Part 2: "Mr. Smiley" Door Stopper

 

 

 

 

Actually, it was one of my daughters who suggested that the cut I had made in the felt...

...looked a lot like a smile.

At the time I made it, I had merely worked out that a slit at the top or bottom...

...would either interfere with stability or show too much...

...and had decided to put it where it could be hidden, instead.

I had planned on merely sewing up the hole...

...and putting it against the door during use.

My decision to use the cut as a design element...

...legislated how I needed to dry my finished piece.

In order to maximize his happiness...

...I stuffed cotton dishtowels into the top and bottom...

...creating a gaping mouth, flat bottom and a rounded, 3-D top.

(Remember, as with all single resist pieces...this started out flat and needed to be shaped during the drying phase.)

Using a pound bag of dried beans and the sleeve of an old knit shirt...

...I made a ballast by pouring the beans into the sleeve, and sewing up both ends.

(If you do this, you may want to use two pounds of beans. A little more heft would have been welcome!)

I filled the remainder of Mr. Smiley's cavity...

...with some wonky roving from my stash...packing it firmly.

Next, I cut a square piece of felt quite a bit larger than the 'grin'...

...tucked it inside the cavity, and stitched it firmly into place using embroidery floss.

For eyes, I used thin bits of black roving to make outlines...

...and filled them in with white and purple roving.

Because I have no formal artistic training (and cannot draw)...

...his facial proportions are, no doubt, all wrong.

I think he's quite cheerful looking, though...

...and he looks very content in the last photo, guarding his post! Grin.

Wet-Felted Door Stop: Part One

 

 

 

 

At my request, my wonderful and enthusiastic bf J...

...took a can of WD-40 (water-displacing spray) to all of my squeaky door hinges a few months back.

Unfortunately, the one which separates the kitchen from the dining room...

...now glides quietly shut, instead of staying propped open like before.

I've been using a shoe to hold it open...

...but realized the other day that I 'had the technology' to make something nicer. Grin.

After thinking about the shape and size that I wanted it to have...

...I cut a foam underlayment resist 1 & 1/2 times larger than I wanted my finished project to be.

I made a yellow handle by folding a piece of roving into thirds...

...and needle-felting the middle section flat.

After covering the resist with a layer of wool on both sides...

...I splayed the dry ends of the handle and, using soap glue, stuck the handle to the top of the resist...

...folding one half of the dry area forward and the other half back.

I covered the resist with a second layer of wool...

...making sure that I used special care (and a little more fiber) around the 'attachment points' of the handle.

Because the handle wasn't felted prior to attachment...

...I had to be a little careful to keep it from felting into the green piece.

If you make one of these...

...you may want to take the time to felt the center section of your handle a bit first.

After felting for some time (until it passed the 'pinch test')...

...I removed the resist by making a curved cut with a pair of sharp scissors.

I had spent some time considering where best to make the cut...

...on the bottom so it was hidden? At the top for easy filling?

As you'll see in Part Two...

...the cut became part of the overall design.

Dyeing With Icing Dyes: Flat Felt

 

 

 

 

I needed some pieces of flat felt for a future project...

and had been reading about dyeing wool with non-toxic food dyes.

I've dyed projects with Kool-Aid in the past...

...but could only ever find it in a few colors. :(

When I read that people were using icing dyes for this, too...

...I just had to buy some and try it!

I made a large piece of flat felt with two layers of white wool roving...

...then added novelty yarn and bits of colored silk to the surface of the felt.

I 'veiled' these additions with a thin layer of wool...

...to help trap them into the piece during felting.

After I finished the felt, but before drying it...

...I cut it in half and made a dye bath for each piece.

I used teal (mixed in boiling water) for one half...

...and copper (made the same way) for the other.

It only takes a small amount to make a very vibrant dye bath...

...and I probably could have gotten away with using a bit less.

(These are really intense!)

I'd like to try mixing colors next time, too...

...and with 12 different colors per box, it should be easy to get exactly the shade I want.

I allowed the felt to sit in the dye for 30 minutes or so...

...then re-heated each bowl in the microwave and stirred in a few teaspoons of white vinegar.

When the color was mostly discharged into the felt...

...and the remaining water was left nearly clear...

...I removed the felt, rinsed it, and hung it to dry.

If any of you have done shibori or tye-dying on finished felt projects using icing dyes...

...I'd love to hear how you did it! (Plastic condiment bottles?)

Bunting Flag Birthday Project

 

 

 

 

My friend, Angela's daughter...

...will become a teenager this Fall, and she's asked for some help with a project.

She wants to have a minimum of 60 bunting flags...

...to hang for a birthday celebration.

I can appreciate the enormity of the tasks she's laid before herself...

...as I was a rather zealous mother, myself, when I was younger. Grin.

She's smarter than I was about asking for (and accepting) help, though...

...the result being a greater diversity in bunting flags, plus new connections forged with others.

I consider thirteen to be a truly magical age...

...the portal to womanhood...

...and often the last year for birthday wishlists which include both makeup and toys!

Since I have four daughters of my own, and remember the joy of this milestone birthday for each of them...

...I wanted to help Angela make this one special for her daughter, as well.

I made the pink flag first...

...with handmade batts made of white wool roving and sparkly pink Angelina fiber.

Since she has a specific size requirement in mind for each flag...

...my felting endpoint became when my flag was just the right size.

She especially requested bling...

...so I glued on sparkly pink crystals when the flag was dry.

The purple batt used for the second flag...

...was made with grape-colored wool and white and acid-green Angelina fibers.

I added bamboo noils and small bits of multi-colored pre-felt...

...for extra color and texture.

For some reason, this one came out a bit oversized...

...and needed to be trimmed a little when it was dry (using the pink one for a size reference).

It was fun to take myself out of the equation and focus on someone else's vision for a change...

...and what a great idea for a future project of my own some day.

I'm sure she'd welcome more bunting flags...

...so if you'd like to try one (or more), please click on "Angela" in the top line of this post for a link to her blog.

Pod Love: Using My Felted Cord

 

 

 

 

It seems like everyone in 'blogland' lately...

...has been making some sort of pod!

I really like them and love the idea of making a number of them in different colors...

...to hang in my trees (to the consternation of my neighbors!) :)

Because I wanted to be able to tie it high in my tree...

...as a home for a bird or animal who might not feel safe, otherwise...

...it needed a long cord.

I used a pod-shaped resist...

...and covered it with variegated red, black and brown roving.

As I felted the pod...

...I made sure to felt in the 'fluffy' end of the cord as well.

After my felt passed the 'pinch test'...

...I cut an oval opening, removed the resist, and continued felting.

When my pod was completed and rinsed...

...I hung it to dry with a Gertie ball inside to create the proper shape.

I'm rather glad that no one was filming me as I teetered on my step-stool to hang it...

...but it might have been a hit on "Funniest Home Videos"! Giggle.

Felt Cord/Purse Handle Tutorial

 

 

 

 

If you're a regular reader, you know that I love to make purses...

...and I'm always trying to figure out new ways to make handles for them.

Over time, I've hit upon a method to make purse straps and hanging cords...

...which are sturdier and able to bear more weight than pure wool ones.

(For women who feel compelled to carry 'all but the kitchen sink'!!)

Since I've never seen anyone else make felted cords this way...

...I thought that a tutorial might be in order.

First, I cut one-inch twill tape the length of my desired cord...

...and fold it into thirds...the way you fold a letter for mailing.

I machine stitch as close to the open edge as possible...

...making a narrow length of tape.

Using my needle-felting foam and multi-needle tool...

...(you can use a single needle, of course, if that's all you have)...

...I needle felt roving to the front and back surfaces of the cloth tape.

(You can push the needle through the twill tape-it won't break.)

Once each surface of the tape is covered, I add more wool...

...wrapping it evenly around the emerging cord until it is as 'fat' as I want it, and needle felting it on.

Since the roving is fluffy...

...it will be fatter at this point than the finished cord.

Wet felting will shrink the wool...

...and make the cord harder and less elastic.

If you're going to felt it into a project...

...make sure that you keep the end (or ends) loose.

I add extra roving to each end of the cord when I am going to use it as a purse strap...

...flaring it out like a paintbrush and keeping it dry while I wet felt the remainder of the cord.

Dip the cord into hot, soapy water (protecting the dry sections)...

...and begin rolling it in a bamboo placemat with gentle pressure.

After you've rolled the length of the cord...

...you can make additional passes using increasing pressure.

You may need to re-wet the cord several times during the rolling process...

...to help the wool felt around the tape, shrink and become harder.

When the cord is as hard and narrow as it will get, it is finished...

...ready to be attached to the intended project.

I made this cord for my latest project...

...and it is as long as I am tall.

Next time: the finished cord and what I did with it!

Part 4 (Finally): The Purse

 

 

 

 

As you can see...

...the bottom of the original project has become my purse.

I fashioned handles by measuring my 'grip width'...

...cutting long, oval holes in the front and back sides of the bag.

I zig-zagged around the top edges...

...in order to keep the fabric pieces from fraying.

Notice how the lace and linen fabric ruched up during felting...

...and how the wool yarn has become completely incorporated into the felt.

I wanted to reinforce the handle edges, so I sewed fold over elastic (FOE) to the front of the bag...

...then pulled it around to the back and zig-zagged it.

I thought that it would be easier to use than cotton fabric due to its built-in stretch...

...but I found that it was hard to both stretch and sew around such small openings, and I wouldn't recommend using it (unless you practice first on a test piece!)

The finished bag is a surprisingly nice size, even after all of these modifications...

...11-inches tall by 13-inches wide.

Just right for a wallet, keys and some lipgloss.

3-In-1 Project-Part 3: Pencil Box

 

 

 

 

Over the past year, I've realized that I much prefer making seamless felt...

...to treating handmade felt as fabric and assembling projects by hand- or machine-sewing.

Besides saving the schlep to the sewing machine...

...the 3-D aspect of feltmaking is magical!

(It does take a bit of thought, though!!)

Since this project was a 'retro-fit'...

...only the sides could be made from a single ring of felt.

Instead of making a round box like my bread basket...

...I decided to make an open-topped cube, just the right size for pens and pencils!

I did have some sewing to do, of course...

...since the project needed a bottom.

Also, because I had used so many fabric inclusions this time...

...the felt edges required zig-zagging, to keep all of the fringy-bits from fraying.

I also needed to subdue the 'wild wanderings' of my red burlap piece...

...so machine embellishment was especially necessary in this area.

It's interesting, since I wasn't thinking about anything but catching all of the unraveled bits as I stitched...

...but now, looking at the red burlap section, I see that a strong, female figure has emerged!

Coincidence or subconscious machinations? You decide.

In order to make the ring into a box, I flattened it and measured its width...

...and since I wanted four equal sides, I halved this number.

Next, I cut a square with these dimensions from a piece of leftover felt...

...and sewed the ring to this square base with a small seam allowance.

At this point, I cut a piece of thin cardboard the same size as the bottom...

...and used it as a marking guide to even up the height of the sides, so that a perfect cube would result.

The thickness of the felt gave the project some structure...

...but I decided to run a vertical seam along each of the four corners for shape.

Next: Part 4: The final frontier-"The bag as it was meant to be".

The Good, the BAG & the Ugly:3-in-1 Part 2

 

 

 

 

Ok-first the 'UGLY' truth...

...a couple of bad things happened with this project.

If you look closely at the top photo...

...you'll see a wonky bit of red burlap peeping out.

The problem wasn't what my friend Kelly most feared---the 'pink underwear phenomenon'...

...(yes, it faded and ran a little because I hadn't washed it, first...

...but, luckily, it didn't affect the overall color of the bag).

The issue was that it partially unraveled during felting...

...both, because I hadn't washed it first, and also because of the way I sewed it to the pre-felt. (I didn't leave much cloth for a 'seam allowance'!)

It looked pretty bad, and I thought about just removing it altogether...

...but ultimately chose to zig-zag stitch it by machine, after it dried.

Additionally, as you can plainly see...

...that I did something very wrong while laying out my roving. (Not enough lengthwise fibers, maybe?)

I ended up with a much narrower bag than I had intended...

...and one that was really, really deep!

Honestly, I have enough trouble fishing around in my 'regular' purses for things as it is!! Har.

So...what to do?

I decided that there was enough felt, with the addition of a few pieces from my stash...

...to make three projects out of one failed bag.

For this portion of the 3-in-1, I cut off the very top part of the bag...

...the portion containing what would have been the handles.

I evened up the edges with a rotary cutter...

...maximizing the available felt and aiming to match the length to my shortest zipper.

Utilizing a piece of leftover needle-felted landscape (which I later wet-felted a bit)...

...from my John C. Campbell Folk School class last summer...

I fashioned one half of the zipper purse.

For the other side, I added a leftover piece of the flat felt that I had made...

...for the bottom of my bread basket.

I machine stitched the zipper to each flat half...

...then sewed together the bottom and sides.

"Where is the "GOOD" in all of this?", I hear you ask...

...I think it's two-fold.

First of all: Felting is a very 'low-waste' sort of art...

...since scraps (or entire failed projects) always come in handy, somewhere down the road.

Secondly, I really like this technique of sewing with wool yarn...

...it makes a finished piece of felt which looks like it's been embellished...

...but without as much work!! :)

Next: What I did with the middle-third!

3 Projects In One-Progress Photos

 

 

 

 

Ok, full disclosure here...

...this project began its life as one large tote bag!

When I started, I had in mind a large, flat bag with an easy, integrated handle...

...narrow, oval openings on either side into which I could slip my hand.

I cut sections of different kinds of fabrics from my stash...

...vintage cotton lace, new (unwashed) red burlap (lesson learned: always wash burlap prior to use!), embroidered cottons and cotton gauze.

(I was pushing the envelope with the kind of fabrics thought of as 'easily feltable', here!)

I took leftover pieces of pre-felt in different colors and shapes...

...and stitched them to the sides of each fabric 'square' with wool yarn, using an upholstery needle.

This is when having friends who knit or crochet is a special blessing...

...scrap yarn in different colors!!

I placed half of the fabric and pre-felt pieces face down on one side of the resist...

...using soap glue* to help hold them in place.

(* a concentrated, slimy, liquid glue made by grating castile soap from a bar, mixing it with a small amount of water, and letting it sit for several days, shaking it whenever you think of it)

I then covered the resist with layers of wool roving in different colors...

...adding a pre-felt rectangle to demarcate the handle area on each side.

I repeated this process for the second side...

...and began felting the purse.

Next: Something bad happens.