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Finished Necklace, now Bracelet

Finished Necklace, now Bracelet

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Last time I showed you my necklace with the balls inside. http://wp.me/p1WEqk-1WL Next was cutting some of the ball out.

bubble bracelet 1

At this point I still like the idea of a necklace but have no idea how to sting it. To me it needs a chunky chain or something to go with it. I suppose I could make some felt snakes for it but I like necklaces to sit fairly high so It would need a clasp and I don’t know how to do that. I decided to make it into a bracelet. I added a nice button that matches the inside of the bubbles. I did a blanket stitch around the buttonhole to stabilise it.

bubble bracelet closebubble bracelet button hole

While I was in the mood I finished up 2 samples for a class I am teaching in May. This is a 2 hour class so it had to be small and fast. This is  a class I don’t get paid to do so I am sort of testing out an idea too. I am thinking of proposing it as a class at an upcoming fiber event. I am writing instructions for it and thinking maybe I would make up some kits to sell.

nuno braclets 2

The one a the top is an older one and the other 2 are the new ones. I don’t much like the pink and blue flower on but everyone I show it to likes it so I guess it’s just me. I think  it’s because I don’t much like the fabric and it doesn’t have much texture and that’s what I like about nuno felt.

Meet the Supplier: Dreamspin Fibres

Meet the Supplier: Dreamspin Fibres

Comments 18 comments

We would like you to meet one of our sponsors and a friend of mine Maureen Harding of Dreamspin fibres.  We met a few years ago at a fiber conference and became friends. We live far enough apart that we only get together a few times a year but we always have a great time felting and trying new things. She doesn’t mention it here but she has a sale on select fibers at the moment.

m silly


Q-4 Three types of fibre you can’t live without?

Merino, silks, silk fabric but other fibres depending on the project

Q-3 Have you always been a felter?

I’ve been felting for 15 years, before that I was spinning and knitting.

Q-2 Two tools you use all the time?

Pool noodle and plastic window screening. (and ball brause)

Q-1 One fibre art technique you love the most?

I have to say felting. But also enjoy spinning and knitting

store room

What is your business?

We sell wools, prefelts, fabrics for nuno felting, a few felting tools, mostly for felters.

Why and when did you start selling fiber?

It was an outgrowth of my interest in sheep and wools.  Initially I raised sheep, learned to spin, learned to felt, and started buying other fibres wholesale for my own purposes. After a while I started selling fibres at fibreart venues and would make up articles to show what can be done with the fibres. People started asking me if I would teach them how, and this led to doing workshops in felting.

What kind of items do you sell?

As well as fibres for felters, I also sell felted articles such as nuno scarves, felted hats, and felted bags at various shows throughout the year.

dreamspin prefelt


What do you think makes your business different from similar ones?

We pride ourselves on our fast service, orders are made out the same or the next day. We offer free shipping on orders over $100 in North America. And we are always happy to offer assistance and advice over the phone, or email.

Where are you located?

Near Campbellford in Ontario

Where can we find you on the internet

Dreamspinfibres.ca

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Mega Wool Order

Mega Wool Order

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In November I decided I needed to order some more wool. No big surprise there! The bigger the order the more you save on shipping. I decided I would offer to order some wool for other members of my weavers and spinners guild. I was thinking maybe 20-25 pounds and I would make up the rest to get us to the 44 pound shipping rate. Well did I ever underestimate the response. I ended up with 168 pounds of wool to order.

The boxes came before Christmas no problem. then 2 came after Christmas. Customs decided to have a look in these. This is what one of the boxes looked like:

wool box

All the wool inside was fine. then it was on to sorting all the wool. the min order was 1 pound so first I sorted all the one pound bags. I borrowed my hubbies bread cooling racks to organise everything.

me sorting 3

Then I had to separate orders. It’s a good thing we have a good scale.

1488125_10153696850215527_1198658836_nme weighing wool

It took the better part of a day to get it all sorted, Ross helped with sorting and then went off and made dinner while I finished.  The next day my son and I checked  and boxed all the orders so I could take them to the guild and deliver them.  The nice thing about doing this was I got to see so many different wools. I got to feel yak and angora, fake and real cashmere and see many of the wonderful colours and the multicoloured  wools the World of Wool has to offer. World of Wool was very nice and shipping was fast especially when I made the order so close to Christmas.

4 2

I must say that I couldn’t have done this so easily if it hadn’t been for the assistance of Jean. I can set up an excel file and make it sort things alphabetically but that’s it. She was a wiz  with the spread sheet. She made it add things up at this way and that and separate out things and make my life a whole lot easier. I already have people asking If I will do it a gain later in the year. I think Jean and I should ask for a commission next time. :O)

 

 

A Fingerless Mitt Experiment

A Fingerless Mitt Experiment

Comments 15 comments

Christmas is coming so I am still working on fingerless mitts for my guild sale the first weekend in November. One of my scarves made the poster.

OVWSGposter2012-3-400

I decided to try an experiment with a couple of pairs of Mitts. I wanted to make long cuts to reveal another colour.  I wrapped some shrink tubing and some regular tubing like you might use in a fish tank in some wool. I gave it a quick felt to get the wool tight around the tube. I thought this might be the best way to keep the fibers where I wanted them. I placed them between the layers of the mitts.

tubes collage

It worked really well.  After I cut the felt and took the tubes out I steamed them and opened up the slits. They are purple and pink and pink and purple but the cameras seems to think the purple is blue. I think it is because the wool of the table is so yellow.

purple and pink pink and purple

This is what they look like on. Sorry the pictures are bad I had to take it on my own arm.

purple and pink on pink and purple on

They turned out really well . I think I could have used less wool around the inclusions. I think I might felt them more next time too.

the other thing I did recently was make a matching set of hat and mitts. I added some silk to both, scrunching it  up to make it very textured. One small part didn’t stick down properly on the hat and will need a couple of stitches.

gray hat and mitts

I have more hats on the go and need to do some scarves before the sale but I think things are going well so far. Have you tried anything new recently?

Fourth Quarter Studio Challenge

Fourth Quarter Studio Challenge

Comments 17 comments

I’ve spent the past couple of weeks trying to think of a theme for the last Studio Challenge of the year. I still hadn’t decided last night when my girlfriend suggested ‘Monochrome’. I loved this idea because being restricted can really challenge you to think, but then I remembered that some of us had done a monochrome challenge a few years ago, it might even have been a challenge of Ruth’s. So after a bit more thinking … about maybe one particular colour for a monochrome challenge or maybe a section of the colour wheel, I started thinking about shades of burgundy, red, orange and yellow and thought ‘Autumn!’. I know for some of us, it’s only just started, and for some of us (yes, Kaz!) it’s been and gone, however you feel about it, it always has interesting things to offer in terms of colours and the life cycles of plants.

So the Challenge is, to make something (or as many things as you like) using felt, fabrics and/or fibres in whichever medium you like, with the theme of Autumn. Maybe an autumn sunset will inspire you:

Autumn (6)Autumn (5)Maybe the leaves on the trees turning citrusy yellows and greens, or the crunch of the dried brown leaves underfoot are what you think of for ‘Autumn’.

Autumn (1)Maybe you’re influenced by the gorgeous reds, oranges and yellows making trees a blaze of colour.

Autumn (2)Maybe Autumn makes you think of hibernation, damp and decay?

Autumn (3)Or maybe the leaves or plants themselves will become part of the piece?

Autumn (4)Have fun and don’t forget to share photos of your work with us if you join in the challenge 🙂  You can add photos to the Studio Site Flickr Group, tag your photos “4th Quarter Challenge 2013 Autumn”. You can also post a link to your blog or website in the comments on any of the Challenge blog posts, and we’d be happy to include your work in the Challenge Gallery. If you’d like to write a post about it, just use the form on the Contact Us page 🙂

Carding Some Wool

Carding Some Wool

Comments 18 comments

I dye most of my own wool. The problem is that I tend to felt my roving a bit when I am rinsing. That means I have to recard it. I had some not very pretty pink that I got bought cheap because it was a little felted. I recarded it with some other colours.

pink precarding

This is the wool combination I will put through the carder. the carder is big. There isn’t that much wool only about 150 grams, so I only use part of the carder.

pink into the carder

This is the first run through.

pink out of the carder 1

After I take it off the drum I split the batt and flipped each section to run them through again.

pink out of the carder 2 pink finished

This is the second time through and the final ball of wool.

This is all the wool I did.

carded wool

There are a couple more blended wools in there too. Now I have to make them into something.

 

 

More Fingerless Mitts

More Fingerless Mitts

Comments 13 comments

Can you tell I am on a roll with these. I did this pair a little differently. Instead of doing it around a resist I made a flat piece of black felt and then sewed on some sari waste ribbon.

flat fingerless mitts start

I want them to be sort off raggy looking in the end.

I wanted to put big black buttons to fasten it but I didn’t have enough so I used all different ones. I think it turned out better with the different coloured buttons.flat fingerless mitts finished

And here is what they look like on.

flat fingerless mitts on maegan

I really like the way they turned out and will probably make more this way.

 

 

 

 

 

Felt fingerless Mitts Experiment

Felt fingerless Mitts Experiment

Comments 16 comments

I am still making fingerless mitts for the fall shows. I have a wool batt that was made from the leftover bits or browns and natural wools. It looks like bark to me.

brown/gray/black/white batt
brown/gray/black/white batt

Then I thought I want the mitts to have more texture. So I got out my pile of trimmings.

left overs to roll 2

I gave them a roll

left overs to roll 3

I added them to the mitts in the hopes of making it look more bark like.

wood look cuff wood look cuff 2

I put the scraps under the last layer.

It worked out but I think fatter inserts might be better.

wood look cuff 3

It is not that exciting.  I may have to add something to it, I am not sure what. Maybe some twigs sticking up or a knot hole.

I have some other ideas to try out. I will share them with you as they happen. Theses are a great size for trying things out. If they work you have a salable item and if not you learn something and haven’t lost a lot. I am not good at making things that are just samples, I want it to be useful, crazy I know.

Cat Cave

Cat Cave

Comments 12 comments

I should be making more scarves but I wasn’t in the mood so I decide to do a cat cave.  I wanted to make one that looked like a pebble. I used some gray I had on hand. I have no idea what it is but it felt like a medium wool.  I put a paw print on before covering the bottom with the resist,

paw print

I add a spot on the top so I know where to cut the whole later. I rubbed it and rolled it and then into the dryer for a tumble.

wool coming through the cover You can see how the wool migrates through the cover when it comes out of the dryer.  I cut the hole and rolled it up the other way and back in to the dryer. Next I rolled it on a car floor mat. It has nice ridges but they are flexible. I roll it back and forth on the mat. I do not rub it on the ridges. It would got to hard on the surface.

 

 

shrinkage paw print finished

I am not sure its hard enough now that it’s dry. I my wet it down and give it a trip through the front load washer. If it works out I will see if I can pass the jury to get into the Shelter Exhibition. http://tangledfiberartscollective.wordpress.com/calls-for-entries/

 

 

 

 

Classes at the Conference

Classes at the Conference

Comments 10 comments

This last weekend I was teaching at the Ontario Handweavers and Spinners biannual conference. Here are pictures of the Nuno felting class. There where only 3 people in this class. It was a preconference class. The full conference started that evening with the workshops the next day.

Here they are putting the wool around the edges.

putting wool around the edge of the scarf 2 putting wool around the edge of the scarf

Then laying out the pattern.

making the pattern making the pattern 3 making the pattern 2

Close up

layout close up layout close up 3 layout close up 2

Fixing a spot that didn’t take. We needled it down and gave it a little rubbing on both sides and it was all fixed.

fixing a spot

Finished scarves

finished scarf 2 finished scarf finished scarf 3

And the happy ladies with their scarves and a sample done on cotton that they had time to do at the end of class.

happy felters

At the last minuet the needle felting teacher had to pull out with a family emergency so they asked me to fill in. I didn’t take any pictures of the process we only had 3 hours to complete a project so we really had to move.  Here they are at the end, happy with their projects. Four sheep ( I supplied the legs so they would have time to complete them. ), one pincushion flower and a little person.

Happy needle felters

All in all it was a great time with lots of friendly people. I will share more about the conference in another post later.

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