something more meditative and sober. I also realised that I wanted to not completely cover the pewter, as I was more and more reminded of my recent tondi pieces: it is just not possible to go completely away from your memories, I find.
I laid out my flowers in colours that were very bright and close to each other (two reds, a salmon, an orange and a yellow) and I added touches of darker shades to build their depth a bit, without going for realistic description. I wanted some white flowers to make the composition pop, and I went for some in white Merino wool with a center of natural yellow eri silk fiber, and some in white eri silk fiber with a few touches of bright blue mulberry silk fiber, for the shiny effect of silk that is reminiscent of oil paint shine.
I also realised that I needed some kind of vase or holding shape for my bunch of flowers, but I did not like the idea of a too solid shape when my flowers were just quick brush strokes of colours, so to speak. I went for just the outline of a vase in dark green, that could be variously interpreted and avoids weighting down the composition.
Here is what it looked like before the wetting, it seemed to me well full and with a background on the darker side, because the base in pewter was already wet at this point:
My composition before the wetting: the wool always looks more when it is still dry.
Then, I wetted and soaped the whole, and rubbed it gently under the netting. A bit of rubbing by sander followed, and I went on to the rolling very quickly. I do not need to roll it very much for my purposes, but I added a bit of additional rubbing against the bubblewrap in this case.
Ready for a bit of sander rubbing.
And here we go with the rolling, after some rehydration with an Italian favourite soda drink called Cedrata.
After drying it, that is what it looks like:
This is before the ironing and to test the size of the finished felt on the canvas: it fits nicely as I wanted (I like my canvas to be seen all around the edges).
Because of the rubbing against the bubblewrap, it ended up with the piece developing a bit of movement around the edges, so that I had to iron it a bit to flatten it again after the drying.
I feel that it looks a lot less full than what I wanted, and I am pretty divided about it: do I work on it more or do I call it done? What I am thinking is that this piece would be closer to my idea if I added stitched fabrics in colours similar to the flowers to full up the areas in and around the flowers. I can not really explain well the idea that I have in mind, but I am thinking floating pieces of fabric here, very lightweight and not realistic. I also am very into textural pieces more than flat pieces, so I miss that textural element in this piece, though I understand that it is not what everybody looks for in an artwork, but I am really drawn to textures and 3D elements.
I have asked opinions about it to some of my artist friends during our breaks from the Art Trail work: mostly, they feel that the piece is fine as is, while some agree that I could work on it a bit more. I feel that they do not see in their mind what I could do with it and the right fabrics, because none of them are as familiar with textiles, but it may be that they genuinely do not feel that it will benefit from additions, with some of them mentioning the need to avoid overcrowding the composition.
So, what are my textile friends thinking about it? I can always try something and then unstitch it if I see that it is not going anywhere, but time is at a premium right now in my life, and I have so many UFOs in my pile already!
Let me know your thoughts on it, please.
In the meantime, I will take a bit of rest and relax:
Repeat with our sweet Pumpkin: “Good nap, everyone!”
Last Monday the Lincolnshire Textile groups Bountiful Botanicals exhibition was opened to the public in the Chapter House of Lincoln Cathedral. We always feature a central group piece and this year it consisted of a large vase framed by a floral arch which was adorned with individual flowers created by our members using a wide variety of materials, colours and techniques.
This can be a tricky venue for displaying textile art due to the fact that the Chapter House is not brightly lit and very little natural light filters through the stained glass plus there are limitations regards hanging the work. That said the team putting up the displays always do a wonderful job and once again we’ve had some fabulous feedback from visitors. These are just a few of the pieces that were on display…..
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There was a wedding taking place in the Cathedral yesterday and the members who were stewarding were paid a surprise visit by the Bride and Groom who had heard about the arch and were keen to pose for photos under it. I’m only sorry I cant give the happy couple a name check but if by any chance its you and you see this post we wish you all the best!
Unfortunately I haven’t been able to visit this years exhibition, the images I’m using have been to sent me from another member, so it was a lovely surprise to see several beautiful pieces on display that members had created as a result of attending my Tall Trees workshop in 2024
My submission was this wired 3d Tyvek fabric Iris.
Also this week I took part in two competitions that were held at the annual Lincolnshire Show. This is an event I used to love to attend when I was younger but at some point it must have lost its appeal as it dawned on me that it must be forty years since I was last there! Anyway, my friend Lucy told me a couple of months back about a craft competition she was taking part in with all entries featuring as part of a two day display in the huge Floral Marquee. Everyone entering a piece of work would automatically be sent two free Show tickets, it wasn’t dependent on winning, simply entering any of the numerous categories would ensure your free tickets so that sounded like a win-win idea to me! Each theme had its own criteria regards size and all entries were to be created using mainly plant based materials. Loving a challenge I chose to enter two categories, the first being “If The Shoe Fits”, which Lucy was also entering, plus a category to create a Necklace titled “Cartier, Tiffany, Chanel or….” We were given a huge list of what “plant based” materials would be accepted including cotton fabrics & threads, paper & cardboard, all cellulose fibres, wood, etc, and there were a few things on the list that wouldn’t have occurred to me including latex balloons, birds nests, cereals and pasta!
So knowing I wanted my two pieces to have a woodland theme I began with a walk in the local woods looking for inspiration and foraged various plant based bits including different types of tree bark, acorn hats, small twigs and tiny fir cones.
Having measured the length and width of one of my shoes I knew it would just fit in the space allocated so used that as a template to create a padded, stitched cotton fabric sole. One of the little twigs found on my walk was the perfect shape and size for the heel so that got added next. I spent a while cleaning up pieces of Birch bark and then applied acrylic medium to make it supple before glueing it on as the shoe insole, along with a little bit of moss. The leaves were all made using free motion stitch on water soluble fabric and by ensuring some of the glue remained on the stitching after rinsing I was able to form the shape I wanted the leaves to be by wrapping them around my “real” shoe. Once the shoe had been assembled the little flowers were created from frayed cotton fabric and wired in place.
There were some impressive entries in the Shoe category, and sadly my submission didn’t get placed, but it was great to see that Lucy’s amazing “paper” Walking Boot won first prize. In fact it looked so real that I overheard a lady telling her friend that someone had “obviously simply pasted paper on to a boot!” I was so pleased I could put her right and say I saw it being made and the whole thing was entirely made from paper! The look on her face was priceless!
As the deadline for submissions was looming I realized I didn’t have time to procrastinate over the design of my necklace. This would have to be a very quick and easy project so I made a base of soaked Kozo fibre and attached some of the bark and other left over bits that were on my table. The asymmetrical shape came together very quickly but it was lacking a bit of bling so I used a little gold and bronze metallic paint to bring it to life.
With it being a rushed job I didn’t think for one minute it would receive any votes so it was nice to discover it had taken third place!
I’ll leave you with the stunning exhibit that won first prize under the theme of Catwalk Queen and also won Best in Show…….
This is an old post from several years ago of some fun bubbles I did with a friend. I thought you might like to see it again. This last weekend was our guild sale, and I have nothing to show you felt wise. Jan has so many pictures of the sale to show you, I will leave that post to her. I have such fond memories of this friend and our felt journey.
A while back, I went to a felting friend’s for a few days of fun. She showed me how to make bubbles and cut them open to great effect. Here are the pictures of what I did.
First of course, I laid out some wool to felt. But these are samples, so plain felt won’t do. I added silk threads, a silk square, some silk roving and other wools to see how it would all go. This is the underside.
This is what the top side looks like
Then, of course, there was the usual rolling and fulling.
rolling rolling rolling
Here they are all finished and ready for the marbles.
The next step is to put marbles in while it is still damp. You pull the felt tightly around the marble and secure it with an elastic, and now it looks like a bubble. We used the elastics they use to put braids in horses’ tails and manes because they are small, stretchy, strong and cheap. You put in as many as you like and whatever sizes you like. You can also use felt balls. The felt balls are good if you want to leave them uncut. Marbles are too heavy for that.
Here they are all tied up.
Felt with marbles tied in to make bubbles
Here they are cut. I cut the tops off, I cut x’s and star patterns, and some I turned inside out. If you cut more off, you see more of the inside, and you can stretch them flatter, too.
Bubbles cut open
You can see how the underside becomes the inside of the bubbles. These samples started out about 6×8 inches, and the finished pieces are about 1.5 by 2.5 inches. They take up a lot of room. I only have 2 of them left; my friend’s dog ate one. I think I will glue them to some leather and make brooches out of them. They are lots of fun to do. I made some wrist cuffs with this method, and I will blog about them next week.
This month Region 8 of the International Feltmakers held an Autumn Woodland themed wet felted picture workshop led by Susan Mulcock. As with many other regions we’ve been struggling with workshop numbers recently so it was great to receive so much interest in Susan’s class that we were able to fill two separate classes over the weekend. A big shout out has to go to IFA member Kerry Thomas who travelled 250 miles from Lockerbie in Scotland to join us on the Sunday.
Kerry
We were encouraged to bring our own photos to use as inspiration and I chose one I’d taken while walking a local section of the Viking Way between Horncastle and Woodhall Spa. The Viking Way is a 149 mile long walking route through Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Rutland. The route opened in 1976 and its name recognises the influence of the Norse invaders on the east of Britain. The route is clearly marked with the recognisable signage of a viking helmet on the yellow disc.
I didn’t think to take photos of the process but this is my finished picture. Looking back at my original photo I think I must have been in a colourful mood when I was laying out my fibres! I’ve added some free motion stitch to help define the tree trunks and some of the finer branches but drew the line at adding hand embroidery. I feel I’d like to do some but I know that if I start I would have to add lots of it so I’ll live with it for now and maybe more stitching will be done at some point.
These are some of the wonderful pictures that were created over the weekend.
Something else I wanted to share with you, with permission from the bride, was my friend Sally’s wedding. Or rather the incredible textile/fibre creations that Sally produced for her wedding to fiance Chris. Sally joined the South Lincs Spinners, Weavers and Dyers three years ago where she learnt to spin and weave. She fell in love with both of these crafts and challenged herself to use them to create her own wedding outfit.
Chris’s mother is German and Sally has a thing for sunflowers so Sally aimed to combine both these themes for her big day. She began by purchasing green mulberry silk fibre from World of Wool which she spun. Next the spun fibre was woven and blocked before being cut out and sewn to create the beautiful bodice for her traditional German style dirndl outfit.
Extra fibre was spun and woven (just in case!) and this was used to make her usher, son Lewis, his waistcoat and to make the ring cushion. The gold apron features a white band made up of number of symbols, designed by Sally, that represent members of her family and these were crocheted using a fine thread to add a very personal detail to the outfit.
During our visit to Ampthill Fibre show this summer we saw a stall selling kits to create your own parasol. Sally bought a kit and had the fibre specially dyed to fit in with her sunflower colour scheme. She then crocheted her parasol cover and put the whole thing together to create a stunning accessory for her outfit.
Another beautiful touch was the wet felted Sunflower with Tyvek daisy’s that she made with me. It was attached it to her veil which in turn was lit from beneath with fairy lights.
At our Spinning meeting the month before the wedding we had a drop spindle demonstration and members that took part had the chance to spin a short length of fibre to take to Sally’s wedding. At the reception we took it in turns to add our yarn to a small piece of weaving which Sally and Chris will keep as a memento of their special day.
At the end of the ceremony I can imagine Sally breathing a huge sigh of relief that all her hard work had paid off and resulted in a day that was incredibly creative, unique and very much “Sally”!
In my last post I showed you my wet felted conch shell made from Merino and Corriedale fibres with ribs made from Sari silk yarn. I liked the shape of this and wanted to make another, this time in off white with pale coloured ribs. I found a site on Etsy selling a beautiful subtle coloured variegated sari yarn but unfortunately when it arrived it was so loosely spun I realised it wouldn’t be suitable for this particular project.
As I was in the mood for felting I didn’t want to have to reorder so decided to search for a pastel “slubby” knitting yarn which I knew was hidden somewhere in the depths of my yarn stash.
It turned out to be far easier to work with than sari silk as it was less inclined to move while felting and it had just the right amount of colour and texture for the look I was after. I was intending to leave this shell plain white but now it’s made I think it will benefit from a bit of shading so that’ll get added at some point.
I increased the size of this one to approx 31cm long x 15cm wide x 6cm high. My spinning group has a coastal theme for our 2026 exhibition so there will be lots more shells being made in various fibres, fabrics, techniques, shapes and sizes.
Wet felted spiral shells crop up a lot online and I’d been wracking my brain for ages trying to work out how these are made. I had a light bulb moment back in December when I made this small spiral shell from 10gm of carded Corriedale. Since then I’ve worked out another way of achieving a similar shape and so made this larger version using 20gm of carded Corriedale fibre and measuring approx 13cm x 9cm.
At one point the shell was sitting next to this bowl and I wondered how the centre piece from the bowl would look inserted in the shell…..
…..I quite liked it so I’m now wondering whether to leave it in there as an abstract hermit crab or make the effort to felt a more realistic looking crab, what do you think?
Another theme I’m working on right now is insects, particularly dragonflies and butterflies. It all stemmed from a tutorial by textile artist Anastasiya Goleneva to make this beautiful dragonfly brooch. It’s made from hand and machine stitched and painted calico. At 16cm long x 21cm wide it worked out a bit too big for me to wear as a brooch so instead I’ve put a Command strip on the back and mounted it to the wall.
Having enjoyed making it I decided to do another but using interfacing and my own technique for the body and legs that would allow it to stand and give it a more delicate, longer, slimmer look. One thing I’m not happy with is the “flat” face which suited the brooch but doesn’t look right on the standing dragonfly so version three is underway!
The dragonflies led to my friend Diane asking me to show her how to make a simple butterfly brooch so I made a couple of samples with body and wings made from painted cotton velvet. This fabric takes on a beautiful leather like look and feel when painted with fabric paints or acrylics and remains very soft and flexible. I was thinking of hand embroidering the wings but decided to keep it basic as Diane could add more detail if she wanted to.
I have been volunteering in the shop attached to our local Museum for several years now. I have to keep an eye on the Museum, welcome any visitors, dispense information (if I can) and serve in the shop. Visitors are infrequent unfortunately and, because I get bored easily and can’t stand doing so, I tend to bring in something crafty to keep me occupied between times. As I am using the Museum’s electricity to light and heat my work space, I feel that I should use the time to make something that could be sold in the shop to help to raise funds for the Sturminster Newton Heritage Trust which runs the Museum and also the town’s Water Mill, renting the latter from the Pitt Rivers Estate.
I have told you about the Mill before here and thought you might like to hear a little about the Museum and the things I have made (or attempted to make) over the years to sell in the shop. Though first I must show you a chap who, a few years ago, came to visit the Mill with his mates from one of the local biker groups.
Biker Dog – So cool! I’ve forgotten what his name was, though it might have been Jack, but he certainly attracted a lot of attention from others visiting the mill at the time, and he lapped it up!
This is the building which the Museum Society, as it was then called, purchased from the Town Council in 2007.
The building started life in the 1500s as a cottage. In the early 1800s it came into the ownership of the then Lord Rivers and was occupied by a farmer/baker and then a well known clock maker (we have one of his grandfather clocks in the Museum). After being sold in the mid 1800s it was occupied by an insurance agent and then an auctioneer, before becoming a sweet shop and restaurant as well as a home.
Infamously, before the Second World War, the restaurant was visited for a meal by Oswald Mosley, founder of the British Union of Fascists.
After the war the property was bought by a solicitor and eventually sold to the Town Council in 1996. The Town Council occupied the building until 2007 when it was purchased by the then named Museum and Mill Society.
The Town Council moved into purpose built Council Chamber and offices, which are part of The Exchange building. The Exchange was built and opened in that year on the site of what had been the largest Calf Market in the country but which had closed some 10 years previously. The Town has had a market/fair since 1219, having been granted a Charter by King Henry III, and we continue to have a (much reduced) market each Monday with stalls around the town.
The first of my donations which the Museum sold (eventually) were these two small felt pictures of the Mill. They were my versions of photographs which Graham, my husband, had taken.
Mill Picture 1
Mill Picture 2
Then I had a go at crocheting snowflakes, which did sell quite well in the run up to one Christmas. I seem to remember that I have shown you these before but I can’t find the link so here are some of them again.
A few Snowflakes
The Museum Shop has a number of items to sell which sport images of the Mill, Museum and, in the case of tea towels, our mediæval bridge over the River Stour. I did use one of the tea towels to make a Memo Board for sale, with the intention of making a series of these if they sold. Unfortunately that was not to be, the Memo board I made is still hanging on the shop wall. Though to be honest I’m not sorry that there’s no call for more of them because it took a lot longer to make and was a lot more complicated than I had anticipated, and I had actually made it in my workshop rather than in the Museum shop, so it didn’t really meet any of my criteria.
The “one off” Tea Towel Memo Board.
In fact over the months I have come up with lots of different ideas for items for sale which haven’t worked: Making books in boxes using unsold cards sporting very old photographs of Stur (as the locals call Sturminster Newton). Making Etuis, but I couldn’t work out how to get Mill, museum or bridge images onto them; I would have had the same problem with making chatelaines with fabric covered thread cutters, scissors and needle books. I did think of making pincushions to sit inside glass or ceramic pots or ornaments bought from charity shops but I couldn’t find a way to make sure the pincushions stayed inside them without using lots of glue, which I hate doing. I did try fabric paper weights and door stops, but obviously couldn’t use my sewing machine in the shop and hand stitching would have taken ages and probably wouldn’t have been strong enough to keep inside the grains of rice, which I was to use for the weights.
I was fast giving up on ideas for things to sell in the shop when my stint at trying to sell my scarves and fabric covered note/sketch books in 1855, our Artisans “Superstore” https://www.1855sturminsternewton.co.uk/ came to an end. I had not been able to sell much during the 6 months I’d allowed myself so the Museum Shop ended up with most of the unsold stock!
Some of my Scarves
More Scarves
Nuno Scarf with beaded flower scarf pin
The covered books and the silk scarves aren’t on display at the moment due do lack of space.
I have at last found some things which I can make in the shop and which are going on sale in the runup to Christmas – I have become addicted to making Norwegian Gnomes. Some people these days call them Gonks, but they are nothing like the Gonks that used to be around in the 70s. Here’s one I made back then – it still sits on my landing windowsill. I can’t bring myself to get rid of it. It is made out of a hat which was left over after one of our WI jumble sales. I stuffed it, putting in a scrap fabric base, and added eyes, ears, hands, feet and a tail, and have loved it ever since!
My vintage Gonk
For the gnomes I used scrap fibres, mainly scoured but unprocessed merino, to make the basic shape and stitched large buttons on the bases to help keep them upright. I stitched on noses, in most cases these were wooden beads, though there were a couple of needle felted noses.
Gnome “cores”
I covered the bodies in various unused fibres, mainly prefelts or carded batts which had become compressed in storage, or failed UFOs. I added “hair” – some of the large stock of locks that I found in my stash (I’d forgotten that I’d got so much!) and added beards and moustaches from the same source. Then I covered the pointy hats with more of the fibres used for the bodies. A few of the Gnomes were female – plaits from scrap yarn rather than curly hair and facial fuzz.
I started off making Autumn Gnomes but soon ended up making Christmas ones. There were quite a collection in the end as I was making them at home and at various workshops as well as in the Museum – I told you I was addicted!
Gnome Manufactory at an IFA get together
Autumn Gnome and yet another scarf
Here’s what the Museum Shop looks like at the moment in it’s Christmas finery and with all the goodies currently for sale.
Some of the Gnomes already on display
Shop Display 1
Shop Display 2
Shop Display 3
Some of the books by local authors about the area and its history; and the Children’s Corner
Christmas Hamper Raffle
Christmas Goodies 1
Christmas Goodies 2
The Museum proper has 6 rooms housing various alternating displays which at the moment include:
Our famous writers/poets Thomas Hardy (he wrote The Return of the Native while living here); William Barnes (his dialect poetry is famous – you might remember the song Linden Lea – if you’re old enough!); and Robert Young (he also wrote dialect poetry under the nom de plume Rabin Hill).
A fascinating display on the history of weights and measures (for instance a cricket pitch measures 22 yards long, or a “Chain”. I always wondered why a chain? Now I understand, there was an actual metal chain used as we have one on display.)
We have the earliest map available of the Sturminster Newton and surrounding area dated 1783.
Swanskin (as mentioned in the link at the beginning of this post)
The Hinton St Mary Roman Mosaic – this was part of the floor of a Roman villa found in the next village up the road from us, which is also the base of the Pitt Rivers Estate previously mentioned. The mosaic was discovered in 1963 and unfortunately was removed and is now in the possession of The British Museum. It was hoped that it could be returned to Dorset when the Dorchester Museum was enlarged but they won’t let us have it back!
As part of the Roman display there are a number of photographs showing what flora and fauna was introduced to this country by the Romans. You’d be surprised what plants and animals they introduced that we now consider to be “native”.
Upstairs we have a new working model of Sturminster Newton Railway Station showing how it used to look before being closed in 1966. Very few of the original buildings are still here. That will be a permanent exhibit (hopefully!) whilst most of the others will change from time to time.
Certainly the Museum is well worth a visit at any time of the year.
Hi All It seems I forgot I had to post today so I am late. I am reposting a post showing some of the past Holiday Exchange Cards that we have done. I did remove the links to sign up for this exchange.
Hi all, for those who may not know we also run an interactive forum for felting and fiber folks. It’s a great place to share your work, ask questions and help each other out. http://feltandfiberstudio.proboards.com/
Each year we have a holiday exchange. You make a small felted postcard or similar size card with some felt on it.
Here’s the timeline:
October 4-Nov 9: people sign up
November 10 partners are announced.
November: Make your card, contact your partner for an address
December 1: Mail your card
Here are some of the cards from our past exchange, there has been lots of variety.
I am making some progress. I refelted the cut diamonds
They are now in a bag waiting for me to work on the diamond project.
I did more work on sheep and shepherdess.
Jan made me a wire shape or the shepherdess for me. Then I wrapped it in some waste wool and used a felt ball for the head. than wrapped that in Corriedale.
Once I added wool it was not stable enough to stand. So I asked Jan about adding a piece of wire front and back to stabilizers. so she took it and started working on it. We added a ball in the bottom but then I decided she was too tall for the sheep I was making, and she cut the ball in half and squashed her down. Jan added a snail tail that stabilises her well. It will be covered by her cloak.
I have been putting sheep together. I make the parts separately. Long snake to cut into leggings and ovals for heads. I made some flat pieces in the 3 colours for the ears. I cut them out but I want to felt them some more.
After I add the ears to the sheep I will add the curls like the orange sheep on the right. I also need to make some clothes for the shepherdess. I think she will be a brunette but I don’t think she will get a face.
Lastly for today, is why felting small things and holding them with your fingers and talking to people is not a good combination.
A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to find a used Saori CH60 loom. That loom lives in a spare room in our house. I wrote this post Weaving a Cowl for a Christmas present about using that loom.
On the weekends we usually go to our cabin. The cabin is only a 30 minute drive from home so we go there, do yard work (amount varies seasonally) and then have a meal and a nice quiet night. We return home the next morning to 3 cats who are very happy to see us. The cabin is basic. There is no TV, though there is internet. While there I tend to do a craft of some kind. Last year we added a screened porch to the cabin and I began to dream about sitting on the porch and doing some spinning or weaving. Sadly our porch project started late (getting planning permission was hard) and was finished just before Christmas. So we have been waiting for warmer weather to arrive before getting it setup.
Cabin before adding the porch
Porch in progress
Finished porch, screened room on side (on left), unscreened walkway at front (on right)
Cabin from the front, unscreened porch
So I started shopping around for a folding loom. I had my eye on a Saori WX60. Luckily one of my friends had bought one and it didn’t suit her weaving style so I was able to buy hers. (My friend was planning to return to using her rigid heddle loom. Whereas I sold my rigid heddle looms after adopting my Saori loom because I no longer had time for them.) I picked up the loom at the end of March and I’m really happy with it. Here you can see the loom on the porch. I threaded it up the first day.
Threading the loom
Threading the loom
Folding loom setup on the porch, warp tied on
One of the nice features of the Saori WX60 loom is that it folds. And you can fold it up with a project on the loom. This makes the loom easier to store, and to relocate to another place. I am still getting the hang of folding/unfolding the loom, and find it easier to get help doing that. But I am sure that with practice it will become a solo task.
The loom weighs 13.5kg (29.8lb) and has the following dimensions:
When open the loom is 76cm (30″) wide, 76cm (30″) deep and 98.5cm (39″) tall.
When folded the loom is 76cm (30″) wide, 25cm (10″) deep and 106cm (42″) tall.
I cleared a space just inside the cabin where the folded loom could be stored. I also setup a nice rolling cart to contain my tools. This makes it easy to move the loom outside or inside as necessary. I use a regular chair with the loom and prefer to add a nice cushion to the chair as well. (Lifting your feet to treadle puts more pressure on the bony parts of your butt.)
Folded loom (front view)
Folded loom (side view)
Weaving cart to hold bobbins, yarn, etc.
The first weekend I had the loom I got it threaded. On the next visit to the cabin it was time to start weaving. This shows my porch and inside the cabin weaving locations.
Starting to weave
Loom setup inside. Note the warp on square tube on the beam near the floor.
Over the course of a few visits I proceeded to weave, changing colours and textures as I felt like it. This is a highlight reel of the resulting weaving progress.
I am now nearing the end of the warp. Originally the warp was on a square tube on the beam near the floor. (You can see more details about the Saori warps on square tubes in this blog post.) When the warp unwinds from the tube you transfer it to a rod so you can maintain warp tension. In the left photo you can see that the warp is tied onto a rod that is located close to the beam near the floor. As I continue weaving the rod is getting closer and closer to the shafts on the loom. I have just a few more inches of weaving to do. When I finish the rod should be just behind the heddles. This loom design minimizes warp waste. When I am done weaving I will be able to hemstitch my cloth and remove it from the loom. The remaining threads will be trimmed slightly and twisted into a nice fringe for my cloth.
