Felting and Fiber Studio

Here in the United States October 31 is Halloween.  A big holiday for dressing up and collecting treats for kids and some adults.  I’m not sure if the rest of the world has this tradition, but it’s a favorite here.

Four years ago I made my grandsons very basic pumpkin wall hangings.

Last year my granddaughter Lisa was too young although her parents took her out trick or treating around the neighborhood.  So this year I made Lisa her wall hanging.

I found some unknown orange fiber that was too bright, so I made some batts adding some white merino.  I wanted something  feminine and decided to add a button nose (wooden ball),  prefelt eyes, mouth, stem and bow for some dimension.

After I wet it out, I felt it was too thin so I added some corriedale leftover batt that I did for the color challenge last year to the back.

Once it was felted and shaved, I thought it needed something else.  so, I began trying to stitch on eyelashes.  This turned out to be a nightmare.  I tried hand and machine stitching.  I did more ripping out and filling the swear jar.  I finally let it sit for a few days and found some thick cotton embroidery thread Cathy had brought me from Japan a few years ago.  Thanks Cathy!

While the stitching isn’t the best, it worked.

Here are some closeups.  The pumpkin was very hairy and bumpy (thanks unknown fiber) and had to be shaved a couple of times, but I doubt a 19 month old will care.

Have you done anything special for Halloween?