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Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays

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Happy holidays, everyone. Christmas for us this year will be late. We won’t have family dinner until Sunday, when everyone can be together. The littles will still get Christmas day and Santa, but we big people will wait. I am hoping that that means I can play in my studio on Christmas Day. I think that will be a great present for me.

Currently, I am still working on my picture from Jan’s class.  This is how it was in the last post. I don’t like the tree trunks I added at the end, and I am not fussy about the fog.

First thing, take the tree trunks off and pull back the fog. I also want to soften the bottom edge of the fog. Although we do get fog that is just like that, with a hard line bottom sitting several feet off the ground, it’s not looking great in the picture.

I did try adding a leafless tree near the shed, but I pulled it off again before I took a picture. I also do not like this fogound tree. The branches are too round. I like the trees behind it and to the right. That will have to be next.

Jan suggested I try a frame on to get a better look at it. The picture is a little bigger than the frame opening, so I tried it with a little less sun and with a little less snow. Sorry about the bad( worse than usual) pictures. I thought I had them straight when I took them. I think I like it better with a little less snow and a lower horizon. What do you think?

I am still thinking about a fence along thetee line. Jan suggested making it at an angle across and out the side. I am not sure. I like the snow. I was thinking of adding just a small clump of grass in the snow on the right to balance things.

 

A Felt Landscape Class with Jan

A Felt Landscape Class with Jan

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I keep wanting to take this class with Jan, but it always seems to get scheduled when I have a class the next day or when I am at the Farmers Market. I finally got to sign up. My class was scheduled before Jan’s. Then I got the dates for the Christmas markets. The hat class was planned for the day after the last market. It would have to move. I would still be exhausted the day after the market. I don’t want to do that to the students or myself. So now I am taking Jan’s class on Saturday and teaching Felt hats on Sunday. I am sure it will be fine. I got all ready for my class early in the week, so all I have to do is load the car on Sunday morning.

To start, Jan emailed us some pictures so we could choose what we wanted to make. There was one I really liked, but thought it needed something else. So I had a chat with Jan about that. She does say you are the God of your picture. And she never does what everyone else is doing when she takes my classes. I went searching on the internet to see if I could find what I wanted to add. I did not have much luck. Google thinks it knows what I want to look at even when it doesn’t match what I put in the search. I found out later that I should try the in cogneto mode to get better results. Jan sent me a couple of pictures, and I found what I wanted.

I picked the one on the top right, but wanted to add a small shed. I know you were expecting one of the ones with sheep, weren’t you?

At the workshop, Jan had lots of her work to show us, to help us understand what we were doing.

 

 

Jan gave us lots of information about different ways to work. She explained all the needles she had given us to try out. You can see them stuck in the orange noodle. She included different versions of our pictures to help us pick out the wool we needed.

Then we had to pick our wool. She had a lot of wool. The bags covered 3 6-foot tables. There were also several books on the table for us to look at. I have no picture of the books. We were all wanting to get stabbing. I will ask Jan to look at the landscape book she has that I haven’t looked at before.

On to working. I chose to do a rough outline of where things were by holding the thin felt over the picture on a window. It was fun and absorbing, so I didn’t take as many pictures as I should have.

My friend Judy took this picture of me working.

This was my neighbour, she was working on a musk ox picture.

And here is a shot down the tables, of others busy stabbing away.

After adding the fog, I put in a little shack.

As we neared the end of the day, I went to add another layer of trees in front of the fog, but I couldn’t get them right at all. I think I was done with trees for the day. So I added the snow in the foreground. I may add the grass with stitching.

So now it is a few days later, and looking at the pictures, I can see the fog needs to fade out more. And maybe not cover all the trees. I will remove the tree trunks and fix the shack door.  Taking a picture really shows you what you can’t see looking at it live. I am not sure where I will go with the trees. I think I swapped the picture I wanted with a darker one. I may bring the fog down and add a few trees in the mid-ground, maybe with some snow on them.  We will see. I will take it to guild socials and continue.

Jan included a large instruction manual for us( 32 pages) in case we want to do another picture and forget everything we were told (completely possible, there was a lot to learn).

I think we all need to pester Jan to make this an online class or a book.  She has so much of it already done.

FELT SWAPPING

FELT SWAPPING

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The International Feltmakers Association has been running an annual Felt Swap – setting a theme and linking members who’ve elected to join the challenge with a “swap partner” from somewhere in the world – since 2020.  I spotted the invitation to join in the 2025 swap on one of the regular emailed Newsletters and decided to have a go.  I started to write this post about the entry and remembered that I’d entered the first Swap and had posted about it.  However, when I trawled back through my posts to find the link for you, I found that I hadn’t actually written the post, let alone published it.  So we’d better start there.

The subject of that challenge was “Light”.  I thought a lot about this as it seemed such a wide subject and I didn’t know where to go with it.

To begin with I listed as many things as I could think of that could have anything at all to do with light and came up with: Light bulbs;   Bright light – dazzling – blurred;   Rainbow;   Prisms and light splitting;   Dark area with light coming in from one side;  Sun beams from behind clouds;   Fire light;   Moon light;   Lighthouse;   Northern Lights.

Clouds and especially stormy skies fascinate me and I thought that I could do something with this idea.  Initially I went for a sun low on the horizon just showing through some dark clouds but with rays going upwards behind the clouds.  For some reason this was not a success so was abandoned.

Then we had a thunderstorm and I had a lightbulb moment!  So I looked through some of Mr Google’s images just to remind myself what forked lightning looked like and then went for a storm over the sea, and used this image for reference.

dark sea, dark stormy clouds with forked lightning running from clouds to sea
Lightning at Sea

I have a collection of fibres, yarns and fabrics in my “stormy” project sack – too big to call a bag – and my first thought was to use some of those in the picture I had in mind.  I had already made a mixed media image of a storm at sea using various textiles and fibres and thought of doing something similar.

Mixed media picture of stormy clouds, rough sea, rocks, spray and wind tossed seagulls
Storm at the Coast

So I looked out some of the fabrics and yarns and other bits and pieces to see what I might use.

But in the end I decided that I wouldn’t use these for a couple of reasons: 1. this was supposed to be a “felt” swap; and 2. using the mixed media would possibly need a larger picture than I was making – we were limited to A5 size – 5.8 x 8.3 inches (sorry I don’t work in “the foreign” if I can help it).  I did use my stormy fibres though.

I was reasonably happy with the picture after it had dried, but decided to do a bit of tidying up and embellishing with some needle felting.

This is the final result

completed felt picture of storm at sea with dark clouds and forked lightning running down into the sea
The swap picture of LIGHTning

 

My swap partner, from Denmark,  sent me a felt bag, which was really good.  I didn’t want it to get dirty or damaged before I was able to use it and show it off so I wrapped it up and put it in a safe place.  So safe that …..!

Anyway, back to this year’s swap.  The theme for this one is “Inspired by an Artist”.

Again this was a very wide subject, first choose your favourite artist then find a piece of their work that sparks an idea.  I don’t actually have a “favourite” artist, I love the work of many: Constable; Canaletto; Turner; Rowland Hilder; William Morris and most of the Arts and Crafts artists and architects; Rennie Mackintosh….  I could fill up the page with names.  I trawled through works by most of these, bearing in mind the maximum size of the piece I was to make (8″ x 8″) the while.  In the end I decided that I would go with Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

I searched google and found several stained glass windows, one wall carving and a draft fabric design that I liked.

In the end though, I decided to go with a section of the last one, which I squared up and manipulated to make it the right shape and size.  The window is typical of the Art Nouveau period and “attributed to Mackintosh”.  I could not find out if it is actually his design but it is certainly very like his work.

I picked the centre of the window to work on and the enlarged and reshaped (slightly) design was printed off in greyscale and laminated.  I would be able to use the laminated design as a base on which to lay out the fibres.

a monochrome image of the window section covered in polythene sheet and the original image in colour
All ready to lay out the fibres

While I was looking through my stash for suitable fibres and pre-felts for the project I  happened to glance at the design which was inverted.  I immediately saw a face with an extremely runny nose!

the monochrome image rotated 15 80 degrees
This was when I spotted the runny nose!

Nevertheless I thought it would be fun to use the design of the face, since we were to produce something “inspired by” a favourite artist, rather than copy what s/he had produced.  This would allow me to get rid of the runny nose and I also wanted to change the colour scheme.

I had decided to use a piece of pre-felt which I had bought from Wingham Woolwork some years ago, especially as it was slightly moth eaten and I could use what I might otherwise have to throw away.  This was a lovely strong purple colour so I decided that my colour palette should be purple, turquoise and orange.

various fibres, yarns in purple, orange and turquoise, and an orange chiffon scarf
Picking colours and materials

The basic design was laid out in reverse, that is with turquoise knitting/felting yarn “face down” on  the design, with some fillings-in of orange fibres on top and two squares of turquoise where the “eyes” would be.  The purple pre-felt backing was placed on top of that and the whole wet felted.  Unfortunately this resulted in the straight lines becoming distinctly wavy – a good job this wasn’t a straight copy of the original!

After the piece was rinsed, dried and ironed, the remainder of the design was added by needle felting (which, together with the shrinkage during wet felting, had effectively removed the moth holes) and finally some simple embroidery stitches.

The piece has been mounted on foam board for stability.

finished face - orange eyebrows, nose and eyes with turquoise moustache, and facial features on a purple background
Finally – the Swap piece

This is the piece I received from my Canadian (Calgary) swap mate.  It is inspired by “Violet Poppies” by Emile Nolde https://arthur.io/art/emil-nolde/violet-poppy

Isn’t it gorgeous?

3 felted poppies with dark leaves on a yellow felted background, displayed in a circular embroidery frame
Swap piece received from Canada
Various green sheer fabric from my stash.
Birch Landscapes Completed

Birch Landscapes Completed

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When I last posted, I was working on two birch landscapes. I had finished stitching the branches on one and was working out what I wanted to do about leaves.

Blue and green felted background with silk paper birch trees and free motion machine stitched branches.

I stitched the branches on the second landscape with free motion machine stitching.

Two landscapes side by side before leaves are added.

These work very well as a pair. I didn’t do anything to emphasize the “lake” or “water” effect of the background. I thought each person could interpret the landscape as they see it.

 

Now for the leaves. The photo on the left shows the sheer green fabric I had in my stash. It’s a combination of polyester organza and silk organza that has been hand dyed. I ended up using the more yellow green silk organza choices.

Felted blue and green background with silk paper birch trees and cut leaves place on branches.

I cut a bunch of leaf shapes. I don’t use a pattern but just cut them out randomly. I have found that they need to be different shapes to look natural so I just start cutting shapes that are vaguely leaf like. In the photos above, I have laid the leaves on top, again very randomly, to see if I have enough coverage. I ended up adding a few more after I started stitching to fill in where needed.

Felted blue and green landscape backgrounds with silk paper birch trees and cut leaves stitched in place.

Here are the landscapes after stitching down the leaves. Now, I am going to work on stitching them to a background fabric and lacing on to boards, so they are ready for framing. What should I name the pieces? Any ideas?

Demoing Felting Question: “How does that work?”

Demoing Felting Question: “How does that work?”

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Demoing Felting Question: “How does that work?”

Summer is the season of planned and spontaneous demos.  Whether it’s planned, demonstrating felting at fairs, craft shows, fibre or yarn stores, or less planned, felting sitting in front of your home, or waiting at a doctor’s office,  it’s an opportunity to introduce others to the fun of felting. I wanted to chat about this today, since I have recently overhead others say they haven’t signed up to do guild demos because they don’t know what they will get asked at the demo. Also, they have never demoed before and feel that they need to be really good to demo.

Demos are an opportunity for us to show others what cool things we are doing. We don’t have to be masters at what we are showing, but we have to be enthusiastic (without scaring the public) and look like we are having fun. Seeing someone who is enjoying what they are demoing is likely to inspire someone to try whatever they are doing. It is also good to see someone who is just starting to let others know they can do this, too.

jan working on felted pictue of 2 sheep in front of large burlap bails of wool at wool growers co-op 2019 1) 2019 Wool Growers Co-Op Demo

If you have never demoed before, try a group demo where you are not alone and have others who can answer questions and take the lead.  You can also just bring your felting with you when you will be waiting somewhere for a while, like the doctor’s office or emergency department, most people will just smile and watch. (They are usually happy to have something to distract them from why they are there. It’s a good way to get used to being watched while you’re working.)  Spinning is particularly popular with people in the emergency waiting room.

I have found that at most big demos, I have to start talking to people before they will approach. When I first started to demo, it was weaving I was showing. If someone seemed curious, but not brave enough to ask what I was doing, I would ask what type of loom they had at home (even when I was reasonably sure they had never seen a loom before). They usually laughed and started talking to me, often about their grandmother’s spinning wheel! (We will not discuss today anyone loudly saying “look she is making wool!!” while I am spinning, or “Look she is spinning!!” when I am weaving. It’s a bit trickier, so getting Sleeping Beauty’s spindle wheel confused with Rumpelstiltskin’s flax wheel is slightly understandable.) Nevertheless, it was an opening, and I could tell them about the magic of watching cloth appear as you change the order of harnesses, which changes the pattern.

 

Now let’s consider what seems to be the most scary for new demo-ers, what am I going to get asked?

First, you are not required to know everything to demo! If you get a question you don’t know the answer to, admit that, and suggest they contact the local or online group. You don’t have to be an expert! Enthusiasm and looking like you are having fun will inspire others to try. That said, whether I am demoing needle felting in 2D or 3D, I most commonly get a few questions repeated as I am working.  Let’s take a look at some of the most common questions.

The first is “How does that work?”

If you don’t know how the needle’s barbs grab the fibre and push it into the felt or ground fabric, it does look like magic.  I try to show them the barbs along the working part of the needle. If you have a course needle, it’s easier for people to see or feel the barbs (32g or courser).  If they are having trouble seeing, I let them hold the needle, warning them the end is very sharp, and have them run their fingernail over the area where the barbs are located.

*I did have one person tell me they had tried using a needle to felt and it hadn’t worked at all. After I showed her the barbs on my needle, she admitted she had tried a sewing needle. I can see why she was having trouble getting the wool to felt.

 

Doer felting needle 32G diagram2.1) Doer felting needle 32G

Doer needle chart to help ordering triangle needles2.2) Doer needle chart for triangle needles

2019 small muskox landscape, Demoing at a social, under drawing and adding wool, finished image2.3) 2019 small muskox landscape, Demoing at a social, under drawing and adding wool, finished image

 

Common 3-D Question:

When I am working on a 3D piece, I get asked variations on “how do you move the wool where you want it to go?”.

First, the wool moves in the direction that the needle is travelling. Poke in the direction you want the wool to move. While also being aware of the position of your barbs, and thus your working depth, so you are getting the barbs to entangle or move the fibre to the location you want it to be.  It’s easy to say, and sounds simple, but I have seen beginner felters poking vertically (up and down), while trying to move the wool horizontally. It would be more effective if they poked the needle horizontally (moving left and right) or rotated their shape to align with the direction the needle is moving.

You can get quite devious with this concept.  While working on a sheep broach, I had the face quite sheepish, but the nose was not as firm as I wanted.  Who wants a soft-nosed sheep, that is just flaccid, or a limp-nosed un-sheepish aardvarkish-sheep?  If I poke from the outside, into the nose, I will distort the nose, and I will have to add more wool and reshape it.  There is a second way to firm up under a surface structure that you are already pleased with, if you have not finished sculpting the back side. You need to know where the first barbs are on your needle and how far to push the wool so the needle does not emerge past the finished surface.  In this case, I worked from the back of the head, pushing fibre through the sheep’s head broach towards the nose, from the back, to firm up the nose without changing the outer surface. It’s sneaky, but it works.

diagram working from the back of the head to firm up the nose without changing the external shape3.1) Moving the wool to firm up the face if needed.

2020 demoing for delivery guy while i was sitting by my side door. image shows the front edge of a manta wing adding black figer and sculping intersection betweeen colours i am useing a pen tool wiht 2 needles (can hold up to 3 needles) 3.2) 2020 demoing for the delivery guy sitting by my side door

I also usually explained that needle felting sculpture is both additive (like clay) and Subtractive (like Stone). Usually, you use some of both concepts when you sculpt with wool.

Additive:

  • You can make a shape and then add it to your creation. Sara from Sarafina Fiber Arts (lots of YouTube videos, including the Mermaid feltalong) works a lot this way. It has the advantage of being easy to explain what you are doing and is repeatable by other felters.
  • You can build up a body by layers of muscle, which is a great way to study musculature, but not a fast way to sculpt. Most sane people just add the general superficial musculature in a simplified form. You can also just go for cute and make more of a caricature of what you are making.

diagram showing felting across a cercle then folding the cercle along the felted line then felting along the fold to give a shape with a loose edge that can be attached to the maine shape. 4.11) A circle of fibre, needle felt across the diameter, then fold in half. Felt along fold line and as far down as needed, leaving an unfelted fringe giving an edge to attach to the main shape.   Sara creates most of her sculptures this way.

adding fins that have been pre-shaped and the attachment edge left loose to allow it to be (sharkboy under structure and 2 fins)4.12) adding fins that have been pre-shaped and the attachment edge left loose to allow it to be secured to Shark Boy

Subtractive:

  • If you poke in the same spot repeatedly, the fibre under that spot will entangle and compact. Visually, you will see the area that is being poked indent. Which looks like you have removed the wool above the dented area, while in fact it’s just compacted the fibres and moved them in the direction the needle was pointing.

diagram shows stabbing repeatedly in the same spot will both indent and compact that spot relative to the surrounding area.4.2) Stabbing repeatedly in the same spot will both indent and compact that spot relative to the surrounding area.

Hybrid – working with loose fibre (using both additive and subtractive methods to sculpt):

  • I often use loose fibre, use a few pokes to attach it to the area I want to sculpt and then, by careful poking, shape it into what I want to see. I tend to do this more when I am building up the under structure. But sometimes for adding detail, too. This is not as fast as remaking a shape and adding it, but it’s a lot of fun.

Miss Manta demonstrating adding loose wool and sculpting it into place. tail detial corner of mouth and scoops being sculped with loose fiber4.31- 4.32) Miss Manta demonstrating adding loose wool and sculpting it into place.

 

Common 2-D felting question:

When I am working on a picture, people will stop and watch me add small wisps of fibre, layering them to get to the depth of colour I want.  “Oh, I would never have the patience to do that!” OK, that technically isn’t a question, but that gives me the opportunity to talk about the various ways you can approach making a picture with needle felting that they could use.

Like a pastel: (usually a good approach with landscapes)

  • Working from the background towards the foreground.
  • It is easier to overlap images and create depth.
  • This usually makes the most sense for most images as an order of working.

Treating wool/fibre like a watercolour: (slow but impressive results)

  • Slowly layering tiny bits of fibre like washes in water colour painting. The transparency of the application allows the upper layer to be affected by the under layers. If you have lots of patience or just like to putter on a project, this may be your choice.

Like an acrylic (paint by number or colouring books): (much quicker than working like a water colour)

  • If you use a small window to isolate part of your reference image, you can match the colour you see in the little window, mix that colour, and then add it. Move to another spot and match and add that colour. You can think of this more like a paint-by-numbers kind of approach.
  • You can mix larger amounts of colours that occur in various parts of the image, which gives the image cohesion and it’s faster than mixing the same tone multiple times.
  • This is quicker than working like washes of watercolours.

Using a bit of each approach:

  • If you use the work order (like a pastel) from the background /mid-ground /foreground
  • Use colour matching to lay out the main parts of the picture, then
  • Use wisps of colour for blends and highlights in the blocks of colour.

displaying fox picture and working on sheep image. 3-D dragon with hand died silk wings in background more of table display, to right huge fish cat cave eating Struffed cat, table drape has name of guild and just out of from is web site and QR code for contact info5.1-5.2) 2018 Makers fair demo

 

I also get asked about “What fibres are you working with?”

This gives me the opportunity to talk about different properties of fibres. We can use lots of different kinds of fibre, sheep, alpaca, lama, Dog, Cat, Yak, silk, even plant and manmade fibre.  I can show on the fox picture that some of the cream coloured fibre is cat hair. That there is silk in some of the highlights, and the whiskers are horse hair, but I am looking for the outer guard hairs of a muskox, which I think will work better. Most of the rest is various breeds of wool.

  • Different types of sheep have different wool properties. (light reflection/ texture/crimp) fibre preparation; carded or combed, can also be used to affect your picture)
    • Merino absorbs light, so it works wonderfully for shadows
    • Bluefaced Leicester has a higher light reflection, so it works well for highlights
    • Shetland and Coriedale are what I tend to use for most of the image
  • We can also use fibres from other fur-bearing animals; dogs, cats, llama, alpaca, muskox, yak, bison, angora goat or rabbit, etc.

“Where do you get your fibres”? It is usually the next question.

  • Local yarn or fibre shops, online, and local farms.
  • Try to give a few options that are near to where you are demoing, if possible

2017 Ann demoing Blending board at the carp fair. explaining what happens with leftover bits of fiber she dosnt use up in projects. the blending board was poplular with adults and kids watching 6.1) 2017 Ann demoing the Blending board at the carp fair

If the demo is at a fair or large event, remember you may only get a few minutes of their time,  so give the brief version of an answer (I have trouble with this. I can be verbose, I know you are shocked to hear that!). If they don’t look like they need to leave, you can either go into more depth or ask them if they have more questions. If they look interested, but rushed (kids are trying to drag them away to the rides), try to have contact info for the local group that they can track down later. A business card is great to hand out, or a sign with the contact info that they can take a photo of and consult later is helpful too.

2019 Farm show demo, part of table display shows table drape with contact info and name of guild. also a strong selection of felting6.2) 2019 Farm show demo, part of the table display

2025 Dickonson day demo, Amanda getting help with her spinning this kid was facinated by the wheel. adults can also be captivated but are usualy more reserved about trying it out.6.3) 2025 Dickonson day demo, Amanda getting help with her spinning

 

Synopsis:

Smile, engage people by asking them questions, show them what you are doing, and have a contact for more information (it can be an online option if you don’t have a local guild/group). If you don’t know the answer, say so and suggest they contact the local group for more information.

The three important concepts for needle felting are

  • Rule 1) the sharp end of the needle goes in the wool, not your finger (following this rule saves on bandaids)
  • Rule 2) the needle goes into and out of the wool in the same vector (no changing direction as you poke), and
  • Rule 2.5) The direction you poke is the direction the wool will move.

I hope this gives those who have not tried demoing yet some encouragement. It’s lots of fun and you get to meet future fibre people! Have a wonderful long weekend, Monday!  The next long weekend will be Labour Day Monday,  September 1st, 2025! Have fun and keep felting!

Blue and green felt background with silk paper birch trees stitched to felt and machine stitched branches with dark grey thread.
New Landscapes

New Landscapes

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I started a couple of small landscapes this past week using pieces of nuno felt for the backgrounds but using the wool side instead of the silk side. I thought the “backs” were more reminiscent of forest than the silk side.

I already had some of the “birch” silk paper that I made several years ago so I used it for making trunks. Here’s my inital layouts for the two pieces. They are both about 5″ x 11″.

I then stitched the trunks down with 30 weight cotton machine thread in a very light grey. You might have noticed that I added a few more tree trunks to the right photo as it seemed a bit bare.

Blue and green felt background with silk paper birch trees stitched to felt and machine stitched branches with dark grey thread.

Then off to the machine to stitch the branches with free motion machine stitching. I only got one of the pieces machine stitched as I got tired with machine stitching. I am out of practice, I guess. Now what to do for the leaves? I could hand stitch, or use some type of applique.

It could be like ‘Thick with Green’ where I used cheesecloth for leaves.

Or perhaps more like ‘The First Leaf’ with green leaves instead of yellow. Or I could hand stitch the leaves? What do you think?

Thanks Carlene for providing me inspiration to create more birch trees!

Felted Cat Cave, a quick how to -revisited.

Felted Cat Cave, a quick how to -revisited.

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I am supposed to have the summer off. So far, I don’t seem to have stopped running. So I have nothing new to tell you about. So I am going to share this with you again. I hope you enjoy it again if you have already seen it.  I am at a Demo today. I plan to take lots of pictures and blog about it on July 23. It sounds so far away, but I am sure it will be here the day after tomorrow.

I have been wanting to make a cat cave for some time now. I decided it needed to be bright. I picked some Blue Faced Leicester wool so it would be strong and dyed it chartreuse. Then I picked some purple and magenta for the spikes.

Spikes and Wool

I wanted an oval cat cave. I used my oval hat form to get the shape and gradually sized it up.

Drawing the Resist

I laid out 4 layers of wool for strength and even shrinkage. I put the first side aside, and after laying out the second side, I poked holes to put the spikes through.

Spikes in the Wool

After wetting it all down, I wrapped each spike in plastic wrap so it would not get felted down flat.

Spikes all Wrapped Up

I covered it with a sheer curtain and rubbed both sides for a while and rolled it for a while, and then wrapped it up, put it in the dryer twice, changing the position of the felt each time.  It was starting to shrink, so I cut out the resist and switched to rolling it in a stick blind. I find the stick blinds to be very aggressive and shrinks the felt quickly.  I did do some throwing, too. Finally, I rinsed the cave out in a bucket of alternately hot and cold water, being quite aggressive with it. I then had to stretch the top so it would be domed. I steamed it to heat it and make it easier to stretch. Mostly, I used a wooden spoon to push in a sliding motion to get the shape. Here it is on top of the resist, so you can see how much it shrank.

Finished Cave on top of the Resist

Here it is in use; it didn’t take long for one of my cats, Wu, to take up residence.

 

Cat in Cave

As a footnote, Wu (the queen of all things) is no longer with us. This is one of my favourite pictures of her. She really liked the cave; we buried her in it, here on the farm.

Photo of a 3D dragonfly created from machine stitched fabric. It’s painted in metallic colours of mainly green, pink and blue.
Felted Shells and Fabric Insects

Felted Shells and Fabric Insects

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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.

Pale neutral coloured Sari yarn layer out in rows


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.

A ball of pale grey knitting yarn with slubs in shades of grey and peach.

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.

Two wet felted conch shells. A small one in shades of red and blue. A larger one in white with pale grey and peach coloured ribs
A white wet felted conch shell with ribs in pale grey and peach.


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.

Photo shows two wet felted spiral shells, the larger one is beige, the smaller one is grey.

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…..

Photo of a wet felted bowl made with blue and turquoise Bergschaf fibres. Felted cords radiate out from the centre of the bowl creating height and interest.

…..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?

Beige coloured wet felted spiral shell. Lilac and pale green felt cords protrude from its opening suggesting an abstract life form.
Photo of a beige coloured Wet felted spiral shell with abstract hermit crab poking out of it.

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!

Photo of a 3D dragonfly made from machine stitched fabric and hand painted. It’s standing on an outside table with greenery in the background.
Photo of a 3D dragonfly created from machine stitched fabric. It’s painted in metallic colours of mainly green, pink and blue.

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.

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Wool mini landscape on red prefelt after wet felting.
Miniature Wool Landscapes

Miniature Wool Landscapes

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A few posts ago, I showed you some painted miniature landscapes. Why not try the same idea in felt? So off to my stash to figure out what I had to create these.

Supplies for wool paintings laid out on work bench including various colors of wool roving, locks and colored prefelts.

I found a variety of green wool as well as white, grey and blue for the skies. I also had some locks in black and dark grey and thought they might work well for tree trunks. I had a few sheets of various colors of commercial prefelt to use as a base.

5" x 7" colored prefelts for wool paintings laid out on work bench.

I cut the prefelt into 5″ x 7″ pieces. I thought any smaller might really get difficult getting the wool to cooperate.

Beginning layout of wool on pink prefelt for mini landscape.

I decided to try one first before I made all of the landscapes. I used the pink prefelt and laid out a variety of greens for the foreground and white with a tiny bit of blue and grey for the sky.

Final layout of wool on pink prefelt for mini landscape.

I then laid out the trees with a very small bit of locks for the trunk and a bit of green for the leaves. Now on to wet felting it.

Mini wool painting of landscape after wet felting.

I wasn’t particularly happy with the locks after felting. They went right through the merino and I wasn’t careful enough, as they moved about. Now I had really hairy dark spots that looked nothing like tree trunks. But I was happy with the rest of the landscape. These shrank down to about 4″ x 6″. I probably could have shrunk them down further but since it’s a “painting” and not functional, I decided 4″ x 6″ was a good size. They will fit into 5″ x 7″ frames easily.

Mini wool painting after shaving off excess "hairy" fibers.

Since I wasn’t happy with the hairiness, I decided to shave the piece. I think it looks a bit better now. So on to the other six landscapes.

Final layout of wool on various prefelts for other six mini landscapes.

I laid out the other prefelts and added wool to create more landscapes. Then wet felting them all at the same time. The entire process took me about four hours.

Here they are completed. I like seeing them at thumbnail size as it doesn’t bring out any small details. But I will show you them in a bigger format for those of you who would like to see the details.

Wool mini landscape on red prefelt after wet felting.

Wool mini landscape on yellow prefelt after wet felting.

Wool mini landscape on red prefelt after wet felting.

Wool mini landscape on green prefelt after wet felting.

Wool mini landscape on yellow prefelt after wet felting.

Wool mini landscape on white prefelt after wet felting.

The plan is to get some frames for these and take them to the gallery. My bigger pieces haven’t been selling very well lately so I thought a smaller size option might be an easier purchase for people.

skeleton of a hare standing on hind legs
Hare Today !!!

Hare Today !!!

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I had been wanting to go back to needle felting sculptures for some time, so when I came across a tiny picture of a hare in our local free newspaper New Blackmore Vale Magazine,  I knew I’d found what I wanted to do.  Rather than the usual boxing hares, which I may well have a go at sometime in the future, I felt called to this solitary speeding hare.  He only had one fore foot on the ground and was obviously in a great hurry.

Brown Hare running on snowy ground
Original Inspiration

On getting my necessary supplies together, it was clear that I would obviously need a good strong armature for him and a solid base to hold it steady.  Trawling through my drawer of wires, I found what looked like an unused coil of old, cotton covered, bonnet wire (probably pre-WW2).  I’ve no idea what gauge it was but it was obviously strong enough to hold up an old fashioned bonnet brim, so I was sure it would keep the hare upright.  Having  resorted to Google for images of hare skeletons (naturally I wasn’t able to find one in the actual pose I needed, but I did find a couple of useful references) I looked out some other wires which would probably do for the pelvis and rib cage.  I fiddled with the images and printed off one enlarged to the size I wanted to make the hare and then made a tracing/drawing to use as a working pattern.

My idea was to have a base made from two pieces of wood, with  extended leg wire from the only leg actually touching the ground passing though a hole drilled in one piece of wood, and then bent at an angle of 90º. The wire would then be pressed into a slot cut into the underside to stop the hare swinging around when mounted.

image of wire protruding from bottom of piece of wood
Showing the extension of the armature from the grounded foot protruding from the bottom of the base

The second piece of wood would be fixed under the first piece to keep the wire in place and also to add extra weight to avoid the whole thing being top (or hare) heavy.

I would use the bonnet wire for the spine and head, and pipe cleaners for the pelvis and ear armatures, then go back to bonnet wire for the limbs.

While I was working up the armature I first had the leg wire stuck in a heavy reel of wire.

Subsequently, when I was needle felting, the leg wire was passed through a newly made slot in my felt needle felting cushion.

Using more of my scoured merino, which I had bought quite some years ago now from Wingham Woolwork, I started to fill in the inner body.  The wool is scoured but not otherwise prepared, so it required quite some carding to get it into a state where I could use it to wrap the armatures and to fill in the muscles to give some substance to the animal.  Here are some views of that work in progress.

I had of course gone to Google Images for reference pictures of hares from an all round perspective, both for body shape and for colour, from which I blended various colours for my palette.  Here are a few of those.

Then I started adding the “top coat”.  Working on a sculpture rather than on a “painting” was a bit complicated (and painful at times) until I found myself a small piece of polystyrene packing foam to use when I couldn’t rest the part of the hare I was needling onto my felt cushion.

Another complication was transporting the hare from home to the various venues where I was working on him.  In the end I used an empty plastic box and turned him upside down into it.  It was a bit of a squeeze but he just about got in safely.

Bit by bit, over several months, he began to emerge from the fibres.

I had originally thought to use a pair of glass eyes which I had in stock as they were the right colour and had the black surround which can be seen on a real hare.  Unfortunately they were too big so I fell back on giving the hare orange woollen eyeballs and working them up from there.

When he was substantially finished, I added some “grass” and “rough undergrowth” to the “soil” on top of the wooden base.  This consisted of all sorts of odd bits of fluff, fibre, yarn and fabric selvedges, plus some suitable acrylic paint.

4 different images of waste fibres and yarns in greens, creams and browns
Some of the bits and pieces of scrub and grass

The footwire was poked into the hole in the ground and bent under so that he was running across the scrub land. Then, using his carry box as a stand, I added and secured the second piece of wood.

showing clear plastic box topped with 2 blocks of wood on top with needle felted hare attached upside down inside the box. The two pieces of wood are stuck together with masking tape and partly screwed together
showing his carry box and adding the 2nd part of the base

Although the 2 pieces of wood were from the same larger piece they did not look good when screwed together so I painted them green, obscuring the fact that they were not one large piece.  I thought I was done then, but unfortunately one of the pieces of wood started to warp and spoiled the illusion.  Eventually, after some thought, I removed the bottom piece of wood and glued some non-slip matting over the base (having first taped the footwire into its slot in the bottom of the base) and painted the underside the same green as the sides.

Whilst working and looking at the reference pictures of the whole animal, I realised that he probably had had lots of whiskers.  So I looked for more reference pictures of hare(y) faces and saw that indeed he did.  So how to add these essential appendages?

4 images of close up pictures of whiskery hares' faces
harey faces

I have for some years now been collecting cats’ whiskers.  (They make great fishing rods for fishermen living in the countryside of 00 gauge model railway layouts!)

Black paper with many white cats' whiskers
It’s the cat’s whiskers

I would use some of these for the hare.  Initially I was adding a dot of glue to the end of the whisker, poking a hole in the hare’s muzzle and pushing in the whisker.  The problem was that the whiskers were life-size for a cat, but too big for my hare.  The whiskers were actually strong enough to be poked into the hare’s muzzle without first making a hole, (provided there wasn’t a bit of armature in the way), so in the end I just poked them in and through and out the other side, chopping off the protruding bit and leaving the right length behind.  In fact, unless someone tries to pull them out, the whiskers will stay where they are.

needle felted hare's head with whiskers poked through muzzle and protruding ends being cut off with scissors
cutting the poked through whisker ends

I am hoping to find some form of clear box to cover the hare and stand, if only so I don’t have to keep dusting him.

Here he is.

completed and mounted needle felted hare placed on juniper branches to resemble running free
Out enjoying his run, whiskers and all

Since making him, I have inherited a book all about gnomes.

front cover of book "Gnomes" showing front and back images of gnome with pointed red hat, leather belted blue coat, brown trousers and "deer skin" boots. Gnome has brown face and white hair, eyebrows, moustache and beard
Cover of Gnome book

One of the fascinating things I have learned about them is that they can run as fast as a hare and are small enough to take a ride.  So you never know my hare may gain some friends some day.

Final thought – what should I name him, any ideas?  (Don’t say Harry, I don’t think the Prince would be amused.)  I understand that Hares were introduced to the UK, probably by the Romans, so perhaps he might be named after a Caeser!