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Tag: corriedale

Scarflette with Locks

Scarflette with Locks

Comments 30 comments

I was inspired by Nada’s scarflette a while back and thought it would be a perfect way to use some of the locks I received from Zara.

I dyed some Merino, Corriedale, Romney and Cheviot wool along with some silk habatoi and silk mulberry using Silver Gray acid dye. Then made some batts with the wool and silk.

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I pre-washed some of the locks using Zara’s method posted on the forum using netting and soaking.  I wasn’t sure what color I would use, but chose dark gray Gotland locks.

zara

It was a simple scarf  layout, but not a simple process.  I had never used locks, so I wasn’t sure how to space the locks. I anticipated a 30% shrinkage.  I needle felted the locks between two layers of batts using similar sizes and shapes. I also wanted a silk nuno close to the skin. I wet down the batts then added the silk on the back then proceeded with felting being very careful not to let the locks migrate or felt.  I worked slow and was attentive to the locks.

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What I didn’t expect was that not all the silk would get nuno felted.  I even added some fiber at the beginning of the process to those areas. No deal.  I worked diligently on those areas, but no change.

I was ready to throw it in the lost pile.  The locks were fuzzy, some of the silk wasn’t felted.  I left it for a couple of days and decided I’d make it work.  I knew it was fruitless to try to continue to felt.  The felt was solid. I originally had the design drape to one side and was going to cut the ends at an angle, but I folded over the nuno side to create a collar and liked that better.  The silk was a bit larger so I just let it ruffle over the edges.

20160125_111715I had to do some stitching to hold the silk on  in places.  But its pretty much invisible.

20160125_11140320160125_111425Originally, I envisioned a cool button on the front, but ended up with a snap on the inside. The button I had purchased would be hidden by the overlap.

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I wetted the wild locks and used a little leave in conditioner on them.  Not perfect, but my husband walked by while it was sitting on the counter and remarked on how beautiful it was.  (I never mentioned what I was working on or my disappointment. So, I guess it wasn’t a failure.)

I need to work on my locks skills.  I have no idea what happened to the nuno especially since my ginkgo piece turned out so well. Or why the locks turned fuzzy.

Any ideas?

 

Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone

Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone

Comments 18 comments

Lately, I’ve tried to step out of my comfort zone with color and fiber and try some new things.

While this first example doesn’t look like it’s outside of my usual color palette, I did use some silk for nuno on this clutch and some coarser fibers like Corriedale that I made for my daughter in law.  The nuno is not as noticeable as I’d like, but I think it still adds a nice texture to it.

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Revisiting pods, I decided to really jump out of my comfort zone and use bold primaries on a black background. (It is a bit like some of Pollack style pictures I did for last year’s challenge.)

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Another project I’ve worked on was  hand dyed silk I made a while back.  I decided I didn’t want a long scarf so I cut the piece in half.  I used very little wool wisps on one side.  The joke was on me when I was finished felting.  It could be a scarf for a doll!  It had been a while since I did nuno and evidently forgot about the big shrinkage rate for silk gauze.  I do like it though.  I think I could wear it as a collar if not a scarf.

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Most recently, I decided to play with some neutrals and coarser wools.  Cathy (Luvswool) was nice enough to give me some of the Domestic 56  wool she had dyed in Arkansas with plants. I really liked the colors. I made a batt with cream and brown Corriedale and another with some of the  hand dyed Domestic 56 for added color. I used a resist open at the top and bottom. The cream and brown became my inner layer.

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I really liked the subtle colors against the neutrals.  The coarser fibers also added to the texture for a natural open look.

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Having progressed through these projects, I have a whole new outlook on textures and colors that I hope to incorporate into my future art.

What have you done outside your comfort zone lately?

 

 

Wine Anyone?

Wine Anyone?

Comments 22 comments

I wanted to try making a gift bag for wine in felt.  I first made a resist using the wine bottle as a model.  But I wasn’t sure about shaping the bottom.

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The base layer was black corriedale.  Then I used a layer of merino.  And finally I made a batt using forest green, a heather purple, sage and black bamboo for the last layer.

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For embellishments and design I made leaves from a nuno prefelt and used 100% Peruvian wool thick and thin yarn, locks and needle felted grapes.

I finished fulling the bag on the bottle, but because of the narrowing of the design it’s not an easy in and out for the bottle.

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After it was semi dry, I cut holes at the top to thread some yarn through to tighten it around the neck.  Then I turned down the top and sewed extra leaves on and wound the excess yarn from the  closure around a small dowel to emulate the ringlet vines on a grape wine.

Also, the bottom ended up having “wings” so I tucked them under and sewed them to  the bottom. There was a hollow in the bottom of the bottle so it worked out well.

side finish front finish

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back finish

It was a little hairy so I shaved it.   Next time, I would only use two layers and redesign the shape.

Even with some problems, I think it will make a nice display on a bar.

Have you made anything similar?  Do you think it needs anything else?

Making a Gift for a New Grandma

Making a Gift for a New Grandma

Comments 32 comments

As you may be aware my daughter in law Mari  is due to have a baby girl any day.  While we wait for the “phone call,” I decided to make her mother a small cosmetic case/clutch.  This is her first grandchild and she has traveled from Japan to be with her daughter and my son for the big event.

I made a template allowing for a 30% shrinkage rate.  I had planned to use some prefelt and merino, but I realized I was almost out of black merino.  So, I substituted some black Corriedale for a middle layer.  The bottom half of the resist was 9″ x 11″ (23 cm x 28 cm).

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The inside layer was a turquoise merino.

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The second layer was the Corriedale batt and the last layer was a black prefelt.  Then I laid out the embellishments.  As usual, I was so engrossed in the process I forgot to take pictures.  The embellishments were 100% Peruvian thick and thin hand dyed wool yarn, a turquoise and metallic silver mohair yarn, silk hankies and green and turquoise throwsters waste.  The template for the flap was not used as a resist, but as a pattern for the shape and size of the flap.

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Once I was finished felting and fulling, I shaped the bottom and sides using an ice cream scoop. The shrinkage was less than I expected.  But it was well fulled so I was satisfied. The finished size was 8″ x 7″ high (20 cm x 18 cm)

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I used the yarn to put on her initials — ST on the flap and embellished it with a silver button and will either use a velcro or magnetic closure.

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I was pleased with the outcome.  It is sturdy, yet not heavy or bulky.

More Tea Cozies.

More Tea Cozies.

Comments 15 comments

As promised I will show you the finished tea cozies.

This one is reversible so you can have it red for Christmas if you like. there is no reason you couldn’t put a design on the “inside” if you liked. I just didn’t think about it until after. This one would fit most medium sized tea pots.

tea cozy orange tea cozy orange other side

This one I made so you don’t have to take it off to pour your tea. It is much more fiddly and I finished the edges with blanket stich. I also have to put a button and loop for under the handle. With felt having no stretch it won’t go over the handle other wise. I made this one thinner too. It was mostly because I wasn’t sure it was going to work and hate wasting wool on something that doesn’t work.

tea cozy black

Then I made one for my french press. I didn’t want the coffee drinkers to feel left out. It will be good to have as the only time we use a french press is when the power is out.

coffie cozy

Do you use tea cozies? I only use them when the power is out. The rest of the time my teapot sits on the stove.

 

Ingeo, Corriedale and Texture

Ingeo, Corriedale and Texture

Comments 28 comments

I’m doing a craft fair next Sunday, 6th July at Victoria Baths, in Manchester, so I haven’t had chance to do any felting this week yet, so these two pieces are from a couple of weeks ago. This first one is dark brown Corriedale wool tops and Ingeo Fibre. Ingeo is a bit different to other fibres I use, it isn’t shiny as such, but it does have a sheen, and there’s also a soft almost ‘fluffy’ feel to it, without it actually looking fluffy. Lyn found this link for how it is made.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAHere’s a closer view:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAHere’s a Supermacro close up:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAnd here’s a supermacro of an area where the fibre were laid more thickly:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAA while ago Marilyn sent me some fibres, one of them being some Domestic 56s wool tops, I tried them out on a texturey piece I made, mostly for the base, but also to add some texture between the base and top layer of 18.5 mic Merino. I liked the way they felted, similar to our English 56s.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI also used some Bluefaced Leicester Noil between the 2 layers. This is lower across the surface:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERASome of the embellishment fibres I used were soy staple fibre, viscose and flax

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI also used milk and bamboo fibres.

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Felt Bird House Class.

Felt Bird House Class.

Comments 30 comments

Last week I taught 3 ladies from my guild how to make felt Bird houses.

There was rubbing

Alison in working Nancy and rollingLinda rubbing

and rolling

Alison rolling

Cutting

Linda

and more rubbing

Nancy rubbing

Then the really fun part, scrunching and throwing. Sorry to say no non blurry pictures.

After that they rinsed their houses and blew up balloons inside so the will dry nice and round.

Nancy finished Alison finnished

Lynda made the hole a little bigger to use it as a bird feeder instead of a bird house.

Linda finished

Lots of ‘other’ fibres

Lots of ‘other’ fibres

Comments 13 comments

Although a lot of the speciality fibre tops seem to look very similar at first, especially the white ones, they all have their own unique qualities. It’s interesting to try the different fibres on different types of wool to find out how they work together. Sometimes, they really compliment each other. Other times, like Banana fibre on grey Suffolk, they give interesting textural results. One thing I like to try is lots of different fibres on one type of wool. This shows the differences in how the fibres work with the same wool and also which would work well together with the same wool. I recently got some nice brown Finnish wool tops and tried 7 different speciality fibres with it. I alternated between the white/silvery fibres and the creamy/golden fibres. In order from Top to Bottom, I used: Banana fibre tops; Soybean tops; Ingeo tops; Flax; Milk Protein fibre tops; Hemp and Ramie tops.

Earlier this year I made a Merino and Hemp pouch which was ‘lined’ with cotton gauze. The texture was gorgeous. I’ve used the gauze a few times along with other fibres, and it always looks great, so I thought I’d try it on its own with some dark brown Corriedale. I’d planned to use it just as a test piece, but I really liked how it turned out, so I tried it in a frame I’d recently bought and loved the way it looked.

What have you been working on lately? Do you have a favourite combination of other/speciality fibres that work well together? Or a fibre or fabric like the gauze which makes a great feature by itself?

*** If you want to see decent sized pictures, click on ‘Permalink’ under the photo. For some reason that carousel thing makes them ridiculously small

Felt Birdpods and natural wool

Felt Birdpods and natural wool

Comments 14 comments

I really liked the way my first bird pod turned out last week, so I decided to make a couple more. I recently got some dark brown Corriedale and thought it wold be nice to try one with that. Like the first one, I started off with a couple of layers of Merino, natural brown this time, and again added the locks before the top two layers of Corriedale. I added some washed Gotland fleece and some bamboo fibre to the top for extra interest and really liked how it turned out. The bamboo started to look ‘rusty’ in places. I gave this to my mum today and she really liked it.

The last pod I made was an all white one for my girlfriend. I made this a little larger because I wanted to use extra locks. I started this one with two layers of English 56s. The locks I used were Teeswater, Mohair and older Angora goat locks. Teeswater locks are really long, some of the ones I had were 15 or 16 inches, I used those across the top to come out at both sides. The top two layers were merino 64s, then for extra texture I added some combed teeswater tops, Angora and Mohair locks, some very crimpy Bluefaced Leicester, and some carded bamboo fibre. Even if we never get birds nesting in these, they’ll look good with the locks swaying in the wind 🙂

Staying with the ‘natural’ theme, one of my other natural wool and fibre combinations I tried recently was grey Norwegian tops and Milk protein fibre. I liked the way the crimp and wave of the Norwegian wool appeared after felting, it really gave it an interesting texture. And the way it pulled on the milk protein fibre, which was already waving from being pulled by the shrinking felt, gave that an interesting texture too, and made it more rippley. I really like the way those two worked together. I’d be interested in any of your favourite wool and fibre combinations.