Registration for Teri Berry’s Felted Bags online class is now open! This is a great course and was well received, so it’s exciting it’s being run again. There are limited spaces available so if you want to register, click on this link and fill out the registration form.
During this 5 week course, you will have the opportunity to make at least 3 bags/purses.
In week 1, you will make an animal themed spectacles/phone/pencil case, this could be in the image of your favourite pet or a friend’s pet (they make very thoughtful gifts) or a mythical beast of your own imagination! You will use multiple resists, introduce some nuno felting and make a closure entirely from wool.
In week 2 you will learn to make a small to medium shoulder/handbag (purse to our US friends), this tutorial will demonstrate how to add internal pockets, a magnetic clasp, adjustable shoulder straps and take shaping the felt to the next level so the bag has a flat bottom and stands up on its own.
The week 3 tutorial is a little more ambitious, you will learn to make a backpack with adjustable straps, multiple internal compartments and internal pockets.
Weeks 4 and 5 will be for catch up / further development, you might like to apply your own design to a bag, Teri will be on hand to answer any questions and talk through any challenges your design might create.
As with all the online courses, there will be lots of opportunity to share your work with the rest of the group and share ideas.
The content of this workshop is suitable for felters with some experience, you do not need to have made a bag before but if you are confident making felt pods, bowls etc. over a resist you will be able to make these bags.
The class begins on February 13th. The price for this five-week course is £60 GBP (approx. $79 US, $105 Canadian, €70, $112 AUD, $119 NZ) and the number of places will be limited to 30 students.
I was looking for some flat circles I made a week agone to try out some ideas for the 1st quarter challenge of Jewelry. LINK While I was rummaging around for where I had stashed them, I found these. I made them a long time ago. The long one was meant to be attached to a hair clip but it never happened. The small round one has a pin on the back.
I did find a few circles. Not the ones I made last week for this but these will do.
The first one is locks, I wanted to use them to make a pattern. I anchored the cut ends in the middle and then curled the ends around and back to the middle.
I left some of the longer ends sticking up but the first thing my mom said was, did you miss these ends? I guess they didn’t look deliberate. I felted them flat into the middle. I think I will add some beads to the middle for interest. Maybe one big bead but more likely some small purple beads
I think I will make some bigger circles so I can use some longer locks I have and make some hat pins. I think this would be good with alternating colours too
Next is my experiment. I watched this cool video of how to make a 3 arm St Bridget cross from straw. LINK I am not sure how something with 3 arms is a cross but that is what its called. It looks like one of those pagan things that got converted to Christian. Historically this happened a lot. There is a 4 arm st Bridgid cross too.
I thought some yarn might work for this If I anchored it in the middle of a backing piece. I envisioned the arms spreading out getting wider and wider making like a sunburst with a triangular middle. This is the first attempt. I laid them down side by side to get spreading but it really just looked a mess. I pulled it off and separated the strands and thought maybe if I wove the strands it would work better with yarn. It was messy too.
I pulled it off again and tried it keeping the yarn one over the other and lining it up with the angle instead of right up against the last thread. This one worked fairly well. At least it looked like a triangle in the middle. I think yarn is just too flexible and squishy. I am not sure it is useful for anything.
Have you made any jewelry for the Challange? or just for fun?
I took a small break from the differential shrinkage pod pursuits as I wanted to add some surface design and texture. I needed to see what type of free motion machine stitched lace would look the best.
My first attempt looked like this after stitching. I used a variegated brown thread on the top and a black thread in the bobbin.
I then laid it out on a thick layer of the same green wool I have been using for the pods. The photo on the right shows it wet down and already starting to felt.
Here it is after felting. I do like the texture on the surface of the felt but the “pattern” looks too much like a brain and isn’t random enough for me. So another attempt.
This one I tried to be less perfect and had some single lines of stitching running through other lines that were 2-4 stitched lines on top of each other.
Here’s the sample after the machine lace is felted in. I like the randomness of this sample better but I think it needs a little more empty spaces perhaps? Again, I like how the machine lace sits on the surface and gives a rough texture. Then I started thinking about adding some nepps into the mix. What would it look like if I added nepps underneath the machine lace and then felted? Or perhaps some lines of wool yarn to give ridges?
Making samples seems to lead me to making more samples. Perhaps eventually, I will come up with a plan for the final project. Or maybe I’ll just keep enjoying the journey of experimentation and sampling.
How about you? What have you been trying new lately?
I struggle with the Winter holidays. The time from Thanksgiving through Christmas is tough. I was talking to my sister about when all this bah humbug stuff might have begun in my life and it boiled down to when my mother died in 1978. She passed when I was 23 and I realized that for the last 40 plus years I’ve been trying to find the magic that she created for me and my siblings and failing miserably at it no matter what I did!
But this year, right before Christmas, I had one of those AH HA moments. I did a bit of meditation and journaling around the issue, trying to listen for the wisdom of my Higher Power to come through. Volunteering to work in a public place is not a favorite of mine. My happy place is time spent in my studio. I like to sew, and I have LOTS of fabric. Hmmmmm….My passion is creating art quilts but why not make a traditional quilt for someone that really needs one and can’t make their own? I could use up some of my stash, try out different designs and color schemes (all very fun stuff!) and then donate the finished quilt. That sounded like a win-win to me.
And that is how I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this year. I was so fulfilled and grateful to be able to work on a quilt for an unknown recipient! I felt peace within. I decided that I will make comfort quilts over the holidays going forward. What a wonderful new tradition that will add meaning to my life. And I think my Mom would be happy that I have finally found some peace around the whole issue.
This is the quilt I made. It is a pattern by Karla Alexander from her book “New Cuts for New Quilts – More Ways to Stack the Deck” called Summer’s End. Not the best photo, sorry. It’s been very dark these past few days here in the Pacific Northwest!
Here is a detail photo. Also a truer sense of the actual fabric colors, too.
But then the story takes a bit of a twist…
After completing the quilt top, I sent it off to my longarm quilter. When I picked it up, she told me that I couldn’t give the quilt away and proceeded to tell me that this quilt was far too special for me to give away. She said that message came through to her as she was quilting it. We had quite a discussion around it because I made the darn thing to give away and I was trying desperately to not get too attached to it.
She then gave me a solution to help me satisfy my wish to donate a comfort quilt. She had a friend who had passed away but had unfinished quilt tops. So, she finished some of them and was willing to donate a top of my choosing and the batting, as well as quilt it for a nominal fee. I would supply the binding and backing fabric. We talked some more…
It was a tough decision but, in the end, I decided to keep the quilt I had made. I will use it on my bed when I go to my quilt retreats and reflect on the impact it has made in my life. I will donate the other quilt that was created by a woman who loved to piece quilts, a second woman who donated her time to finish piecing that quilt (and much more), and a third woman, myself, newly awakened to the gift of giving. Quite the collaboration!
Here is a photo of the collaborative quilt that I will be donating in place of the one I made. Kind of the same colors! The flower design that was used for the quilting is super cute!
I am also donating this little quilt to the preemies. I made it over 30 years ago and I hope it finds a wonderful new home!
I apologize I have been recovering from the post dental surgery and the third antibiotic this month. I have a bog written but am still trying to find the best photos for it and am not yet satisfied. But while I was working on that I realized I have a shot that I had promised Ann I would show you. Unfortunately, my memory still feels a bit like Swiss cheese so i forgot all about it and I cannot remember which of the Canadian winners Ann Said this was. She did seem very happy and I promised I would post the happy winner! (I think Ann wished she could have entered the draw too! what a lot of fluffy inspiration!!)
There were some very interesting fibers in the bag and I hope we will see what they become at some point!
I also wanted to mention I have been dragging around a small basket with a partly constructed sheep. I started it when I went to the walk in clinic the day I got sick and continued it at the dentist then attempted to keep working at it in emergency but by that point I really was too sick to safely use sharp pointy implements. The poor little partly built sheep stat beside me while I was stuck mostly in bed too.
The Christmas mice with a few of the under structure samples of sheep. The unfinished white sheep kept me company through all the doctors appointments!
What I am quite amazed about the portability of the small sheep project. It was also grate to be able to start and stop working on it. I have dragged looms and wheels to lots of places but even my drop spindles are not as easy to pick up, put down and pick up again.
I am finding I am developing a preference for batts when making small sheep. I have found that the bats are felting quicker than the roving and top I have also been using. I have been experimenting with full and partial armatures with the sheep. I will give you an update when I have the outer coats on the sheep.
I hope if you too have an emergency fiber-arts bag (yes I still have one hanging on the hall door in case Glenn decided he needs another trip to the hospital) I think I will switch out the drop spindle for a small foam pad, a few needle and some wool. A bit of dry felting can keep me busy for hours!
I haven’t managed any felting this last little while but I have been doing some spinning. I spin on my drop spindle, making small balls I use to decorate my felt. I did have a wheel at one point in my spinning journey. I had an Ashford Traveler. It was a very nice wheel but it ended up sitting in a corner gathering dust, so I sold it. My favourite wool preparation right now is rolags. The wool just seems to draft so easily.
I’ve spun up most of this blue.
I did a ball of regular yarn and one of thick and thin. I can do both these very well but am having trouble making consistent and thick yarn.
I also have these nice orange-yellow rolags I am working on.
I’ve only done one ball of this so far. I had just wound it off into a wall when I took this so It has some cardboard in it so the center doesn’t collapse.
and lastly some wool I won at the Rosepath Auction at my guild in December. This is a funny cross between an auction and a draw. I spun the smaller ball of this and gave the rest to my friend Judy as she had tried to win it as well. I am not sure what this is other than wool and silk. At least we think so. Bernadette burned some at one of our guild socials and it stunk up the place like burned hair.
and here is the ball.
I have a lot of these balls more than I am ever really going to need for felting. I do make some small skeins, 11 yards, to sell. That is enough to cover an 8-foot scarf quite densely. I don’t knit crochet or weave so not sure what else I could do with it. maybe some crewel work or rug hooking/punching maybe, because I need another fibre hobby. LOL
I am continuing on in the differential shrinkage experimentation mode and wanted to try a different shape with a resist and try again on the machine lace inclusion.
I stitched the stamen in a radiating pattern and doubled the length since my last ones were too short. I also am using a lighter inside wool color so that the black thread will show up better.
First, I decided on my resist shape and then covered it with four layers of batt on each side. The photo on the right shows the piece after a bit of felting. I really didn’t do that much felting but I should have paid a bit more attention. It was too felted and really already past the pre-felt stage. I haven’t used these short fiber merino batts that much and boy do they felt fast! But since I wasn’t paying enough attention, I just kept going.
I then cut the “pre-felt” into 5 pieces and started on the inner layer.
I used the same resist again and put the machine lace stamen in place over the resist. I covered that with a thin layer of merino wool in a yellow (with a green tinge). Then at the last moment, I decided to add a stem. So I whipped up a stem with brown and burnt orange and added that to the inner layer.
Now to add the “pre-felt” back over the inner layer and ready to felt. I took quite a bit of time trying to get the green to adhere to the yellow but it just wasn’t to be. I did add a bit more green wool to the top of the “petals” so that they would adhere better to the stem.
It seemed like it had started to adhere slightly to the yellow so I thought if I took the resist out and worked from the inside, that it might get those yellow fibers to adhere to the back side of the green. But that really didn’t work. There were a few places where it adhered slightly but I needed to have roughed up the inside of the green felt and that might have worked. But really, I should have done less felting of the green so that it was still pre-felt.
So it didn’t turn out as planned. It looks more like a flower than a seed pod. The yellow layer is separate from the green and therefore, I didn’t get any differential shrinkage. The new stamen worked better than the last experiment and didn’t adhere to the felt even though I never covered them with plastic. But it is an experiment so I will just go with the result.
I decided the stem needed more dimension so I needle felted some grooves and notches to give it a more natural feel.
I’m not sure how many times I need to learn that sometimes wool/felt has a mind of it’s own. Also, that I can’t rush the process or not pay attention. That’s usually when I set myself up for disappointment. But I accept that it’s just another learning opportunity and an experiment. And perhaps, next time, I will remember to not rush the process.
The new year has started, in fact it is speeding by way too fast, I’d actually like for it to slow down a bit – that said there are a few days I would not wish to repeat. In Lindsay’s recent post she was indulging in an Experimentanuary with some great results. I however have decided that the new decade (we won’t go into the argument of does the decade start at 0 or 1!) needs a new approach and have embraced ‘Tidyanuary’. I am tackling something (whether a kitchen cupboard or simply a pot of pens) every day and employing the positive rather than the negative. So, I’m asking myself ‘what do I want to keep, what has particular memories or value to me?’ – I’m definitely seeing good results….by 2030 I’ll let you all know if I have finished the task!
For this post and in line with the above (so – using things rather than just storing!) I thought I’d revisit a technique I learned years ago – making new fabric from scraps (some of them being not much bigger than a thumb nail!). The technique is nothing new but is good fun, simple and relatively quick and allows you to have fun with the sewing machine. It was seeing Ruth’s playful colour samples and my stitch trials that prompted my ‘ah ha’ moment, more later.
Before I begin I must repeat a quote EPH (Ever Patient Husband) found recently….’buying craft supplies and undertaking a craft are two completely different hobbies’. Need I say anything here?
I created this piece in 1995 (yep something else stored!) and I certainly suffered for my art….I had to eat lots of chocolates with beautiful wrappers!
So the technique for making new fabric from scraps….
Very simply – place little bits of Bondaweb (Wondaweb in the States I think) on some base fabric. I usually use fabric from old bed sheeting/curtain lining, or similar, to back various projects where I won’t see the fabric but need it for stability. I only dot little bits of the Bondaweb here and there as I have found that covering the base fabric in its entirety makes the whole thing too stiff for me. It is also a way of using up any bits that have broken off. Depending on how precise you want to be with the next stage, it isn’t a must to iron the Bondaweb down yet.
Even simpler – you can forget the above and use iron-on interfacing. There are advantages and disadvantages….whilst it is quicker and obviously sticks more of the fabric down in one go, I have found that heavy/close machine stitching can ‘cut’ through the interfacing making the work fragile.
Then comes the fun – place scraps of fabric/ribbon/threads onto the base fabric in a random or more considered design. Place non stick parchment carefully over the scraps & iron. It will still be fragile at this point and not everything may be fixed in place.
It is fun auditioning the scraps – anything goes. I decided to cut the interfacing square so created another fabric snippet with the surplus bit.
Over the entire design place a piece of sheer fabric – voile, netting, crystal organza, etc. There are two options for doing this….1. Use more small bits of Bondaweb randomly placed to ‘tack’ the sheer in place, or 2. Pin the sheer in place. The choice of sheer texture & colour creates interesting effects to the design. Looking at my work from 1995 I think that a layer of sheer over it would have improved the piece by softening the stitching and hence the overall design.
Warning – I have in the past ironed Bondaweb to the entire piece of the sheer and then adhered it to the scrap design….not something I would recommend for the following reasons – it makes the whole fabric too stiff, it dulls the overall look/finish of the sheer, it dulls the vibrancy of the colourful scraps, and it remains tacky which in turn impedes the top stitching.
Now it is onto having fun with stitching which can either be by machine (it’s quick – so definitely my preference), by hand or a combination of both.
I quite like the reverse of the piece too. I used just 2 thread colours, a few decorative machine stitches then some colonial knots and seed stitches.
Just seeing what it will look like framed.
Like many machine stitchers I use scraps of fabric to trial my stitches – over the years some of the pieces have actually looked quite interesting, but I just threw them away. A few months ago, whilst tidying my table area, I came across some coloured paper that had been glued to a base fabric. Then Ruth started posting about her colour samples. Suddenly I had my AH HA moment that put these three separate things together.
I layer scraps of worked paper, sweet wrappers, fabric or threads etc onto a base (either method as above) sometimes adding a sheer (loose threads definitely need a sheer!), and then set them aside. When I finally sit down to do some creative machine stitching I use one of my pieces to trial the stiches….ta da!
There is a silver lining (in this case gold) to having completely covered the sheer with Bondaweb first….heat bondable foil can be easily attached!
Using this technique a few years ago I made several needle cases as presents. Of the two that I kept, the scraps on the top case were laid randomly whilst they were laid in a more rectilinear fashion on the lower one. I stitched a ribbon cord around the perimeter then edged it with satin stitch.
I actually like both sides of each case so don’t know which to make as the front.
And the finale for all my stitch trials….I can use them to make cards! The above is still a work in progress though.
This is a fun technique, which doesn’t take up any room, I hope you are inspired to try it. For me it allows the perfectionist to take a holiday and, as I also find it addictive, I set time aside to create batches of the samplers.
How do you use your scraps? We’d love to hear and learn new ways of using them.
January 8th 2020 started a series of sudden unexpected Doctor and Dentist appointments culminating in a trip to emergency. It was an infection on one side of my face with a strong possible suspect of a broken tooth for its source. Three antibiotics later, one of them IV administered, I was off to see the dental surgeon for a consultation on Friday Jan. 17th. Really it was just to be an assessment then that word “expedited” from the specialist at the hospital came up and I was requested to return that afternoon at 3 for an extraction. They could squeeze me in while he was doing a triple wisdom tooth extraction. Oh no! Oh well, it has to be done and it would be under full anesthetic which works much better than locals for me. I’m not sure what they used this time but it must have had a codeine chaser. I was wide awake till after 4:30am last night then wide awake by 8am this morning. Since I was still a bit frozen in spots but was feeling pretty perky Glenn said he would be porter and take me as long as I took it easy.
OK now on to the fibre related stuff:
1) Wheels on Fire / Les Rouets en Feu Spin-in January 20, 2018 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Wheels on Fire is the first spin-in of the year. A time to stock up for the rest of the snow and deep freeze that can be Ottawa in the winter. Also it’s a chance to see friends from other guilds and meet some of the ladys and gentlemen from the Quebec side of the river.
It is held at Le Cabane just at the edge of the Gatineau park. It’s an old log building with a few large meeting rooms, all of which were in use today by various groups. We had a lower turn-out this time due to impending snow dump forecast for later this afternoon. However, for those who could make it, there was great shopping of fibre, yarn, felting needle and holders, Japanese embroidery templates and thimbles and did I mention fibre?
There was also to be a talk and slide show on the flax study groups findings for 2019
2-12) Report on the Flax project 2019. There will be a 2020 Flax project if you want to join in on this summer and fall’s study group you still have time to sign up.
please note the size of the logs as you see the inside pictures. Finally a few shots of vendors and participants:
13) $5.00 cost to get in, Tim Hortons coffee and the roll of door prize tickets.
14—16) The drawing and the Door prizes
17-18) the Cabane and the man who created it.
19 -20) Fibre cleaning supplies for sale
21-23) Icelandic fleeces and kids leather mitts.
24-30)Fibre buttons and felting supplies
31 – 33) the pink blue and white batts are the from the fibre she won a couple years ago at wheels on fire 2018!It was a donation from the Wool Growers Co-Op in Carlton Place (just west of Ottawa)
34-36) stitch markers
37-40) Bernadette organized the event, selling batts and locks of fibre.
41- 47)Weaving and spinning wooden supplies, more fibre!
48-50) Art batts, wild colour batts!
51-54) basketry complete with a demo! (he does workshops and gives very good presentations on basketry)
55)Yarn to knit or weave
56-59) Indigo dyed cloths, natural dyed yarn, Japanese Embroidery –kits supplies needles and templates.
60) Really big logs
61-75 some of the participants today
76-80) Ceinture Flechee
After such a fun day the snow started and we all made a run for home. Even with the threat of the impending storm the day was wonderful. There were many of the items I was hoping to find for sale and it was lots of fun talking with many of my fibre Friends.
81-82) The storm was just starting. It was time to get home and back to indoor ice (pack) and antibiotics!
Now home I can write up my day and a few quick shot of today’s purchases to inspire your own shopping. I think my year may be looking up since both Glenn and I won door prizes! He got the silk wash and I won Green Locks from Bernadette!
83-87) Shopping! (i went from 6 students for a full class to 18 students wanting to take needle felted sheep workshop so i had to get more supplys!)
I hope your year is starting out with lots of fibre and no trips to doctors and dentists!
Now that my partner has finally received her card I can tell you about it.
First I made a background using some prefelt and added some northern lights. I then wet felted it all together. they are not felted hard because it is small and is an art piece.
Next, I added the trees along the far hill and a nice big evergreen and a barn using prefelt again.
I added some snow to the tree and added some definition to the barn. I also added the fence wire using perspective so I could add the posts along the right line.
Then came the fence posts and some shading for the snow-covered ground.
and finally I added the sheep( I bet you are not surprised that I added sheep) and trimmed the northern lights so I could turn it into a card. I always do my card as a postcard so they can easily be framed if someone wants to. I just print off a postcard back from the internet and iron it onto the back with a fusible web. I was in a hurry to get it in the mail at that point and didn’t get a picture.
I made a second one at the same time. I like to have 2 to choose from when sending a card. This one I kept. I will frame it. I haven’t decided if I will keep the northern lights projecting over the mat board or trim them off as I did in the one I sent.
I wish I had a better picture for you but I have put it someplace safe and now I can’t find it. I am sure I will come across it when I am looking for something else.
There were some very interesting fibers in the bag and I hope we will see what they become at some point!
The Christmas mice with a few of the under structure samples of sheep. The unfinished white sheep kept me company through all the doctors appointments!
13) $5.00 cost to get in, Tim Hortons coffee and the roll of door prize tickets.
55)Yarn to knit or weave
60) Really big logs
