Bread Basket-Part One

 

 

 

 

I have a canvas bread basket that I bought in Hamburg several years ago...

...and I really lurve it!

It's not only the fact that it's red and orange (two of my very favorite colors!)...

...it's that the shape and size are just so perfect!

I decided to try making a similar one out of felt...

...and waffled over my choice of colors for quite some time.

I wanted to have the inside layer be quite distinct from the outer...

...so that it would make a fun contrast when the top edge was folded over.

The muse finally struck in the form of this book...

..."New Crafts Feltwork", by Victoria Brown.

In it, she shows a wonderful jacket made of white and black...

...in which the black fibers have migrated through to the front, to fabulous effect.

Since the color is rather plain, however...

...I wanted to 'write' something on it, too.

And because I love making felted things backwards...

...I had to write out my phrase on the backside of the resist in a 'mirror reverse'.

Have you ever tried to follow cursive writing backwards with pencil roving?

It's really hard...even using soap glue to hold it all down!!!

I covered the writing with batts of white, then black...

...and made a 'warm bread' design on the reverse before covering that side.

I considered making a bas relief Challah bread, first...

...but my braided roving looked more like something my cats might cough up, than a loaf of bread!

More next time...

P.S. If any of you missed this, check it out...

...her embossed work (especially) is quite amazing!!!