The winner of Polymer Clay Simply Made is…. Anne L. Congratulations, Anne! Please leave a comment so I can send you a download link. Thanks a lot for all the entries and all the nice comments too 🙂
I thought it was time for a well earned rest after finishing the Polymer clay book, we had a ridiculous heatwave here too, so it was far too hot to blink without sweating. I took refuge downstairs where it was a bit cooler for a few days and then had a look through my felt box to see what I could work on next. I found the pink nuno pieces I made for Ann’s Challenge and decided to work on those. I started with the larger piece I made for a notebook cover. I’d measured carefully when I made the piece so I’d get the ruffles just on the front and back. This is the front:
And this is the back:
I must have measured properly because it worked out well. I didn’t want any of the ruffles where the flaps for the inside would go.
I’m going to swap the notebook for a red one, then list this on etsy. I’ve already cut the other piece for making a camera case, so as long as it stays cooler, I’ll work on that next.
I’ve been trying to continue with the things I learned during Ruth’s challenge for getting 5 minutes of fibre time into each day. I don’t always manage that and often end up with one or two days where I have a couple of hours fibre time, and 3 or 4 days without, but I’m organising my time better and having projects at different stages, ready to work on when I do have the time. On my desk I have a box of felt pieces that have been measured and cut and are waiting to be sewn. I also have a box of part made up items; things like purses, glasses cases and coin pouches which have been sewn on the machine and are waiting for me to finish off with blanket stitch. These are a few of the purses at various stages, the blue ones just have the back pocket mahchine stitched into place, the white piece on the left has some stitching around the pocket edges, and the one at the front is just in need of a button and buttonhole.
This is one of the camera cases I’ve been working on. The gray fibre is carded silk carrier rods. I blended some of the silk ‘fluff’ with merino and used some for surface texture.
I mentioned last time that I had one more felted piece using the pink synthetic fabric. It isn’t really meant to be anything but an experimental piece, combining nuno techniques and using a resist. This is a compilation of images.
Another experimental piece I did was one using some crimped acrylic fibre that looks like a synthetic version of laps.
It produced a really nice effect.
I have managed to finish off a few pieces and must get them photographed for listing on etsy. This ring pouch is one piece I finished. I first made some heart ring pouches a few years ago so I had somewhere safe to put my rings and bracelets when I take them off for felting. I’ve made a few more for gifts. They’re only small, about 2 inches high and 2.5 inches wide, this photo makes this one look huge!
If any of our UK readers use a lot of fabrics (I know we have some who are doing City and Guilds courses) you might be interested in a post I did on my blog the other day, about Abakhan, the fabric/craft shop I buy most of supplies from. I’m always interested in learning about others though, so if you have a favourite, feel free to share it, we all benefit from others’ experiences, especially if it saves us money 🙂
On my last post I showed you a sneaky peek of the ripples and ruffles of the nuno felted piece I made for Ann’s challenge. Well, here’s the finished piece in full:
Here it is from another angle:
It’s kind of double-nuno because I started with some pieces of cotton gauze that I’d dyed a while ago. I wanted it to be extra sturdy to make a camera case out of it:
I really liked how it turned out, so I thought I’d make a similar piece. I measured this one carefully to make a book cover out of it. I also added some wisps of orange, beige and white to the merino at each end to match the patterns and colours of the fabric.
You can see the texture more from this angle:
And of course, a supermacro close up 🙂
I have just one more piece I made from this fabric, but it is still drying.
The winner of the notebook giveaway is….. Mattie! 🙂
Thanks to everyone who joined in and left nice comments.
Textures
I’ve been working on a project about using ‘other’ fibres in felting and noticed that ‘texture’ has been a common theme lately. I thought I’d post some photos showing different textures from wet felted pieces I’ve made. This first piece is green organza which was used as a base:
This is the top, strips of organza over blocks of coloured Merino:
This is another organza base, a slightly stiffer gold:
This is a piece of cerise organza:
This is a close up of silk in textured nuno felting:
This is a blue-green piece of textured felt, made with lots of layers and inclusions and felted mostly in the washing machine:
And lastly, this is a piece of texture felt using reds, pinks, oranges and yellow shades:
Do you have any photos of textural felt? How do you like to create it? Do you like to add to your felt to create texture with stitch or other fabrics and fibres? I’d love to see photos of your work 🙂
I thought it was time for a well earned rest after finishing the Polymer clay book, we had a ridiculous heatwave here too, so it was far too hot to blink without sweating. I took refuge downstairs where it was a bit cooler for a few days and then had a look through my felt box to see what I could work on next. I found the pink nuno pieces I made for Ann’s Challenge and decided to work on those. I started with the larger piece I made for a notebook cover. I’d measured carefully when I made the piece so I’d get the ruffles just on the front and back. This is the front:
And this is the back:
I must have measured properly because it worked out well. I didn’t want any of the ruffles where the flaps for the inside would go.
I’m going to swap the notebook for a red one, then list this on etsy. I’ve already cut the other piece for making a camera case, so as long as it stays cooler, I’ll work on that next.
