Theatre Textiles – Act 2 Scene 2

Theatre Textiles – Act 2 Scene 2

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This is a further Scene from my theme of costume and prop making for my local Amdram group, SNADS. The first one can be found here https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/2021/08/23/theatre-textiles-part-1/  followed by https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/2023/04/17/theatre-textiles-act-2-scene-1/

The next production for which I can remember making a costume was Sleeping Beauty in 2015.  I was asked to make the costume and do the makeup for Baskerville, the blood hound.  (You didn’t know that there was a dog in Sleeping Beauty did you? – How else did anyone find her inside all those brambles?)

After looking up some reference pictures (including one of Sir Clement Freud and his pet) I decided that the face would be part mask and part makeup.

Man - Sir Clement Freud and 2 bloodhounds
Sir Clement Freud and his look alike pet and another bloodhound – my reference images for Baskerville

The costume was in the main made from an old poly-cotton sheet which was a sort of mid brown colour with the odd dark brown markings in acrylic paint, and included a hood from which the long ears hung either side of the face. The mask was wet and needle felt, which covered the actor’s forehead, cheeks and nose, leaving large eyeholes.  This so that there was room for the eye makeup which revealed dropped lower eyelids.  The forehead had bloodhound-like skin folds, and the muzzle had my usual needle felted nose painted with Artist’s Gesso and then with black enamel.  The actor’s chin was visible beneath the mask so was made up to match it.

Boy on hands and knees dressed and made up to look like a bloodhound
Baskerville the Bloodhound

The next panto we did was Alice in Wonderland and I got roped into making bits for various animal costumes.  Unfortunately I don’t have any progress pictures and most of  the pictures I do have have been extracted from the DVD we had made of the show, so they are not of the best.  Hopefully they will give you a flavour of the costumes.

First there was the Cheshire Cat.  As with Baskerville, the cat’s body was made from an old cotton sheet, this time “dyed” ginger-ish with acrylic paint and with stripes added roughly following tabby cat images from Mr. Google (what would we do without him).

image of grey tabby cat face and brown tabby cat back
Reference images for tabby cat markings

The head and mask were also made from the same fabric and from felt.  The only photos I have of the Cat are of it inside a “tree”.  They aren’t very clear because the hole in the tree is faced with gauze so that you could only see through it when what was behind it was lit from that side.  This was so that the cat could slowly disappear as the light faded, leaving only a grin visible.

actor dressed and made up as Cheshire Cat and seen inside tree set.
Cheshire Cat inside it’s tree
actor dressed and made up to look like a grinning cat inside a tree set
more grins
Cheshire cat grin inside the tree set with 2 actors, (Dame and Joker) on stage
And just the grin, with Alice, the Dame (Alice’s nurse) and Joker (Queen of Hearts’ Jester)

Next there was the March Hare whose ears I had made from felt and attached to a felted hood; and the actor also used the muzzle with two front teeth that I made for her, also in felt.  Unfortunately it looks as if whoever did her makeup didn’t match the face colour to the mask so the Hare looks a bit odd.  This could be because the actor had a couple of other, bigger, parts in the panto, so her makeup needed to fit all three parts as far as possible.  I had made the mask so that it could be removed with the hood and that adds to the odd look I think.

Head and shoulders of actor playing Mad March Hare with felt ears and muzzle with 2 front teeth
March Hare with ears and teeth
actors dressed as Mad Hatter, Dormouse and Mad March Hare
The Mad Hatter, Dormouse (without his teapot) and March Hare in the final walk down.

The next and most testing task was the Hookah-smoking caterpillar and the subsequent butterfly which emerged from it. The script called for the actual metamorphosis to happen on stage, which was really going to pose a bit of a problem.  If this was going to work it would be necessary for the caterpillar costume to be worn over that of the butterfly.

In the story, the caterpillar sits on top of a large toadstool.   Usually depicted as a fly agaric mushroom – the one having a red cap with white spots.  This in fact is my scenery-making friend’s signature image and there are always some of these mushrooms somewhere about the stage in all our pantos (did you spot them at the bottom of the Cheshire Cat’s tree?)  Before the mushroom was made I asked that the back be cut away to enable the actor to be able to stand up against and behind its (chunky) stem.   I had decided that the caterpillar costume would be mainly affixed to the top of the mushroom and the head and “torso” would fit over that part of the actor which appeared above the mushroom.  The costume would have to be open down the back so that the butterfly could immerge from the caterpillar by stepping down and backwards.  I would need to make the butterfly costume first so that I would be able to fit the head and torso of the caterpillar costume over it with sufficient “ease” to enable her to get out of the caterpillar without assistance.

Again Mr Google helped me with reference pictures of a swallowtail butterfly, which I had chosen because of the lovely shape of its wings, and it’s caterpillar.

2 images - a green and black caterpillar and a swallowtail butterfly displaying its wings
Reference images for the caterpillar and it’s butterfly

I wanted the costumes to be as naturalistic as possible, which meant finding a way of making enormous butterfly eyes, remembering that the actor would need to be able to see through them.  I was sure that I had seen some half globes in clear plastic covering a large sweet, and after lots of buying and tasting (!) I found some, though I cannot now remember what the sweets were.  I made a mask which held these over the actor’s eyes and side of her head and which also covered the top and back of her head but left her nose and mouth free.  From the images on the DVD, it seems that I covered the globes in some way since it is not possible to see the actor’s eyes through them.  I can’t now remember what it was I used, but it must have been transparent at close quarters because the actor was able to dance around the stage without falling over the “little butterflies” which were dancing with her.

I made up the lower part of the face and I seem to remember making “mouth parts” and a version of the curled tube the butterfly uses to suck up nectar. These were attached to the mask between the bottom of the eyes.

head and shoulders of actor dressed as butterfly to give more detail of the head.
A very hazy image of the butterfly’s head (it looks as if she’s managed to dent one of the eyes, but I doubt that would have been visible from the auditorium.)

The butterfly’s wings, were painted white organza which had wire along the top edge.  I couldn’t add wire in the usual way the whole way round the edge of the wings because they would have to be squashed and held behind the actor’s back whilst she was still a caterpillar.  So we clad the actor’s arms and hands in black and she used her hands and arms to open and “flap” the wings.  This meant that the verisimilitude of the butterfly costume ended there – only one pair of legs instead of three.  I could have made some “pretend” legs to attach to the actor’s chest, but they would be likely to get hooked up inside the caterpillar costume and make metamorphosis difficult!

I made the caterpillar costume out of various bits of cotton fabric which I painted, and because the butterfly mask was quite large, the caterpillar had to be very large too.  The head of the real caterpillar is as wide as it’s body, which made that a bit easier.   I made it to fit right over the butterfly head and shoulders, with the actor’s black covered arms poking through as the first of the caterpillar’s six legs.  This was so that she could use the mouthpiece to smoke from the hookah which was sitting on a little green hump beside the mushroom.

Actor dressed as caterpillar with it's tail on top of fly agaric mushroom
Hookah-smoking caterpillar. You can possibly just see that the mouthpiece of the hookah is clutched in one tiny “hand”.
image of back of actor dressed as butterfly showing spread wings with empty caterpillar costume on top of mushroom and with Dame and Joker in background
The emerged butterfly showing off her wings. The empty caterpillar on the fly agaric mushroom is no longer smoking its Hookah and Nursie and Joker are seeing the little butterflies off stage.

Our next panto was Ali Baba.  I didn’t have to make any of the costumes for this.  I played the front half of Kamil, the clever camel, and when I wasn’t doing that, made up one of a trio of revolting looking gossipy women.

This was followed by “A Right Pantomime”, written by two of our members – “a comic conflation of almost every pantomime story you can think of.…”  I played one of Snow White’s dwarves (I can’t remember how many we were, but I don’t think there were seven of us) but wasn’t involved with more than helping with scenery.

I will end this Scene here, and yes I know that we still haven’t reached the Panto in which the Wicked Queen in the title image appears, but maybe next time.

 

moose bags and wicker basket with felt chichadee in curling arnena
2024 CanGames (and Felting) Convention Part 2 – Moose-bag

2024 CanGames (and Felting) Convention Part 2 – Moose-bag

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Beginning of another moose bag.

We left off on Saturday, having just finished the Chickadee, let’s continue from there.

compleated moose bag on white plastic chair moose bag in embroidery hoop ready to start22) the latest moose bag sitting on the table with the partly 3-D moose bag sitting on a chair full of bags of wool. (proof that noose bags make good project bags)

This time I want to peel part of the moose off the bag while leaving parts in graphic 2-D.  I may or may not leave the writing visible but I will need an armature construction. I want a head, antlers, lower jaw and neck. I also need a spot where I can securely attach the armature to the shoulder/neck of the moose print on the bag.

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23.1-23.2) Adding the beginnings of an attachment point at the shoulders and then using the shape of the moose to shape the armature for the head

I used the bag to guess the size of the armature I would need. I added a jaw so I could open the mouth and add pond lilies later if I wanted to or the moose seemed hungry.

extending wire for lower jaw24) extending the wire armature for the lower jaw

As I started to wrap I realized the mouth length was too short. So, I added a supplemental extension to the lower jaw. Once the wool is felted over it, the lower jaw should be quite secure.

fiber added to lower jaw 25) Needs more lip but looking good so far

Opps! I missed a step here, I built up to the spot behind the eyes where the antlers will attach and then stabbed a steel floral stem 20ga through. I used the end to make the main branch of each antler then added the 26ga floral wire as the points/ribs. I then added more wool around the base and between the antlers so they don’t slide

using reference to build the understructure26) Using Reference pictures to help understand the shapes of the moose face

As I was finishing the wire twisting, Glenn arrived from the game he had been playing. It was time to pack up and go home.

Sunday was a family visit and lunch at the cottage but we made it back in time for Glenn to attend the evening game. I found an empty table, beside the life size kill doctor lucky game! The convention was almost over but there were still games going on, and now the felting convention was back underway! I had one of the couples who had checked in to see what I was doing stop in to see how I had done with the chickadee and liked the beginnings of the moose.

Sunday night gameing at the curling rink felting suplys on table in front of picture 27) back at the curling arena, many of the games are finished but a few are still running. 

The last few moose I have used the Maori short staple batt fibre, both for the underlayer and the overlayer. This time I didn’t think I had enough of the colour to do both so I continued with the world of wool core carded roving for the underlayer.

securing the wool to wrap the antlers to the head 28) Using the head to anchor the fibre, then wrapping up the base of the antler.

wrap the main trunk of the antler then wrap the branches29) I focused first on the main trunk of the antler then worked on the branches/points on the way back.

moose with wraped anlers the wire is stuck into the woven willow basket30) wrapped wire armature of Moose antlers and head stuck in the weaving of willow basket. Kill Dr. Lucky game progressing in the background.

game bord is drawn on sheets on the floor. players are standing in various "Rooms"31) The Kill Doctor Lucky game.

The sheets have the Rooms drawn on them. Some rooms can see into other rooms. Doctor Lucky is very annoying and has made many enemies, all of whom are at his house tonight. They all want to kill him but not let the others see them do it. With each move, you end up in a new room (not a hallway), and you get a card. Sometimes it’s a card that helps you kill or save Dr. Lucky, sometimes it’s an extra movement card or room card.  If someone makes an attempt to kill Dr. Lucky you can try to save him from cards in your hand, or if you find him alone in a room no one can see into,  you can try to kill him yourself! He is Very annoying.  https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/257/kill-doctor-lucky

There is a board game version of Save Doctor Lucky if you are opposed to killing him, but he is annoying!

secure wool to armature to create a base to add the colour and webbing32) carefully firming up the wool wrapping around the antler armature

antlers and under structures ready to add colour to antlers. chickadee is stitting on the handle to the basket33)The underlayer of moose in progress and  complete chickadee supervisor

Next to add the brown for the antlers. It will take a lot of poking to firm them up to the stiffness I want.

starting to add and firm up antlers with Maori short staple batt fiber34) I switched between single-needle and multi-tool

I am starting to lay in the spaces between the finer wires. The multi-tool punch helps firm and things the felt.   go slowly and feel for the wires so you can avoid them.

The second game of Kill Dr. Lucky was well underway when Glenn returned from his game upstairs. So it was time to pack up and head home.

Long weekend Monday.

As with most Mondays, there was a guild social scheduled.  Since it was a long weekend it would start earlier and would have the option of sheep related board games!

Long weekend Monday sheep (and cat) related board games35) Long weekend Monday at the Gild Studio,  Sheep and Kitten games.

Sheepy Time (a push-your-luck type of game), Sheep in Disgise and Exploding Kittens, I have not yet played so I am not sure what to expect. Yes, Kittens are not sheep but I just bought it at the sale and was curious if I could get anyone to try it.

walker with bag of library stuff and 2 moose bags and a basket full of felting stuff36) walker carrying guild library bag, 2 moose bags and a basket of felting stuff

I brought the felting I had been working on over the weekend and the bag of library stuff with me.

I worked on the library for a few hours then set up for felting.

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 37.1-37.2) Bat on a stick and chickadee are supervising work on the Moose’s head. Close-up of supervisors.

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38.1-38.2) Ann was working on her May felt and stitch.

I had been adding bits of fibre to the antlers, creating the large curved shapes, then spending long periods of time stabbing it into a firm thin felt. It still needs more flattening and firming.

adding fiber to the space between the branches of the antlers39) This was the point I reached by the end of the long weekend.

Poor moose will probably have limited opportunities for further work until June 22nd which is the 75th anniversary party for the local guild (OVWSG).  I did get the antlers looking a bit better and have started the undercolour on the head. I am sure he will look much more moose like as soon as I add the ears and do a bit more nose sculpting.

using photo reference to get the nose angles closer to correct40) Progress; adding undercolour for the head and continuing to sculpt the face

I hope you enjoyed the last bit of the gaming (and felting) convention.  As well as the progress on the latest moose-bag. Until we chat again, have fun and keep felting.

 

 

 

May and June and the Moose Bag

May and June and the Moose Bag

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The last time I showed you my May page, I just had a little to go.  Once I finished the stitching I cut away most of the stabilizer so I wouldn’t have to rinse it as much to get it all out of the felt.

colourful felt with stitching and wash away stabilizer

And this is it all done. It’s a bit sparse but I like it well enough.

Hand made felt with stitching. tulips, MOM, maple leaf and crown for Queen Victoria's birthday.

 

The tulips are for the tulip festival we have every year. Many are sent as a gift of thanks from the Netherlands.  The Dutch Royal family was in exile in Canada during WWII. We designated part of our hospital as part of the Netherlands so Princess Margriet would be born on home soil.

The maple leaf and crown are for Queen Victoria’s Birthday. She gave us self-governance so we have a holiday.

And of course Mother’s Day, at least here in North America.

 

I picked out a new piece of felt for my June page. I have some ideas for June. I was thinking I may do some more needle felting this month along with the stitching but I am not sure yet. I like the way the fiber goes across leaving lots of the white background showing.  I did this a long time ago but I am pretty sure the fibres are silk. The other thing I am not sure of is which way is up. the difference is more pronounced in person

 

The other thing I did was add some yarn to the antlers of my moose bag. I think it is all I will do. I like him the way he is. Not very ambitious but there you go.  I may add something to the other side of the bag. The yarn is handspun silk. I am not sure how well it will stand up to being on the bag.

 

 

Multicolor wet felted tree trunk with felted branch and tea bag leaves stitched on to hand dyed green background fabric and laced on to matte board.
Felt Tree Trunk Piece Completed

Felt Tree Trunk Piece Completed

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After by last post about creating a tree trunk, I was working on making the leaves a bit more pink. I think it’s a little hard to tell from these photos, but I added pink with colored pencil.

The photo on the left shows the leaves before adding color. The photo on the right is after I colored them with a pink colored pencil. It is much more evident in person that the color is different.

Multicolor wet felted tree trunk with felted branch and tea bag leaves stitched in place.

Then I needed to add the branch and leaves. I hand stitched them in place and the leaves are not directly tacked down to the bark. They are attached to their respective branches so they can be moved to different positions or even flutter a bit in the breeze.

Next was to stitch the lichen in place. Again, it is hand stitched down. I orginally had a lot more lichen on the bark but decided I didn’t want to overwhelm the beautiful colors that were already in the bark.

Multicolor wet felted tree trunk with felted branch and tea bag leaves stitched on to hand dyed green background fabric and laced on to matte board.

Then to decide how to finish and frame. I hand dyed the background fabric and hand stitched the bark in place. Then I laced the green fabric around a piece of matte board so it’s ready to frame. This piece is 14″ x 28″. I have decided to call it “Hanging On”. Next up is to take my recent pieces to the framers and get them all framed. I will share the framed pieces once they’re finished.

Decorating a small blanket

Decorating a small blanket

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I spied a small woollen blanket in my local charity shop earlier in the year. I think it probably was used as a cot blanket earlier in it’s life. The blanket measures 38 inches x 46 inches, the colour of cream and has a lovely blanket stitch all along the folded edges.

 

No label on the blanket, but it is wool, and there are one or two nibbled areas from one or two moths.

     

 

I have a plan is to turn this old unloved blanket into a usable blanket for the younger grandchildren when they visit – to use in the house, or as a car rug, or to cuddle up with if tired. I will add a soft backing to one side – either a piece of flannel or fleece, and that should prevent the itchy scratchy feel of a woollen blanket that so many of us will be familiar with.

 

I decided to add some colour to each corner, and perhaps along the sides, throughout the rest of this year, and it may be done for Christmas time. I found my bag of scrap felt pieces and made a few layouts until I was happy with one that provided some colour and interest.

             

 

I have stitched these shapes down using my sewing machine. These pieces of felt are left from other projects, and some are prefelt (probably) and are placed with some artistic licence. I used a needle felting tool from Clover (green/yellow) to secure the pieces to the blanket, and I was quite surprised by how well it worked. I also have the fake/copy item (blue).

 

I continued adding to my layout, trying to give an impression of a little piece of my garden.

                 

 

To secure the work thus far, I decided to add some water, soap and some friction to ensure that everything will stay well and truly stuck on.

                   

 

I will continue working on this blanket through the rest of the year, and will show my progress in my posts. I am pleased with it so far, and now I must think of what to do for the next corner. I will also  attempt to cover with some wool or embroidery stitches on the areas where some moths have had a lunch or two. A little needle felting and some embroidery stitches should do the trick.

The garden is looking so nice despite all the rain we have had so far this year. Here is a photo of a bumble bee on one of the alliums, no matter how hard I tried he would not stay in one spot, and my beautiful peony with so many blooms, and keeping fingers crossed that they survive the rain.

 

6 students and tutor holding up natural dyed scarves
Dyeing to Eat

Dyeing to Eat

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I thought the title might be a bit more catchy than ‘Dye and Eat’.  But that is just what I did this week.

Let me retrace my steps a little.  A few weeks ago I attended the AGM of our guild Feltmakers Ireland (https://feltmakersireland.com/).  Our Keynote speaker was a lady named Malú Colorún.  Malú who is originally from Mexico is the co-founder of Fibreshed in Ireland.  The Fibershed movement originated many years ago in California and now has affiliates worldwide. It is a not for profit movement which promotes a virtuous circle in clothing production.  I feel the easiest way to describe this is to show you a screen shot of a table on the main website:

Chart showing Fibreshed mission

If you would like to find out more about the organisation, you might like to visit the main website at https://fibershed.org/mission-vision/.  You will find a directory of all affiliates under one of the drop down menus, there may be one in your area.

Malú also runs a natural dyeing business.  Here is a link to her website: https://talu.earth/the-team.   She collaborates with a number of knitwear designers based in Ireland and also provides a bespoke dyeing service to businesses and individuals.  Along with this, she runs regular workshops in natural dyeing and when she mentioned this at our AGM, I just knew I had to attend.  That was a few weeks ago  and it turned into one fun evening, so much fun and great learning that I want to share it with you.

There were six students, including my eldest son, an engineer and software designer who in his spare time is apprenticing as a Beekeeper.  It makes my heart swell to see how in tune with nature he is. 

The session was a busy 3 hours and Malú had scoured and mordanted the materials and started extracting the dyes before we arrived to speed up time the process.    Our first lesson was immersion dyeing and we were each given a skein of wool and a linen triangular scarf to dye.  We had two dye pots to choose from; avocado which yielded a beautiful pink shade and sage which had a lovely yellow colour.  The group was lovely and bonded very quickly, Malú is a super facilitator.  Once we had our materials on the heat, Malú sat us down and explained the processes of scouring, mordanting and extracting dyes.  We learnt about different fibre composition and how they need to be treated differently to get the best out of the dye.  Here are some photos from the first part of the night.

  • Pots, plant and equipment all set up for the evening's workshop
    Our tools and materials for the evening
  • Teacher immersing all of our fabric and fibre in water in preparation for the dye pots
    Malú had already scoured and mordanted all the fabric and skeins before the workshop in readiness for the dyeing processes
  • dropping the prepared skeins into the sage dye pot
    dropping the prepared skeins into the sage dye pot
  • Students preparing the fabric and fibre for the pot the pot on the right was sage and produced yellow while the bottom one was dye from avocado stones and peels
    Our two dye pots for the evening; top – yellow from sage, bottom pink from avodado
  • close up of the tutor providing instruction
    Here Malu is talking about the organic waste that we will be using during the evening’s dyeing session
  • Tutor, Malú providing instructions
    Malú is a great teacher and had us all enthralled
  • close of up oak gall balls. these are high in tannins
    Oak gall balls. High in tannins. You can see the hole where the little was crawled out



Then we got hands on experience of eco dyeing.  Malú produced a variety of leaves and skins
for us to work with and we quickly became engrossed in laying out our patterns,
and rolling tying up the fabric. Soon they were all added to a pot and left to
steam away while we got to learn our next technique.



  • Fabric strips being prepared for ecoprinting
    Preparing for eco printing
  • Eco printing layout on cotton featuring nettle, bramble, sage, onion skins pomegranate and other leaves
    This was my layout for the ecoprint sample. It wasn’t very successful but that’s ok
  • fresh dye materials placed on the table including carrot tops, nettles brambles, sage, onion skins pomegranate
    Malú collected an array of leaves and other materials for us to sample during the evening. We used these in the Eco printing and the bundle dyeing
  • Student's rolled and bound pack ready for the steamer, sitting on the table
    Here is my one!
  • 6 ecoprint packs placed in a colander ready for steaming
    Here are our bound and rolled eco packs ready to be steamed

There was great excitement when we removed our pieces from the immersion dye.  Quite a few of us had opted to tie dye our materials so it was great to see the results.  Then Malú gave us the option of trying a third technique with our materials.  We could choose to bundle dye them if we liked.  Of course, everyone wanted to have a go!  So we used the same leaves and skins we had used in the eco printing.  I started with my scarf.  I wanted to try the onion skins as I had heard they can produce great results.  To these I added pomegranate and a few leaves, and wrapped it up on itself.  I used much the same with the skein of wool.  Again, they were popped in the steamer.

  • Tutor is using a colander to remove the fibre and fabric from the yellow dye bath
    Malú is removing everything from the dye bath now that we have gotten colour. This gave us time to bundle dye our pieces
  • Dye bath on the stove. The dye is yellow from extracting the dye from sage leaves
    Here’s one of the dye baths hard at work. Ben wanted to get a graduated colour so you can see his is immersed in both dye baths
  • Student's scarf dyed yellow with sage leaves being prepared for bundle dyeing with carrot tops
    John’s scarf is looking good with all the carrot tops.
  • Student's layout, white skein, red onion skins and sage leaves
    Ben agreed that his layout looked like a gorgeous pizza about to hit the oven!
  • Skein that has been tie dyed with sage producing a yellow mottled effect, now being prepared for bundle dyeing
    Recording my layout of organic material before I bundle it up

At that point Erik from Fondita Mestiza arrived with lots of yummy Mexican food for the group. The title of our workshop was Flavour, Stories and Colour – An exploration of dye, textiles and food.   The evening was a collaboration between Erik and Malú.  What a delightful concept!  Erik provided the beautiful food while Malú used the scraps and made it into dye for our workshop. We sat around telling stories and Erik provided some background to the origins of ingredients and dishes served. I should have taken more photos of the food but I didn’t want to tempt you away from the post and have you snacking!

  • Preparing the table for our yummy meal
  • Yummy mexican food!

Malú showed us her book of experiments.  It was filled with a colourful array of natural dyes. I took a number of photos of the journal to show you what can be achieved from natural dyes. This is Malú’s personal journey and I thought it only fair to block out her notes as she was so generous to share them with the group. I am sure you will all understand this. So I hope you will enjoy the amazing colours she has achieved in her research. This is only the tip of the iceberg of what was contained within the journal.

  • Colourful samples from different natural dyes and fabrics
    Beautiful colours extracted from natural dyes on natural fibres
  • Beautiful browns shown on a variety of natural fibres
    More gorgeous coloured samples
  • Mustard, brown and beige dyes on natural fibres and fabrics
    More gorgeous colours extracted from natural dyes by Malú
  • Yellows browns and pinks - wool skein samples
    Beautiful results achieved with Galway wool, Ireland’s only remaining native wool.
  • Extract from Malú's dyeing experiment journal. Reds yellows and pinks ion natural fabric and wool skein
    A sneak peak through Malú’s experiment book

We then unfolded all of our samples.  My scarf and skein worked a lot better than my eco printing sample.  I will definitely try the eco printing again as I have access to eucalyptus leaves which I understand practically guarantee success.

  • Student's scarf being unrolled vegetable matter still intact
    Here I am starting to unroll my scarf. Lots of dye stuff needs to be taken off
  • Students opening their dye bundles which are placed on the table
    Excitement mounting as we opened our bundles
  • Student's scarf laid on table immersion dyed pink from avocado then overdyed yellow and red from onion skins and pomegranate skin
    Myscarf which was immersion dyed pink from avocado then overdyed yellow and red from onion skins and pomegranate skin
  • Student holding up their naturally dyed scarf main colour yellow with over dye of onion skins and leaves
    Karina’s scarf
  • student's scarf using yellow and red materials placed flat on table
    Chloe’s finished scarf made using immersion and bundling techniques
  • Triangle scarf dyed using immersion and bundle techniques yellow from sage dye bath and red from onion skins
    John holding up his finished scarf
  • 6 students and tutor holding up natural dyed scarves
    Happy campers with our natural dyed scarves

It was a memorable and enjoyable evening which left us all biting at the bit to get the pots out. But before I take my leave, I will show you John’s and my dried pieces.

  • Eco print fail. The leaves left very little mark on this fabric
    My ‘not great’ eco print’ I think this one is for over dyeing!
  • Eco print sample in the centre of fabric. Concentration was on onion skins (red and yellow)
    John focussed his eco printing on the centre of the fabric. He focussed on onion skins and got really clear results
  • Skein that has been tie dyed with sage producing a yellow mottled effect, now being prepared for bundle dyeing
    Recording my layout of organic material before I bundle it up
  • Skein tie dyed in avocado dye, pink, then bundle dyed with a variety of organic materials
    Here is my skein. The photo does not do the colour justice as it is a lot richer than this.
  • Salmon pink skein of wool which has been dyed with avocado peel and stones
    John’s skein. He immersed his in the avocado dye bath but decided again bundle dyeing it. Love the colour!
  • Triangular linen scarf light yellow with dye from the various materials used on the night
    John immersed his scarf in the sage (yellow) dye then used a variety of the organic materials when bundle dyeing it
  • Sage dyed scarf on model
    Here is John’s scarf dried and ironed on one of my mannequins
  • Scarf flattened out. Tie dyed in the avocado bath then bundle dyed with lots of organic materials
    My scarf again, flattened out. I love it!
  • Scarf tie dyed in avocado dyebath then bundle dyed with a variety of organic material
    Here is my scarf. The camera has not done it justice as the colours are a lot richer in reality. It would look amazing on silk!
Weaving
Loom with a view: adopting a new Saori WX60 loom

Loom with a view: adopting a new Saori WX60 loom

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A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to find a used Saori CH60 loom.  That loom lives in a spare room in our house. I wrote this post Weaving a Cowl for a Christmas present about using that loom.

On the weekends we usually go to our cabin.  The cabin is only a 30 minute drive from home so we go there, do yard work (amount varies seasonally) and then have a meal and a nice quiet night.  We return home the next morning to 3 cats who are very happy to see us.  The cabin is basic.  There is no TV, though there is internet.  While there I tend to do a craft of some kind.  Last year we added a screened porch to the cabin and I began to dream about sitting on the porch and doing some spinning or weaving.  Sadly our porch project started late (getting planning permission was hard) and was finished just before Christmas.  So we have been waiting for warmer weather to arrive before getting it setup.

So I started shopping around for a folding loom.  I had my eye on a Saori WX60.  Luckily one of my friends had bought one and it didn’t suit her weaving style so I was able to buy hers.  (My friend was planning to return to using her rigid heddle loom.  Whereas I sold my rigid heddle looms after adopting my Saori loom because I no longer had time for them.)  I picked up the loom at the end of March and I’m really happy with it.  Here you can see the loom on the porch.  I threaded it up the first day.

One of the nice features of the Saori WX60 loom is that it folds.  And you can fold it up with a project on the loom.  This makes the loom easier to store, and to relocate to another place.  I am still getting the hang of folding/unfolding the loom, and find it easier to get help doing that.  But I am sure that with practice it will become a solo task.

The loom weighs 13.5kg (29.8lb) and has the following dimensions:

  • When open the loom is 76cm (30″) wide, 76cm (30″) deep and 98.5cm (39″) tall.
  • When folded the loom is 76cm (30″) wide, 25cm (10″) deep and 106cm (42″) tall.

I cleared a space just inside the cabin where the folded loom could be stored.  I also setup a nice rolling cart to contain my tools.  This makes it easy to move the loom outside or inside as necessary.  I use a regular chair with the loom and prefer to add a nice cushion to the chair as well.  (Lifting your feet to treadle puts more pressure on the bony parts of your butt.)

The first weekend I had the loom I got it threaded.  On the next visit to the cabin it was time to start weaving.  This shows my porch and inside the cabin weaving locations.

Over the course of a few visits I proceeded to weave, changing colours and textures as I felt like it.  This is a highlight reel of the resulting weaving progress.

I am now nearing the end of the warp.  Originally the warp was on a square tube on the beam near the floor.  (You can see more details about the Saori warps on square tubes in this blog post.)  When the warp unwinds from the tube you transfer it to a rod so you can maintain warp tension.  In the left photo you can see that the warp is tied onto a rod that is located close to the beam near the floor.  As I continue weaving the rod is getting closer and closer to the shafts on the loom.  I have just a few more inches of weaving to do.  When I finish the rod should be just behind the heddles.  This loom design minimizes warp waste.  When I am done weaving I will be able to hemstitch my cloth and remove it from the loom.  The remaining threads will be trimmed slightly and twisted into a nice fringe for my cloth.

I should have some finished cloth to share soon.

felting tools on wool pad with chickadee
2024 CanGames (and Felting) Convention

2024 CanGames (and Felting) Convention

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sign and arrow indicating CanGames1) Sign outside of CanGames with a gnome smoking a pipe and carrying a big axe and short sword

May 18-20th was the Victoria Day long weekend. It is a federal holiday, on the last Monday preceding May 25, to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Birthday, which was on May 25th.  It is also the long weekend that CanGames happens!  The first CanGames was in 1977. I am told, it is the longest-running gaming convention in Canada. The website says, that this year there will be over 300 different games spread over the convention’s 8 time slots (https://cangames.ca/events/ ). As well as an open gaming area, and shopping options (although there was a horrible lack of fibre sellers present!) there was also a second-hand game sale to check out Saturday morning. (Don’t worry there will be felting in this post too.)

I have attended quite a few CanGames and expanded the scope of their convention a bit, into a Gaming and Spinning or Gaming and Felting convention! One year I even ran pick-up games of “spin the golden fleece”. They had to make a Turkish spindle, were given some nice golden combed top, and then had to spin a length of yarn with it.

The convention was at the Rideau Curling Club, in downtown Ottawa. It ran Friday: Noon – 11 pm, Saturday: 8 am – 11 pm, and Sunday: 8 am – 11 pm. Knowing that parking is very limited at the curling club and the city lots are a good hike away, we arrived early to make sure we could find parking.  Good thing we came early, the reserved handicapped parking was no longer there, but we found a spot that would work.

The Rideau Curling Club was started in 1888, they moved a few times and in 1949 they built the present location, replacing a coal yard and blacksmith shop on the block (Glenn will not be pleased to learn that!). In 1965, a second storey was added, including a kitchen, dining room, and meeting room. To reach the second story is a wide, turning staircase, with a Scottish tartan display (sorry I was sure I had a shot of that! I will get it next year). Unfortunately, in 1964, although it is a lovely addition, the thought of adding an elevator was not a consideration. So unless I could get someone to carry the walker up the long stairway I was staying on the ground floor and iceless rink. (There were ramps to get to both of those!)

Now that you know where I have wandered off to, let’s get back to the felting!

I had brought two of the chickadee bodies that I had made for the workshop. I still needed to take photos to add to my notes. I also brought 12g aluminium and 26g steel wire to start the next moose bag. I was being optimistic I would have the chickadee photo shoot done reasonably quickly.

By a little after 12 noon, Glenn had me set up by the “games library” run by the Kanata Games Club.

chickadee armature with fiber ready to wrap down the legs2) Chickadee armature with extra crimpy Shetland locks drafted to about half an inch wide. The background is a wooden table that the games are about to need.

Some years there is an extra table and I can work there, this year it was busy, luckily we had not taken the small folding table out of the car. Glenn went to the car to get it and I switched to that.  I found a nicespot  at the edge of the curling rink and set up there.

folding metterl table, 2 moose bagsd, a baket of felting suplys sitting at the edge of the iceless curling rink3) Setup for a weekend of felting, note 2 bottles of Mountain Dew (sugar and caffeine pop) not in the picture is my walker which I will be using as my chair.

I got myself sorted out for felting, with a small table, basket and moose bags, Glenn wondered upstairs where the games he was interested in were going to play.

the end of the curling rink showing the lower area with tables and the upper areas with more gameing too4) upstairs in the curling Club

The curling rink (without ice for the summer season) is a large two-story space with lots of echo-y sounds of happy gaming. I started the afternoon with headphones and a good audiobook, while I wrapped legs and tiny toes with crimpy Shetland locks. I moved on to adding strips of the core carded roving from World of Wool to the body. By about 5 pm the crowd had grown and it was getting hard to hear the audiobook!

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Time for a quick break to look aground, I am starting to get hungry and I should stretch my legs a moment.

Games library 6.1) this is the games library that I am sitting beside.  The shelves were labelled with how many players were needed for the game. The tables in this section were all in use most of the convention.  

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6.2) This is the second-hand games section that will be open for shopping at 10 am Saturday. There are already large piles of games coming in and there will be more dropped off tonight.   6.3) another angle of the second-hand games area

All afternoon and into the evening more boxes of games arrived for the sale starting at 10 am Saturday. While Glenn dropped off games he was going to try to sell, he said he spotted a Napoleonic board game for 10.00 that he would like, but he has a game he is signed up for on Saturday morning. He said he would go look after his game was done and see if it was still there.

Ok back to work time to add colour!! (I keep getting distracted and should show you more of the felting component of the convention). I pulled out the reference photos to check the colours and placements.

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 7.1) consult the reference photos  7.2) Consider the colours to make the colour I want  7.3) Use the tiny pet brushes to blend the fibres 7.4) Check with the photo to see if I have the colour close  7.5) Add the colour to the body and then blend and add the next colour.

On Friday night, there is traditionally a game of Chariot racing (7-11 pm). There are a large number of chariots (24), at the start line 2 deep, across 12 lanes. The lanes quickly narrow down to four, before you reach the first corner. Each player writes down how fast and the number of squares they will go that turn (the faster you go the more damage you can take). The players are selected randomly for the order they start each round.  This means a chariot from the back row may start before the ones in the front row, squeezing through and causing and taking damage (they keep track of that on their page for speeds). I watched through the first turn.

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 8.1 set up and the first 2 chariots art out on the track!  8.2 deciding which chariots to try to slip between (hoping not to take too much damage)  8.3) 2 chariots trying to occupy the same square,  they will roll for damage in a moment.

Starting the chariot race!

I will come back and see how they are doing later.  Now back to work on the chickadee. It’s now time to add the tail colour! Blending a charcoal grey, to match the photos, then adding it to the very thin tail. This is where the angle of needle use is important if you want the underside to stay white!

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9.1) blending colours for the tail   9.2 carefully adding the tail colour to only the top. (This would have been easier with a crown needle)   9.3) adding feather details over the black

Oh, the charioteers are getting low better take a look! The leaders are now past the second corner but the carnage left behind is already heavy!

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10.1 heavy carnage before the first turn!  10.2 Close-up of chariot wreckage!! Note the headless charioteer is still driving!!

Ok, I better get back to work, the tail is looking good, now, on to the wings. I have made chickadee wings in multiple ways.  This time, I want to do the wings as a single shape and then add the details before adding them to the little bird.  I could do this faster if I started with a piece of felt or pre-felt of a medium charcoal colour. Unfortunately, I did not have premade felt but I did have wool and can make my own! I started to create felt with the wing tip end, which are darker than the shoulder end of the wing. I used the Clover multi-needle tool to felt faster. I also started to add a suggestion of the details of the felted edges.

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11.1 wing tip end starting to form, using both the single needle and the clover multi tool   11.2 adding feather edge detail, the lines are still a bit too bright for what I wanted.  11.3) note the areas that will be covered by the wings do not need to be covered in colour but it’s better to allow a bit of overlap in case you need to move, or adjust, the wing placement slightly.

Check the shape by using pins and look from various angles. Humm, getting closer but not quite right yet.

using sewing pins to position the wings12) Checking the wing position, consult the photo reference.

Ah, Glenn’s game has ended, time to pack up and we will be back tomorrow morning, Early!

Saturday, 8 am to 11 pm. We again found parking, Glenn got me set up with the little table in the same spot as yesterday and headed off upstairs to his game.   My goal today was to finish the wings and attach them. I was also going to try to find the mysterious “Napoleonic war game for $10.00” and kept an eye out for a lineup to start to go in and buy the second-hand games. But first, back to the chickadee!

I used the sewing pins to try the wings out to see how the wings fit. I like the shape but the shoulder colour needs work. The first thing to do is add whisps of the grey/green from the colour I used on the back to the top and front edge of the wings.

side vew of wing placement13)  I add the wisps of green/grey at the wing shoulder. I also toned down the whiteness of the feather edges, by used the clover tool, which worked very well.

using clover tool on wing14) using the clover tool to soften and lighten the shoulder edges of the wings

Yes much better, now before I add the wings to the body, I can trim any stray fibres from the back with the curved embroidery scissors.

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 15.1 Using curved blade scissors on chickadee’s back (the spot that will be between the wings and hard to trim later.  15.2 Close up of the curved blade on the embroidery scissors (got them off aliexpress)  15.3) The flat and curved embroidery scissors and other felting tools on the wool felting mat (bat on a stick is also here)

Next, the wings need to be attached. Make sure you don’t flatten the wing too much, or it will not look like it is sitting above the body.

16) Adding the wings to the body  

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17.1 Then adding beads for eyes  17.2 Chickadee with his new beady eyes, standing on my needle picking up tool, ready to supervise my work

Oh look there are 2 people starting the line for the games! Back in a moment! I asked one of the organizers and the 2 nice guys in line before me, if they had any idea what game Glenn had been talking about.  I would end up having a number of gamers trying to help me find the mysterious game. We did find one but it didn’t match all the criteria (it was only 5.00) so I kept it and kept looking. Another gamer picked up the one I was looking for but decided not to buy it (Thank you!!) so I now had 2 board games about Napoleon, one of which was listed for 10 dollars!

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 18.1 I was #3 in line waiting for the curtains to open so we could start to shop   18.2 some of the games  18.3 af few more games  18.4 just one of the piles of games being purchased!

I picked up a couple of games that looked interesting, including a Settlers of Catan board that held the pieces in place, since I remember Glenn mumbling about the annoyance of moving tiles. (More on that later). It was very crowded and there were a lot of games being scooped up and sold. I took my selection and hid them under my basket.  Save Doctor Lucky, Napoleonic wars, War of 1812, a couple for the cottage. OH!, I almost forgot I found Exploding Kittens.

19) games hidden under my basket cover and basket! He will never think to look for games there.

Since I have the chickadee done and before I start on the next moose bag, I think I should take a look and see what’s being played at the moment.

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 20.1 my view of the convention from the back corner by the games library   20.2 Miniature soldiers and mounted troops in blue off to fight the little guys in grey in the background   20.3 Another battle in progress, the games are taking a brake. Unfortunately, I could not ask who was fighting    20.4 this was a new game that was being introduced. it had really cue miniatures and the rules allowed you to play as individuals or teams. 20.5 is another historical miniatures game being set up. The reference book was a nice touch.  20.6) this game, from the games library, ran a good chunk of the day, the gamers are taking a snack or shopping break

Glenn finally emerged from his game and went to see if he could find the Napoleonic war game….strangely he had No luck, but he was excited to find an expansion for a game he had. The title did not sound too appealing, too much water.

We had both watched for any type of sheep game but no luck this year. We will try again next year! Some day we will get Glenn to tell us about all the sheep-related board, card and stacking games he has found. It is quite the collection!

21) Expansion for underwater cities (sounds too wet for my liking)

Glenn was very pleased with the games hidden under my basket.  Yes, I did get the correct game but I also bought one he was selling, OH well, he did like it enough to have bought it the first time!

I had people drop by Friday and again Saturday to see what I was doing and then how it was going. I think a couple will follow up and try needle felting.

With the chickadee done and now supervising from the needle-on-the-floor-collector-tool (magnet with extendable handle) I was ready to start project 2 of the weekend. But, I likely have distracted you with enough strange games for today.  So let’s paws here, before going on to the next project, and the rest of Saturday and part of Sunday.

Small things and help with visor problem

Small things and help with visor problem

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I am working on my May slow stitch I have a few things done but it’s not finished quite yet. I plan on finishing it at our guild social on Monday  I think the “May” should be bigger. It’s not a very full page this month but it will have to do. I am liking working with the wash-away stabiliser. We will see if I am still happy after it is dissolved.

 

I have done a little spinning and plying so I have a few new balls of yarn to play with. I got a Moodie Blues pack from Carlene. It’s one of the World of Wool collections.

 

I still need to ply the one on the left. I only have one more to go, the top left one. It amazes me the way the wool changes as you spin it. I think because the colours are side by side they become more subtle. I really like the dark one with the blue slubs in it.

Lately, I need some advice on my mirror cover for the visor in my car. I had stuck it on with some Velcro squares. It worked fine all winter but no it’s hot the glue has melted and it has fallen off. What else can I use to attach the cover?

 

 

Five leaves made from painted tea bags and free motion machine stitching that have been burnt with a soldering iron.
Creating a Branch, Leaves and Lichen for a Felt Tree Trunk

Creating a Branch, Leaves and Lichen for a Felt Tree Trunk

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In my last post, I showed you the beginnings of a tree trunk that I have been creating. Next up was to make a branch, leaves and lichen for the trunk.

Felted fringe cut from a scarf above felt tree branch made from similar fringe.

The branch was made from the fringe that I cut off when I felted the tree trunk. There is extra fringe at the top of the photo above and the branch that I created from a similar piece of scarf below. I did a bit of twisting, tacking it down with a felting needle and then wet felted the branch.

Interfacing and nylon organza painted purple.

I painted some lightweight interfacing and some nylon organza to make the lichen. It was fun to make lichen in purple!

Here’s the set up that I use for burning synthetic fabric. It gives off bad odors so I put a piece of glass on my stovetop, turn on the fan in the vent hood and burn with a soldering iron first. Once I get the shapes, then I use a heat gun to further shrink and change the shape of the fabric. It shrinks the fabric down, so you need to burn out more pieces than you think you need. (Make sure to be very careful with the soldering iron and keep it away from your fingertips. You also might want to wear a mask.)

Here’s the burnt interfacing on the left and the result after heating with the heat gun on the right. I usually tear these pieces up into smaller sections as that looks more like the way lichen grows on tree trunks. Do you like the little dog at the bottom? Totally unplanned.

Here’s the nylon organza. I do both the interfacing and the organza because they each give a different texture. That way when mixed together, it looks more like real lichen.

Next up was to create the leaves. I used tea bag papers that I painted. I wanted a soft peach-pink color but ended up with more of an orange color. Oh well, I kept going. The top right shows the tea bag papers layered with two papers and then free motion machine stitched to make veins. Then I cut out the leaves to the correct shape and then used a soldering iron to burn bits away and make little holes. Now they look like fall leaves.

But I was still unhappy with the color. I definitely wanted them less orange and more pink. So I took some leftover tea bag paper and tried several different media to see what I liked best. I ended up using the pink colored pencil. Now to stitch it all together and see if it needs anything else, but you will have to wait until June for that post.