Guest Artists – Felting and Fiber Studio

Lichen – Part 2 – Continued experiments put to work!

May 31, 2023 Antje Comments 17 comments

In my recent post (https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/2023/03/22/lichen-textiles-my-goal-part-1-experimenting/) I made the statement….

‘Having admitted that I can’t do ‘loose’, I was born unquestionably inquisitive so my forté is experimenting. This seems to get around my inner critic & certainly fuels my more serious endeavours.’

In hindsight I should be more forthcoming and admit that I have an almost insatiable curiosity of the world around me – anyone who knows me will be nodding emphatically – as my curious child within has never stopped….’Why?’, ‘How?’, What happens if….?’, ‘Can I just ask?’ etc, etc.

The result – I’ve learned (sadly, age, now means I’m forgetting much of it!) and witnessed a lot, even wandering off in foreign lands (to the consternation of others, but fortunately to no harm!) and experiment endlessly….often tweaking the ‘rules’….🤪 no surprise!

So here I’ll show more of my lichen, Mottainai experimenting….

Close up of various fruiticose & foliose lichen on tree branch

Paper lichen experiments with packaging & used coffee filter papers — Close up of various fruiticose & foliose lichen on tree branch

Foliose lichen & moss on a tree trunk — Cut & heated foil

Yarn moss mounds & lichen clusters — Moss mounds on brick path

Manipulated sweet wrappers — Dried foliose lichen on a twig

Twigs with various lichen, all dried — Frayed hessian, all bits salvaged

As I’ve said many times, I’m often to be found pondering….Mmmm, what happens if? Then of course I go down yet another rabbit hole….Is this a sign of a creative mind? – but I digress!….Playing with plastic milk bottles has been a typical example of not only disappearing into the rabbit hole (the point I was at in my last post!)….

Plastic milk bottles cut to produce various shaped pieces

3D plastic milk bottle pieces wrapped with yarn — Plastic milk bottles cut to produce various shaped pieces

….but of getting waylaid exploring it’s warren!

Milk bottle plastic lichen — Fruiticose lichen on a tree branch

Milk bottle experiments — White crustose-type fungi in a tree

When I’m out and about I’m always stopping to take photos.

An aside – Six months ago I joined the ‘modern’ folk and got a replacement to my 12-year-old mobile phone (the salesman was almost hysterical with laughter as was I 🤣). It has been an exponential upward curve of learning (and still is)….BUT, having done my homework, it has given me a brilliant camera….yay…no more lugging a separate camera around!

Of the many genre of photos I take, Mother Nature always takes the biscuit! I see something, my mind races and then I’m off down another rabbit hole!

Foliose Xanthoria parietina rings on a wooden fence rail — Crochet lichen rings

Completed crochet piece — Experimental crochet on commercial lace

Many of my experiments are something I can do whilst TV chillin! The crochet rings above, whilst time consuming are effective & relatively easy. However not all experiments work well – crocheting over the commercial lace, another ‘what if?’, became a….’NEVER again’

Having now shown several of my experiments I can hear you shouting – ‘How are you going to use them?’

So in answer to that question, and before I send everyone to sleep, I’ll present one example of how I’ve pieced together a few of the 100s of elements to create a lichen inspired textile piece.

Mother nature's small world — Ideas from nature

The finished work attached to the backing matt — The finished piece mounted proud of the backing matt

Creating this piece I re-purposed as much as I could including –

a surplus to requirements, circular piece of felt – I love circles.
some crocheted waste yarn that was left over after buying a commercial jumper from a charity shop for the sequin yarn that was fashionable a few years ago….it took me so long to unpick the jumper and separate the plain and sequined yarns! Next time I might just buy the expensive sequin yarn new!
Manipulated plastic food bags and crisp packets – all cleaned of course!
Viscose staple fibres from a community store (selling ‘waste’ products from industry)
Oh yes, even some felted dog hair!

All combined with machine stitching, hand embroidery (incl – colonial knot, my favourite knot, bullion & sorbello stitch) and some beading.

Crustose lichen on a wall — Crutose lichen on stone

Detail of beaded yarn hummock & embroidered plastic bags

Detail of embroidered scrunched plastic bags — Detail of beaded yarn hummock & embroidered plastic bags

And finally….framed (I’m delighted to say I won a 2^nd prize for textile work in an area competion), using an Ikea Sannahed 35x35cm frame.

A post script to make you smile – when you are on your own, with have no extra hands to help unwind a hank of yarn….

No extra hands - so use feet! — No extra hands! And a bemused furry canine!

part of the fulling machine showing teasles and a fulled blanket

Upper Canada Village trip

May 29, 2023 Jan Comments 11 comments

05-06-2023 Upper Canada Village trip after the morning shopping with Sharkboy and Glenn. (https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/2023/05/15/more-shopping-for-the-mers-again-looking-for-hair/)

When last we chatted we had left the fibre festival in Spencerville and headed a bit further south and east heading to Upper Canada Village (UCV).

The Village has an interesting history. The plan was to make the St. Lawrence River deeper and thus navigable, to larger oceangoing ships, thus providing them access to the great lakes. Unfortunately, this would require the flooding of 10 small villages that had grown up along the river’s edge. To save some of the historic architecture from these soon to be flooded areas, some of the buildings were moved to two new locations. Some went to Ault Park and over 40 structures went to Upper Canada Village, whose construction began in 1958. The buildings included several working mills (woollen mill, grist mill and sawmill) and trades buildings (blacksmith, tinsmith, cabinetmaker, cooper, bakery, cheese-maker) as well as a doctors home, chapel, livery stable, taverns/dining room, and two farm complex. The village is set up to represent life in the 1860s. There is a large team of costumed interpreters working at the village to help show you what the 1860s were like.

On the Saturday that we visited Up UCV had decreed free entrance to the village in celebration of the Coronation of King Charles, so it was very busy. We were lucky and found a good parking spot. I think shark-boy was miffed since he had not found locks to make his hair at the fibre festival, so he stayed in the car to sulk and we went off to have fun looking at everything without him.

1) Just inside the village of Upper Canada, that is the sawmill over to the left.

I knew I had limited walking and didn’t want to tick off my back so we consulted the site map and made a plan. The Woolen Mill, the Blacksmith shop, the Weaving and spinning house, the dressmaker’s shop and the stables. I didn’t think I could make it to the farms to see the oxen and sheep.

2) The map of UCV showing the main spots we wanted to make sure to see.

Our first stop (not just because I really wanted to see it, but it was also the closest building), was the Woolen mill (Asselstine Woollen Factory). This was a two story building, with the downstairs levels accessible to a walker or wheelchair. Providing fibre UCV has its own flock of sheep, which they sheered and the fleeces used on site. I did not see the sheep, so was unable to ask the interpreters what breeds were prevalent in 1860s Canada.

3) Large mounds of fleece (possibly raw behind the rope and washed closer to us), on what might be skirting tables

4) Washing tubs were located on the other side of the room from the tables with fleece.

Between the fleeces and the washing area was a stairway to the second floor. That just will not be happening today! So, I went around to the other side of the ground floor at the back of the building. We passed these fabulous kettles for dyeing fibre or spun yarn as we found the way in to see the rest of the lower level.

5) dye kettles sitting upside down along the foundation of the woollen mill

At the back end of the lower level of the mill is an industrial water-driven loom, a fuller, and the intake of water to run all the machines. (I understand on the next floor are the spinning and plying machines to create the yarn.)

6) Water powered industrial loom with a fly shuttle

7) This is the fulling machine. Notice the rows of teasels to raze the fabric’s nap.

8) The teasel row close up

9) This blanket has been rubbed by the teasels, which brings up the nap or fuzziness.

10) At the farthest end of the building was a display of dried teasels and oilcans. To the right, hidden behind the timbers, is the intake of water to power the mill.

11) The intake for the water that runs the mill. I didn’t see anyone to ask how they kept the water from getting past the wood and flooding the lower level of the mill.

12) All the machines are belt driven in the mill.

While we were there admiring the equipment, the machinery started and the belts began to turn. Since the loom and fuller did not run, I suspect they were working on the spinning or plying machines upstairs. Also, likely, why we didn’t see any mill workers in the lower level.

13) Our second stop, the blacksmith shop

Our next stop was at the village Blacksmith. He was in the process of repairing part of one of the wagon harness attachments. (I was a bit vague on how it would all go together once completed.)

14) Working over the anvil, the blacksmith is making the end of what seems to be a pin with a handle. This end will have a faceted face to add a bit more decoration as well as be functional.

15) It was a well-equipped blacksmith shop, having 2 anvils (similar in weight to Glenn’s) 2 swage blocks, and there is a foot vice attached to the work table just left of the picture.

He used a piece of chalk on the floor to draw his pattern and get the correct proportions as well as explain to his audience what he was doing. It was like having a giant working blackboard at his feet. I wonder if we should draw on our work tables when we felt?

16) When he had the pin end made he sketched out the handle that would be attached to the pin.

17) He used the pin to check the size of the handle to be added to the pull pin. He has already flattened one end of the bar and punched a hole through it (to attach it to the pin.)

We saw him demonstrate upending, punch, drift as well as bending over the horn and a few other ways to reshape mettle. When Glenn was happy and had his fill, we wandered on to see the weaver’s house (McDiarmid house built in 1864).

18) McDiarmid house built in 1864, 2 story log hewn house.

This house has a handloom and a number of spinning wheels. We recognized Shirley, the spinner/weaver demonstrating here. She had a few die-stuffs on display, the most popular was the bug cochineal which makes a beautiful red colour.

19-20) Shirley talking to visitors

The 2 side rooms were set up as bedrooms. Each side room had 2 wheels (all different) as well as the 3 wheels in the main room. There is a large barn loom which presently does not have a warp on it. There was also a small tape loom on the far side of the room.

21) Tape loom, drop spindle and nitty noddy in front are some of the natural die samples.

As more people came in, we left Shirley to chat with them and headed off to find the dressmaker’s house.

22) this is one of the Views on the way to the house of the dressmaker. (Old farm building with log rail fence and man in 1860 attire in the foreground.) We saw a number of different log rail fence styles and I wish I had taken the opportunity to catalog all the variations.

23) The dressmaker’s stone two-story house and side yard those trees may be apple trees.

24) The dressmaker, with a display of some of her wares on the table before her. There are bonnets and a crinoline in the corner cabinet behind her.

25) This is a device that sets Crimp in fabric. It is usually used in pairs, one is heating while the other is in use. It requires the fabric to be damp as it runs through to set the ridges.

26) Handmade Dorset buttons are examples made over rings and one over a wooden base.

27) Buttonhole scissors, Has a notch and screw between the grips, to set the length of hole required for the button. I might like buttons better if I had such high-tech scissors.

I enjoyed looking at pictures of the upper floor with the tricky turning staircase. I appreciated the inclusion of pictures so I didn’t have to try the stairs. It would not likely have gone well! with a new surge of visitors to her shop we made a retreat to allow them space and headed back towards the park entrance, and our final stop at the livery stables.

28) At the livery barn, the working UCV horses live for the summer. This one is being harnessed to pull a barge.

UCV have a small herd of pure-bread Canadians. This breed was a popular working horse used for multiple types of farm jobs (Similar to the Morgan Horse in the states). This one is getting tack so he can go pull a barge along the edge of a channel. Other horses were pulling a wagon with seats today and often pull other carriages and delivery carts around the village. They also power a saw and till the fields of the main farm (the oxen, who are at the tenant farm, also can pull and plough but I did not see them today)

29) Another way to get to see the village is by wagon with seats pulled by horses. Two more of the villages Canadians are providing the horsepower.

30) As you can see Canadians are not huge horses being built more on the small but strong theme.

31) Here he is pulling the towrope while showing off, some Canada geese from the shoreline path.

I was told that not all of the village horses like to pull the barge but that this one does.

32) The barge with the rudder in the back is filled with tourists. The horsepower is on the shoreline with the tow rope. Across the river are some very not 1860s houses on the American side of the water. I bet they have a fabulous view of the Canadians’ side and all the historical happenings.

After a long walk through the park, we took a quick look through the gift shop and then back to the car.

33) Shark boy was studying the map but luckily does not have the appendages or height to operate the vehicle and leave without us. (There I finally have a felting-oriented picture!)

May 6^th, was a great day, shopping in the morning, with lots more photos while visiting UCV in the afternoon. I was not as sore as I feared by the time I got home. But on the morning of Tuesday, May 9^th, I got in the car to head into the guild, just to do some extra library work and maybe teach inkle weaving and got caught in a battle between my seatbelt and my jacket. There was a popping noise in my low back and a lot of pain but I did get the seat belt done up and made it down to the studio! I headed home early since the back just would not settle. I saw my doctor but when my back kept getting worse, not better, Glenn and I had a trip to the emergency room and got new drugs. After a week stuck in bed, I was ecstatic when I could get out of bed on my own and get as far as the bathroom (it’s a very small house that really isn’t as impressive an achievement as it sounds!) I have missed being online for most of 2 weeks and have likely made too big a blog post again to make up for that! There is so much to catch up on! But I will try to take it slow and pace myself. (Being stuck in bed on heavy meds has given me a few felting ideas I would like to try! But not today.)

If you are ever in the southeast end of Ontario Canada, I hope you will take the opportunity to visit UCV (Take walking shoes and a good camera). It is a fabulous representation of the 1860s, it was both educational and fun. I hope I will be able to go again and see the farms that I missed on this visit! Then I will be able to tell you all about the sheep!!!

A sample of flowers and some lambs.

May 27, 2023 shepherdessann Comments 17 comments

After thinking about the flowers for my branch (here’s the last post if you missed it https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/2023/05/13/tree-branch-progress-and-shopping/ I decided it would be better to do a sample so the colours could be seen better than in the pencil drawing.

I grabbed an offcut of a fulled sweater to use for the sample. It’s a bit lumpy but it should work for this. I have already decided I wanted a purple background to the flowers like the hairiness you see around some flowers.

I thought orange would be the best idea for the central stalk of the flower. I had a lighter and darker orange so I did some of each to see how it looked.

Then it was time to add flowers. Someone on the last blog post said to try gradient colours for the flowers. that sounded like a good idea. I am using embroidery floss the stuff that comes as 6 strands. I started with a darker colour and smaller knots at the top. Then I added a lighter colour strand and made a little larger knots. Then just the light colour but more strands and bigger flowers.

It’s not the best knot-making. On some, I just couldn’t get the knots to line up in neat rows. It’s probably the stitches of the sweater, you can see it’s fulled up quite lumpy. I am leaning toward pink. The yellow is nice too.

And now as promised some lamb pictures. We have 3 sets of twins and t singles so far.

Also last year you might remember that we had a bottle lamb named Storm.

Here is what he looks like now. He is a messy eater as you can see.

‘Paisley’ Entrance Hall Table Mat

May 23, 2023 lynannierosie2 Comments 22 comments

A colourful hall table mat can add a wonderful splash of colour to a neutral scheme – and be somewhere to throw your keys and display flowers from the garden!

To make the paisley mat I first made a paper template …

… then I made four layers of blue merino wool to make the base of the mat.

I changed my mind about the centre of the paisley pattern so I re-worked the template.

Then I cut around every line on the template before placing it on the wetted down blue fibres.

I used very thin wool yarn to mark the lines on the template, working outwards from the circles and removing the paper as each line was finished.

I put down a fine circle of dry wool fibres then placed a circle of very open weave fabric on top of each one.

I filled in the tear-drop shape with merino wool, did some outlining with thin black wool yarn, then added some white cotton nepps.

I also placed white cotton nepps around the edge. They are lovely but so hard to work with – a lot of patience is needed to persuade them to join with the wool fibres!

I rubbed, not rolled, this mat and after a while I decided that I didn’t like the edge so I trimmed it with a rotary cutter. The edge healed during the last bit of agitating.

I rubbed mostly on the reverse side with the felt between two pieces of net and the bamboo providing gentle agitation on the underneath (as shown below).

Finished size is 70 x 33cm (27½” x 13”).

I find that my felt is not as smooth when I’ve rubbed it compared to when I roll it. In retrospect I realise that I should have rolled the mat.

I’m happy to just agitate wool fibres by rubbing when the piece will be displayed as art work, but for anything else I think rolling produces a better finish.

Spinning with my new Autowind Flyer

May 21, 2023 carleneruns Comments 11 comments

I love to spin yarn. It is my favourite craft and I generally find it very relaxing. This year my husband got me this fabulous gift – a custom plate for my car.

Woman holding a license plate that says Spin Yarn — My birthday present this year.

Speaking of gifts… recently a friend offered me a tremendous gift of an autowind flyer from Level Wind Systems. What a generous gift! I got a flyer for my Majacraft Rose because that is my go to wheel.

2 Majacraft Rose spinning wheels — Majacraft Rose with bulky flyer on left and Majacraft Rose with Overdrive flyer on right

I actually like my Majacraft Rose so much that I have 2 of them, one where I can use the regular and jumbo bobbins, and a second that has a massive Overdrive bobbin and flyer on it. The Overdrive wheel is great for plying and for spinning bulky yarns.

The autowind flyer has batteries inside the left flyer arm. When you switch the unit on, the yarn guide slowly moves up and down the right arm. This results in the yarn filling the bobbin much more evenly.

This is a photo of the same bobbin. You can see how the singles form a nice rotating layer on the bobbin.

Spinning using the level wind flyer — Spinning with the level wind flyer

I have spun a few skeins now and have discovered a few things. When I put the flyer on I need to tighten the flyer onto the mandrel of my Majacraft Rose. However, when I tightened the flyer enough so that it works properly, it was also impinging on the bobbin which made spinning not very nice. I had to really crank the brake and there was quite a bit of drag. To fix this I dug out some Plumbers tape (also called thread seal tape) and wrapped it on the flyer mandrel. Then I installed the flyer. The tape helps the flyer make a nice snug connection but also leaves the bobbin free to spin. This resulted in a much nicer spinning experience.

Wrapping the thread seal tape on the mandrel of my Majacraft Rose

Another thing I discovered after using the thread seal tape was that my bobbin was sitting back past where the flyer could nicely wind on the singles. This resulted in an empty area at the rear of the bobbin. The singles were collapsing into the empty area which was not very tidy and could lead to tangles later when plying off the bobbin.

First bobbin with singles not filling the rear of the bobbin properly — The singles are winding on, but the rear of the bobbin is partially empty and the singles are collapsing into the space.

To fix this problem when I started spinning the next bobbin I added a simple felt washer behind the bobbin.

Flyer showing a felt washer added behind the bobbin

My current project is a pound of dyed fiber from Adele Forward, an Indie Dyer in Dorset, Ontario, Canada. Adele posts her dyed roving, locks and yarn on Facebook. Have a look if you are interested in buying some delicious dyed fiber.

Pile of purple roving — Yummy Superwash Merino dyed by Adele Forward

Bag of fibre showing the label Adele Forward — These 1 pound lots come in nice big bags.

This is my progress after spinning 3 bobbins of the same fibre. You can see bobbin #1 in the upper right (with the slightly empty section at the top/back of the bobbin), bobbin #2 in the upper left (which was spun with the felt washer) and bobbin #3 on the wheel (again spun with a felt washer in place).

Three bobbins spunI have now moved on to plying. Because I have 3 bobbins of singles plying is a multi-day job. It took me about 5 hours to fill the first jumbo bobbin with plied yarn. And here are the bobbins after plying up that first big bobbin. There is still lots of singles left to go into the second skein.

Plied yarn on jumbo bobbin with autowind flyer

And here we are with the second bobbin done and all the yarn wound into skeins.

Bobbin of plied yarn — Second bobbin of plied yarn

Two skeins of purple plied yarn (First skein is on the right)

I have to say I love how quiet and helpful the autowind flyer is. It is a fabulous tool and I am very appreciative of this awesome gift.

Needle felting supplies on a wooden table: there are some red merino wool, two wooden needle holders, a small plastic box of felting needles and two white finger protectors on a foam mat

Starting on a needle felted bunting

May 19, 2023 kikistextileart Comments 14 comments

As you may have guessed, my family lives in London, United Kingdom at the moment, but English is not our mother-tongue. We happen to celebrate our birthdays all in UK, though, so during the years I managed to collect a few birthday party buntings here: of course, all of them celebrate “Happy Birthday!” in English and none in our language, Italian. Also, I only have a short felt one and all the rest are plastic. I like the felted one a lot better than the plastic ones, it’s so much easier to store without worrying about creases, it is always in perfect shape and luxurious looking, even though it was not actually more expensive than the flimsy Lego themed one!

I decided to make us a new felted bunting with the Italian equivalent of “Happy Birthday!” written on it: as it will use Italian words, it will be longer than the English one, and I will be able to add more elements to make it longer still. It will be very colourful and it could be used for all our birthdays for years and years to come, and no more worries about creases and folds. It seemed a nice plan.

It is a fairly easy basic kind of felting project: one just needs to make as many flat triangles shapes as needed to spell the words and punctuation (in my case “Buon” and “Compleanno!”, so it’s 15), with one more for the space between the words, and as many more for decoration as one likes. On the triangles, you can needle felt the letters in contrasting colours.

Then, a satin ribbon will be passed through slits on the upper part of the triangles: this will mean that one will be able to adjust the length of the bunting to different size spaces. If you do not wish to have an adjustable bunting, you could make a felt cord of the desired length and attach the triangles to it at fixed intervals by needle felting or sewing them to the cord. And the bunting will be ready to go.

I wanted to go for needle felted triangles, although I guess it could be a much quicker job if you wanted to wet felt them : just wet felt different wool colours and cut them in triangles, then seal the edges with rubbing.

Well, I need the needle felting practice, so I took out my needle felting supplies and had a go at making a needle felted triangle shape.

Red merino wool laid out in a vague triangle shape on a foam mat — I laid out the wool on a vague triangle shape on my small foam mat

On the foreground, Kiki's hand is holding some needle felting needles in different colours. On the background there is red merino wool on a foam mat on a table. — I have different sized felting needles that are colour coded for ease.

Two wooden felting needle holders are on the foreground, and there is some red merino wool on a foam mat on the background — My two wooden needle holders, one can hold 6 needles and the other only 1 needle at a time: I enjoy the feel of the wood!

I needed a thicker needle for the first shaping stabs: that would be a 32 gouge, that is silver coloured in my set.

On the foreground a 32 G felting needle, on the background red merino wool. — My, it is quite thick, you can see the gouges quite clearly.

A 32G felting needle gets placed in a wooden needle holder — My one-place needle holder is quite easy to use: just insert the needle into the gouge of the inner bit, and push the inner bit+needle into the handle.

Kiki's thumb and index finger into finger protectors. — Donning my finger protectors that I bought at http://www.heidifeathers.com

Felting needle stabbing at red merino wool — Now I can start roughly shaping my wool!

Never mind the photo, that I was taking with my phone while moving the needle with my right hand: I actually started shaping my triangle by stabbing and shaping the edges of the triangle first, then moving towards the center.

I lifted the shape from the foam mat and stabbed a bit more on the other side as well, adding some more wool if I thought that some parts were uneven or not thick enough.

A vague triangle shape in red merino wool on a foam mat — It is taking shape nicely on a side, let’s see the other..

A red merino wool triangle shape a bit distorted on a foam mat — That is the fluffy B side: it needs working on.

Red merino wool being stabbed with a felting needle on a foam mat — I noticed some thin areas in the corner, so I added wool in.

Then, I saw that it was the time to change the needle to a thinner one.

A triangle shape of red merino wool prefelt on a foam mat — It is coming along well, but still a bit too fluffy: time to change needle.

I usually like to use a 38 gouge needle, colour coded red in my set, to do more detailed work when I am needle felting. Sometimes I pass through the 36 gouge needle (green one in my set) before the 38 g, or use a 40 g needle (blue in my set) to finish, but in this case the job was fairly basic, and I did not want to change too many times.

A 38 gouge felting needle is shown on the foreground while prefelted wool is on the background — Choosing a 38G felting needle to go on with my project

After stabbing more, I felt that the shape was looking good. If you wanted it more regular, and were not lazy like me, you could make it more regular than mine by starting at the beginning with a rectangle shape and then folding the rectangle in half diagonally into a triangle shape, and stabbing more. But if I have to make more than 15 triangle shapes I am not going to bother making them regular: I am just so lazy!

Triangle needle felted shape in red merino wool on a foam mat — My first triangle does not look too bad, although it is a bit irregular.

I guess one could stab on and make the shapes very firm, but I have no patience and was eager to go on (14 plus triangles to go, you know…), so I selected a bit of merino wool roving in teal for the first letter to add to my triangle shape. You do not need a big amount to complete one letter, you can use leftovers from other projects. I like to use carded merino slivers if I have them for small areas of flat needle felted decoration, I find that it is easier to shape them into small regular shapes.

Some teal merino wool roving on the foreground, a red triangle felt shape in the background — A small amount of merino wool roving is enough to shape the flat letter on the triangle shape.

I used the same red 38G needle to stab the teal wool on the triangle shape. It is not difficult to make the wisps of carded wool take the shape that you want, you just need to work on the surface, really, without stabbing too enthusiastically.

A felting needle stabs into some teal merino wool on a red prefelt — Stabbing the teal roving on the triangle shape to form the first letter.

A felting needle shaping the letter B in contrasting wool on a prefelt — The letter is getting shaped bit by bit.

A triangle shaped element for a felted bunting, with the letter B on it — The first letter is done! B for Bravo!

I managed to finish my first letter quite quickly, but, guess what, I stopped there and never mustered the will to make all the other 14+ triangles! Well, the first birthday coming is not till ages….

P.S. the nail varnish was courtesy of my daughter, who wanted to play nail decorator that day!

Sharkboy takeing a brake from moving carders with covers

Covers for Carders

May 5, 2023 Jan Comments 13 comments

New Carders need new covers

In a recent post, I was asked about carder covers. I made mine quite a few years ago, ok at least 20 years ago, but had not got around to making ones for the other hand carders I own. (it’s just the others didn’t get out much and I got distracted, you know how that can happen I am sure!) I had picked up 3 pairs second hand I think as part of a box lot at an auction. They were ones with curved backs and not as old as some hand carders I have seen. These probably come from the 1970s. I have no guess as to the manufacturer. The only clue is a mysterious symbol on the back of each set. “A”, “B”. “C”, I am afraid that these mystic symbols are not illuminating as to their origins. Luckily these strange symbols have not affected their ability to card wool.

Last week I picked up another hand carder, this one with significantly stiffer teeth than my present collection. I have also found that my safety carders have been coming with the Mers and will also need some safety covers (but not today). I have used a thin packing foam for the pet combs until I can make them covers too.

First, let’s have a look at the new carders;

My latest acquisition is made from a soft wood that is ruff on the end grain. I suspect it is probably pine. The handles, although the same colour, seems to be made of a slightly firmer wood. The teeth are embedded in a canvas fabric, then glued and tacked to the wooden carder. Bernadette said she had a similar pair and that the stiff teeth are excellent for courser wool.

As I said the teeth are very stiff and have little flexibility. This doesn’t mean I don’t want to protect them.

1-2 The new to me, carders before sanding

3 close up of Foam drying pad cut to cover the carder teeth

What you will need to make these carder covers

4-7 Items used to make the carder’s covers

1 Dish drying foam mat
2 Elastic and velcro straps
Interesting fabric
(you may need a sanding block or sandpaper if your carder is a bit ruff)
A ruler, pen and sewing machine are also helpful.

When I made my first cover, I wanted to have something a bit softer than just the fabric cover to protect the teeth. I found a bathroom soft scrubby pad, it said polyurethane foam covered by a “new” microfiber top. They were available at Walmart and then Dollarama, so picked a few up. Silly me I did not reserve all I had purchased for the hand carder protection as planned but used some for their original purpose of cleaning!!! they were available for about 3 years and then mysteriously disappeared from both my sources. They were replaced by a much larger, but similar, product called a “microfiber dish drying mat”. Its tag says Polyurothatin foam and 100% polyester cover. It is very much like the original pad but huge at 15” X19.5”! (I could cover a large drum carder rather than just small hand cards with it! ….HUM………NO! NO! That will have to be a later project!!) Luckily it is easy to cut to the correct size to fit the little carders with my cheap paper scissors. Ok, now I have the foam pads to protect the teeth.

For my newest set of carders, because the end grain is ruff, I will also need a sanding block to smooth it and prevent splinters. (Splinters are never good, they wind up in either your fingers or the wool.) I found a two-pack of foam sanding blocks at Dollarama. The local hardware store will have them or some old fashion sandpaper and a block of wood. In a pinch, a foam nail file will work as sandpaper too

8 sanding the back of the hand carder taking out chips at the edges and little scratches and punctures

9 half the handle is sanded(lower half)

10 working at smoothing the end grain

Now that I have the worst of the roughness smoothed and have pieces of foam to protect the teeth. now I can get the fabric and measure it out to make the covers. The overall pattern is simply, a rectangle with long tabs attached at one end. Depending on the shape of the fabric you have, changes where you will put your seams. If you don’t have much of the fabric you like (say one with sheep), you can use a different fabric on the inside. luckily I have just enough!!

To make the cover closure you have a few options, sew-on Velcro is easy to use and seems to be common. If you haven’t quite got around to sewing on the Velcro, you can try what I have been using “Stretch utility straps” (elastic with Velcro on the ends.)I wrap the elastic over the tabs and connect the velcro to hold it closed. I remember seeing closers made from ties, and even buttons, but I like the Velcro and strap closer the best.

Shark Boy has offered to help show you the old carder cover so we can make a pattern.

11 Sharkboy volunteers (his parents are cuddling in their project bag so he offered to help)

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12-21 Shark boy removing the cover and foam pads off my old carders

Now that Sharkboy has opened the carder cover, we can look at the shape and make measurements.

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22-28 measuring the original carder cover

29 This is the size I am going with, yours may be a bit different depending on your carders size

We should also notice you have three main options as to how you orient your carders for storage. (the variations are more dramatic when viewing the curved cards than the flat ones but it’s still worth considering the options available for both styles.)

30 teeth to teeth

Option 1 stored teeth together – this leaves the teeth inter-meshing, while it may keep the teeth from snagging on any nearby object it is not great for the teeth. It also causes the handles to point outward if you have a curvature to the paddle part of the carders. This is the way most naked carders are stored.

31 Back to back/ teeth out

Option 2 stored teeth out – this is a bit silly (but it is a possibility even if it’s silly), it will put the teeth in contact with anything in the vicinity (including your fingers) and give the carding cloth surface no protection. The only advantage is that the handles don’t stick out oddly. (I am trying to be positive.)

like the 3 bears looking for the perfect bed, this brings us to the final configuration.

32 teeth to back

Option 3 stored teeth in the same orientation – Since one carder sits above the other, this would cause the teeth to be stored against the back of the upper carder. Ah, this is where the foam pad comes in. There were masks on the backs of the new second-hand carders which suggested this was one of the ways they had been positioned. This orientation also alines the handles which makes them fit easily into a bag or basket when they need to travel.

Now let’s make the pattern. There are two main rectangular shapes for carders; a shorter rectangle for wool carders and a longer rectangle for cotton carders. I have now seen “Student” carders which are smaller than the standard wool carders. Both shapes of carder require a very simple pattern so just adjust it to fit your size. If you are not trusting of numbers you can make a pattern using a couple taped together pieces of paper to check the fit.

I had been over at Walmart looking in their craft/sewing department. There was a selection of precut “quilting squares”, which were actually rectangles, that I looked through. They were not the finest of thread counts but they had 3 patterns with sheep, the odd cat/alpacas and one with mice. The size works out to approximately 16” wide by about 20.5” long, close enough to what I had used last time!! this is not like sewing an Elizabethan corset so if your fabric is a bit shorter in length it will still work, but with shorter tabs. As long as you have fabric adequate to cover the width and enough length to wrap around the carders with their foam spacers protecting the teeth, the extra will be the tab length. Two of my older carders have lived with a stretchy elastic with velcro and the foam pads for many years (they’re the ones that don’t get out much!) so you can fudge it if you are a bit tight on your favourite fabric.

Your other option is to make the cover out of 2 different fabrics if you’re short. This could be a fashion statement, flipping whichever side out that seems to fit your outfit that demo.

Let’s get sewing

33 End and side seem in, locating tab length

Since I am folding on the long side, I will have a seam at the end and down the opposite side. (seam is on the left short side and at the top long side)

34 Making wider tab ends

35 marked for sewing

This time I wanted to try a wider end tab to give a bit more protection for the carder. I found the center on the unsewn end and estimated the seam placement. I used the edge of the pressure foot to give a thin seam allowance. Remember to leave the center area between the tabs open so you can turn the cover inside out. (I almost didn’t on the first one! It has been a while since I have been sewing, I should practice more.)

36 NO WRONG WAY!!! (leave the space between the tabs un-sewn)

Trim the area between the tabs to about 1 inch from the end of the sewing line. clip back to the corner (see the pictures). The flaps will get turned into the opening and the nail pressed down after the cover is turned inside out.

38 Turn out the body of the carder through the opening left between tabs

39 turning out tabs

Turn the body out through the open space then turn each tab right side out. Tuck in the extra wide seam allowance at the opening. If your iron is not handy you can nail-press the opening.

Lastly, take a rounded-end chopstick and get the corners poked out. There are more expensive tools for sewers to get into corners but this works and was in with the felting tools.

The elastic straps with Velcro

41 Sharkboy shows you the two different lengths of velcro (short and long)

The elastic straps at Dollarama come in two sizes which are not always the same length. pick one that is not too tight and compressing the foam covers but not so loose it won’t hold the carder cover on. (I know that was obvious but some really are quite different small or large than the previous ones I have purchased.)

If you want to make yours extra fancy, top stitch along all the edges. You can add two strips of sew-on velcro to the tab and the main body of the cover (try it on your carder to get the best position. If you want a fashionable 2-sided carder cover I would go with the elastic and Velcro arrangement my first cover has. (so you can turn it either side up)

For odd-size carders, you need to add teeth protection and stack them as you would like to store them. measure the distance from the base of one handle (at the edge of the carder) going directly across the width of the carder down to the underneath carder, across it stopping when you reach the other handle base. Call that X. Now decide how long you would like your tabs (t). X+T+ seam allowance= the long side of your rectangle. The width plus seam allowance x 2 is your other dimension. When in drought just use a string with knots or make a mock-up in paper. (I have found numbers can be just as tricky as letters!)

I do hope this is somewhat clearer than mud! If you decide that this is all too much work or you can’t remember where you put your sewing machine or your hand sewing needles there are a number of people selling premade covers on etsey.

Lastly, Sharkboy got all the new covers on the carders and staked them up for me. He has been working very hard and needs a treat to reward him.

42-43 Sharkboy is determined to organize the newly covered carders

This weekend (back willing) Mrs. Mer and her son Sharkboy will be going to a fibre festival south of Ottawa in search of hair. I will let you know how all our shopping goes.

44 Sharkboy has had a busy day helping with this project and says goodnight

Finished Pin Cushion.

May 3, 2023 shepherdessann Comments 16 comments

My Pin cushion is finished. the start of it is here:

https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/2023/03/04/making-a-pin-cushion/

I added a door so the hobit could get into the house. I used wool that I have had for years, it’s a mix of browns with a little dark purple. I don’t think they sell fibres anymore. all I could find was yarn.

And then I seem to have forgotten to take pictures until I added the stream. I added the stream with the felting machine. It was so much faster and easier.

Next, I added a window and some bushes and a tree. Here are a few shots of that.

I wanted to add flowers but wasn’t sure if I should do French knots or little felted blobs. Then I thought I don’t need to add any flowers, the pins will work as flowers. I had some pins with little coloured heads. I am sure the little neat flower garden in the front won’t stay that way but it looks nice for now. I also added a door knob on for the door.

Weaving with my stash

April 27, 2023 heirloom51 Comments 9 comments

So, what are you going to do with all this – stuff? Its a valid question posed by my grandson. He’s helping me clear out the house and storage spaces and there really is a lot of ‘stuff’ to deal with. Time to get weaving.

I chose a warp that had a khaki base made up of lots of different fall colours so it could handle loads of different colours in the rest of the warp. Colours don’t have to ‘match’ when weaving. The don’t have to match ever come to think of it. This is the colour palette I chose.

This warp was longer than usual because I wanted to attach any subsequent hand spun warps to the wastage. Wastage can be very expensive and finding a way to minimize this loss is good economics. My plan is to have a yard/meter of extra fiber at the end of the weaving that I can tie the new warp onto. This will save me wastage of a meter/yard per warp. The only wastage will be a few inches at the beginning and end of each new warp until that extra yard is all used up.

The colours look great and the yardage I was able to get from my hand spun was really surprising, kind of shocking actually. Really looking forward to getting started on the threading and weaving.

When making a warp a cross is introduced on purpose to keep the threads separate. This cross is maintained throughout the threading process; it protects the warp from turning into a tangled mess. The oldest and simplest way to do this is by inserting sticks on either side of the cross, tying them securely in place and getting on to the next step of threading the loom. This time I chose to thread from front to back of the loom. Starting by threading through the reed – the metal comb installed in the beater – and then threading the threads through the four different harnesses. Each thread has a specific spot on the loom where it fits. Its a bit like programming a computer by hand, really by hand.

The threads were sett at 10 ends per inch which might be a bit snug, but it looks good and once the scarf is finish it should be soft and snuggly.

When a thread broke I was not surprised, it’s almost inevitable, especially with the irregularities of hand spun, so I did a repair by pinning a thread in place, threading it through the reed and it’s spot on the harness. Then it was weighted in the back of the loom with a small weight. I use clip on table cloth weights for picnic table cloths. Once the damaged thread is woven in a sufficient length the true thread can be brought forward, pinned in place, woven for a little distance, then the weight removed from the patching thread. This patching thread can be cut.

If you look at the purple stripe, everything looks fine. The scarf is done, the length is just what I wanted and then I spotted it. A whopper of a mistake that will set me back a little on my plans to reuse this warp, save time, blah, blah.

I have been weaving a very simple tabby, over-under, super basic. It’s deceptive because its very difficult to get an even look to such a basic weave. The threads had to be pulled into position, not beaten. This way they would make nice little squares when the scarf was washed and fulled (hopefully).

Then I spotted the threading error, nearly at the end of all this fussing around drats.

Not the end of the world, just a bit disappointing. I’ll have to rethread about half the loom, and be more careful this time! Oh, and fix that single green thread that has errors all the way down the middle of the scarf.

A big purchase

April 19, 2023 helenefeltzen Comments 24 comments

After years of deliberation I finally decided to take the plunge and purchase a drum carder. This year’s AGM of the International Feltmakers Association which took place in March put it back in my mind. My friends in the Felting and Fibre Studio cemented my resolve as they gave me lots of excellent advice during one of our get togethers.

So, research completed, I purchased from the German company Wollknoll principally because they offered the best value for money. While I was on their site I made some other purchases too, including a felting tool, some pre-felt, locks and a few other items. The parcel arrived quickly and it was so exciting to receive it. In fact it was like Christmas day only better because I didn’t have to stop what I was doing to cook dinner!

The exciting opening revealing all the extra ‘stuff’ on top!

I bought the Ashford wide (12 inch) drum. I opted for this rather than the 8 inch drum because there was less than €50.00 difference in the overall price. It was very easy to put together and the box will be stored in the attic as I am given to understand that second hand carding drums have a good resale value in Ireland. But for the moment I am going to enjoy it.

Once I put it together, Enda and I set out for Ikea which is not far away. Jan had recommended purchasing one of their trolley tables on wheels for it as it could be secured to the surface and it would become its permanent home. I found a lovely one. (Thanks Jan ). Enda helped me make it up and now they are sitting in my workroom.

Et Voila! Here it is all set up in its new home 🙂

On Easter Monday I finally found time to try it out using scraps of wool. I am so excited with the results of my first experiments.

One of my reasons for adding to my order was that the overall weight of the package was not going to increase the transport costs. Therefore, what I generally would ignore (because postage costs of buying small items made the price prohibitive) suddenly became attractive (with the ‘free’ postage).

My other purchases included some prefelt to experiment with. I only recently found out that the Wollknoll merino prefelt is a lot softer than DHG Italy product. I’m an not sure why this should be important – it may be more malleable. It certainly feels softer. I shall report back in this regard. The grey one to the left of the photo is DHG Italy and the other is from Wolknoll.

I also purchased a new felting tool. I like the feel of this beauty as there are no sharp edges to possible tear the felt (I have other felting tools that are quite pointed and rough). I hope to test this one out soon:

Then comes the two ‘down the rabbit hole’ purchases. first up, warp thread and then a concoction called ‘Foto Transfer Potch’ which I will need to read up about before attempting.

These should keep me out of mischief for a while.

Do you have any hints and tips for a novice drum carder? Any assistance will be most welcome!

Latest experiments:

Over the past few months I have been experimenting with felting on a ball. This is just a personal challenge. I wanted to see if I could make some pieces with different finishes which would be felted on the outside of the structure (the videos I have seen place the design against the ball then turn the piece inside out so that the design shows). I am sure there are videos that show how to do this the other way around (where the design is already on the outside and there is no turning involved)but I have not been able to find them. Here are the four I have made so far:

First Shibori and Ripples:

Next: Fantasy flower:

Here’s Geode Ball:

Finally, here’s Disco Ball using recycled coffee pods (my least favourite). I used four different colour pods on this particular one. You can see the different colours in the photo inset. I did not like the colour of one of the sets of pods so I decided to use nail varnish to paint over it. Two coats. It adhered very well.

I used a small yoga ball for my base. It was handy as it could be inflated/deflated and it cost a fraction of what I would have paid for a felting ball.

Have you ever tried this method of felting on a ball? I would love to hear how you found it and see your pieces.

Happy creating!

Felting and Fiber Studio

An International Collective of Felt and Fiber Artists

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A big purchase

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