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Pieces For Greetings Cards

Pieces For Greetings Cards

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It seems like we’ve not had any well-being centre felting sessions for ages. We meet up on a Monday so we lose days when we have a bank holiday; the reception had a bit of a weekend make-over too so was closed one Monday after and August being popular for gigs and festivals has meant less attendance and cancellations too. So, I was feeling a bit impatient to be creative this week. I could have made something with the strips I pieced together last week, but I wanted something a bit more ‘instant’! I need to make some more greetings cards, so thought making pieces for those would be a good way to be productive. This is the first one:

I stuck to Blues and Greens because it’s so messy and fibres/threads get everywhere. This is the 2nd one:

These next two are two halves of one piece I made. I thought it made sense to make a longer one and cut in half. I also made these more green:

I like the blue offcut with cotton nepps on this piece, it was left over from the piece I turned into a notebook cover not too long ago:

They all look very similar when they’re all togther. So, for something a bit different, here’s a piece of nuno I made earlier this year. I used a piece from a silk scarf I got at a charity shop. I think I planned to make a coin purse out of it:

Close Up:

Do you have any ‘quick + easy’ projects for when you want to feel productive and accomplish something?

Works In Progress

Works In Progress

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A while ago when I was making a bookcover from felt strips, I made an extra piece for a future inside piece/sleeve. I usually save my plainer/flatter offcuts for this so they’re not too bulky:

It got me thinking about making another cover. I’ve had some longer offcut strips recently, so I got a few out to see how they looked together and see if they were long enough for the width of a cover:

Which then led to getting out some of the smaller offcuts I’ve saved from Nuno smaples recently, and playing around to see which ones work together. I thought these might be good for 1 side of a small bag or maybe case:

And for the other side:

How durable they are will probably help me decide if they’re suitable for a bag or case. One of our wet felting group members has a nice piece of silk she wants to use for nuno scarves, so a couple of weeks ago when there was only the two of us, we made a couple of samples using 18.5 micron Merino. I know it’s early to be thinking about making scarves for winter, and it was about 32C the day we made them, but we took the opportunity while we had a quiet day! This was my sample piece:

I used a bluey green blend for the white end, and an orange/pink/red blend for the patterned end:

This is the patterned end:

And the texture:

I forgot about the piece and left it in my bag, so it dried with a few creases in! I’ll re-wet it to get them out 🙂 One thing I finished recently is a little case ‘thingie’ made from some old jeans. I wanted to make use of the pocket so thought I’d make a little bag/case with a zip at the top:

I haven’t decided on a use for it yet though!

Finished Bookcovers, Unfinished Purses

Finished Bookcovers, Unfinished Purses

Comments 14 comments

I actually finished a couple of notebook covers this week. The first one is the landscape piece I showed cut out ready for sewing. This is the front:

And this is the back:

I think every time I use ‘scene’ type pieces for book covers, I tell myself to make the top and bottom ‘sections’ bigger next time, because I always have to compromise over what gets cut off. I always forget! But, then I can use those nice pieces for something else, like part of a collage book cover! I tried to make this next one nice and bright, you might remember me choosing some of the pieces back in February:

And I did make a start on it in March, and then put it away for a while. I realised last week that I was going to be hot, sweaty and miserable no matter what, so I may as well just try to be a bit productive and get my sewing machine out and finish the cover:

Other side:

This is the inside, with some hand dyed cotton fabric as lining:

Front and back opened out:

I bet a hat made like this would look great! I still haven’t manged to get any further on some purses I cut out, but I did get a photo of them:

Still Sewing

Still Sewing

Comments 20 comments

Well, my sewing stuff – and the mess – is still out! I realised I was running out of offcuts, so decided to make some more. I suppose technically they’re not offcuts if I make them with the intention of cutting into strips, but you know what I mean 🙂 I made a few different coloured nuno felt pieces:

I loved the variety of textures I got from using different fabrics on the orange piece:

The red piece was made with all silk pieces:

This is a corner of the red piece with sunlight on it:

I think this is my favourite close up, from the yellow piece I made, and a strip from a viscose scarf:

Before I got too attached to the pieces, I cut them all up into strips:

I made a mistake with some of them, because some pieces weren’t very wide. I should have left them ‘whole’ instead of cutting the strip in half like I did the others. I started with the red and orange strips, and matched up some pieces, it turned out some of the purple strips worked well too so I used some of them. I made them into a passport style shoulder bag. I made this side as the front:

I made the back to match, but different enough that it can be reversed for a different look:

It’s not very easy to see, but I finished the bottom of the strap off with some wooden beads.

Latest Sewing Projects

Latest Sewing Projects

Comments 22 comments

I don’t know about anyone else, but when I get my sewing stuff out, I make a right mess! So I like to get lots of things done at once. I cut out the pieces for some coin purses a few weeks ago, it took a while, but I got the tops of the inside pockets blanket stitched so I could move on to the next stage of joining the pieces together and sewing the seams on the machine. Here are 3 pink ones sewn up:

This is what they look like closed:

The next step is to round off the corners of the front flaps, then stitch all around with blanket stitch. I think choosing the right thread for the blanket stitch can take as long as the stitching sometimes! I had to make a make-shift table out of a cardboard box to put all the things waiting to be stitched, that stack of boxes on the right is about 9 of the thread drawers I have:

At the beginning of last year I made a nuno sample piece with some strips from a viscose scarf and a linen scarf. I thought it would make a nice pencil pouch. I made myself one a few years ago and use it almost every day. The idea is to use an extra long cord to wrap around to close it instead of a zip or other fastener. This is what it looks like closed:

This is the back when it’s opened:

And, inside, I lined it with some nice fabric I got a few years ago:

And, while the machine is out, I may as well … root through all those offcuts I tidied away. This is a bookcover I’ve been working on; the front, inside front sleeve, and the back is finished. Here, I’m planning the layout for the inside back sleeve. I thought I’d make enough for a future one while I was at it, so made it extra long:

A Few New Things

A Few New Things

Comments 14 comments

We made felt flowers for brooches at the Well Being Centre last week. These are the three layers of one of mine:

I thought I’d found the perfect button when I tried it out:

But just before I sewed it on, I spotted an orange shisha mirror and sewed that on! I haven’t got a photo yet though. I was sorting some felt offcuts a few weeks ago, and thought I’d save some to use for greetings cards because turned sideways they looked like landscapes. I thought it’d be nice to make some new ones too, and was only reminded by someone on the forum (I’ve forgotten who, sorry!) and before I forgot again, I went and made some. I made them quite soft and thin since they’re for cards:

I thought they’d be nice for beginners workshops too. I put a few offcuts to one side while I was sorting, and made a new camera bag. I’ve been using my ‘prototype’ for at least 18 months to see how well it wore.  I suppose it’s two-sided/reversible, but I put the zip so that really this is the front:

I still like the back though, and can flip it if I feel like a change:

While the machine was out, I made a little coin pouch from an offcut:

How two small things can create such a mess though, is a mystery!

Another Bag and More Unfinished Projects

Another Bag and More Unfinished Projects

Comments 13 comments

If you’re anything like me, when you get the sewing machine and felt and/or fabric scraps out, you end up with stuff absolutely everywhere and a huge mess to tidy away afterwards which takes so long you start to consider whether you really need to use that room again or if you can get away with shutting the door on the mess forever. I usually try to make the most of it and do as many sewing projects as I can all in one go and live with the mess in the mean time. After making the satchel type bag, I had some good sized off cuts left over so thought I’d make myself another bag. This one is ‘passport bag’ size. This is what it looks like from the front with the flap closed:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAnd this is what it looks like with the flap open – I used magnetic closures again:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAnd this is what it looks like on the back:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI used quite a few of my recent nuno felt pieces, but also a few from ‘the box’ including the piece I used inside the flap which was a piece I made years ago with lots of different pieces of silk. I’ve got a few more half finished projects too, this next one will also be a piece for Ann’s 2nd quarter challenge, because I’m changing a piece of soft scruffy felt I made a while ago:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAnd this is a bird pod I started at the well being centre a few weeks ago. I need to shape it and full it:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERABack:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAMaybe when I get my new spinning wheel (oh, yes I am!) I’ll make a matching cord to hang it 🙂

Second Quarter Challenge

Second Quarter Challenge

Comments 18 comments

I know it’s taken me a while, but I finally got around to doing Ann’s 2nd Quarter Challenge! One thing I like more than colourful felt, is lots of colourful felt! So, when I have a nice collection of offcuts, I like to put them together in a collage and make something out of it. I’d been wanting an ‘alternative’ bag to my little drawstring bag for a while now, and I’ve got a canvas satchel which I really like, but I wanted something a little bit smaller, so I thought I’d go with a smaller version of that. I worked out the dimensions for the length and width I’d need it, marked out where the front, back and flap would be, then pieced all my strips together:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe middle section with all the nuno pieces would be the back, I positioned them there because I know from experience that felt, especially Merino felt, can bobble/pill easily when it rubs a lot, like bags do around the hip area. When I trimmed the edges and folded it into shape, I realised the front flap was a bit too long to add satchel straps, so I went with a magnetic closure. This is what it looked like from the front when it was finished:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThis is how it looks when it’s open:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThis is the back (with the front flap open):

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAFor the side panels, I tried quite a few felt pieces, One which looked really good was a piece I’d made from woven pencil roving, but I knew it’d be too thick once the hook straps were added, so, and I don’t know why this is still hard to do after all these years, but many will understand, I cut up a piece of nuno felt I made a while ago. I’m not sure I ever showed it because it’s blue and I have a hard time taking photos of blue, but here’s one end of it:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI cut strips for the sides, and thinner strips to make the straps to hold the bag hooks in place:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI got the findings from another bag I bought from a charity shop just for them. I recently bought 10 metres of rainbow webbing with a bag in mind and it went perfectly with this bag, I even got the findings attached the right way around the first time!:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAnd on the rainbow theme, if there are any Mancs out there, Happy Pride weekend! 🙂

Something Different

Something Different

Comments 16 comments

I’m still trying to finish projects and WIPs so I can tidy my summer sewing stuff away. I found an unfinished project from years ago when I was putting some felt offcuts away. Hopefully, this link will show some of the pieces I made, if not search my photostream for ’embellished’. It inspired me to finish it off and make some more. So I had a rummage through my offcuts and found lots of nice ones, so many that I started to think that maybe I wanted to do something a bit bigger, like a notebook cover (surprise, surprise!). I found some thin pieces of felt to use as a base and sewed them together. I really wanted to make something the complete opposite of the carefully measured and carefully and neatly sewn notebook covers I usually make. So after spreading all the felt offcuts out, I got some contrasting sewing thread and set to work attaching the pieces to my felt base. I didn’t expect it to take as long as it did and I got through quite a few episodes of Foyle’s War while I sewed 🙂

When I’d attached all the pieces, I attached a piece of thin blue cotton fabric to hide all the stitching and thread. Then I folded the flaps in, machine stitched them in place, then hand stitched the top and bottom edges. I think you’ll agree, that it’s nothing like what I usually make 🙂  This is the front:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAnd this is the back:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI tried hard to make sure nothing matched, and that it wasn’t too neat or even, including the top and bottom edges, I just followed the edges of the base felt. This is the cover opened out:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI didn’t attach felt pieces to the base where the flaps would be, I didn’t want it to be too thick. The felt I used for the flaps was originally white merino and cotton which I experimented on with direct dyeing.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI also made a strap closure for it in much the same way as I made the book:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIt just fits around the book and clips together with a Delrin clip.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
I thought this notebook would stick out like  a sore thumb in my etsy shop, but surprisingly it doesn’t. But maybe that’s because it probably has a little offcut from almost every other piece in there with it!

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