Laying out some of the necessary 'elements'...
...merino roving, plastic straws and a resist.
...merino roving, plastic straws and a resist.
Rolling the straws in several layers of merino wool...
...and covering them with variegated roving.
Cutting the felt to remove the resist.
Cutting the felt to remove the resist.
The partially felted bag with 'intact' straws...
...and with the straws removed.
The fully felted bag...
...stuffed (to block) and drying.
...stuffed (to block) and drying.
The finished felt.
The concept of ruffle-making continues to elude me...
...yet I persevere. :)
I had a collection of soft, short, plastic straws in my studio...
...that originally sheathed the stems of cut flowers.
I thought that they might work well as resists...
...so I decided to test this theory out.
I wrapped each straw in layers of merino roving...
...and placed them on the surface of the resist.
After covering the whole shebang with variegated wool roving...
...I felted the bag until it was mostly felted...
...then cut out the straws.
It took a bit of work to fashion the cut edges into proper ruffles...
...and I do think that, next time, I would want to go a bit larger...
..."bye-bye, straws...it was nice while it lasted!" ;)
Those of you who know me well, will notice right away that this purse was not designed for me...
...but in a colourway that I hope will appeal to one of you.
Since I missed my usual 'birthday giveaway' in March...
...this bag will be a 'spring giveaway', instead!
Please leave a comment on this post or the next one...
...and I will add your name to the list for the drawing.
Next time: sewing a lining for the bag...
...with a re-purposed felt pocket!
...yet I persevere. :)
I had a collection of soft, short, plastic straws in my studio...
...that originally sheathed the stems of cut flowers.
I thought that they might work well as resists...
...so I decided to test this theory out.
I wrapped each straw in layers of merino roving...
...and placed them on the surface of the resist.
After covering the whole shebang with variegated wool roving...
...I felted the bag until it was mostly felted...
...then cut out the straws.
It took a bit of work to fashion the cut edges into proper ruffles...
...and I do think that, next time, I would want to go a bit larger...
..."bye-bye, straws...it was nice while it lasted!" ;)
Those of you who know me well, will notice right away that this purse was not designed for me...
...but in a colourway that I hope will appeal to one of you.
Since I missed my usual 'birthday giveaway' in March...
...this bag will be a 'spring giveaway', instead!
Please leave a comment on this post or the next one...
...and I will add your name to the list for the drawing.
Next time: sewing a lining for the bag...
...with a re-purposed felt pocket!
21 comments:
Hi Heather,
What an interesting technique, I think it looks rather cute!
Thanks for the chance to win it....am holding thumbs :-D
x
Natalie--Thanks. You're on the list.
It's so interesting...instead of "holding thumbs", we say, "crossing my fingers". Hmmmm. I wonder why they both are 'hand-centric' expressions? (Gotta look that up!) :)
Hi heather, this ia again greatI love the technique, thank you!! Happy eastern, Janine.
Janine--Thanks! I have put your name on the list!
Holding thumbs IS interesting. If you haven't heard A Way With Words on the radio or on podcast, it's exactly the kind of question they answer.
As for ruffles, I hadn't thought of trying a round resist, only flat ones. It seems as if flat would work better because you can put the roving horizontally in the center attached part, shrinking it so the unattached part is wider and can scallop. Does that sound confusing?
I havent tried it, but very lightly felted prefelt ruffles might just be the easiest. It's easy to get a flat piece of felt to ruffle using fiber orientation, and then felting them in place with a resist is easy. Hmm, now I'm just thinking out loud.
I do love how you share the hits and misses. I know that you didn't get the ruffle you like but the end result was still very neat.
It's interesting to see your experiments with ruffles!
Elizabeth--Thanks for the suggestions! They both sound 'do-able'! :)
Andrea--Hahaha...yep...you know I don't hold back!
Rachel--Thanks!
(You have all been added to the list for the drawing)
So much to think about including other applications of the straws as resists. I love your willingness to experiment & then to share the results. And although you were not thrilled with the end result this time it is an attractive bag!
Heather, such a great way to do the ruffles ! I've been thinking doing something but never thought of using straws. Sounds wonderful to explore. Your color scheme of the bag is awesome. Love the graduating. Eager to see the second part.
Hi!! as usual...great work! I hope you and your girls have a brilliant Easter..it was good to hear from you x
Deb--How kind you are...thanks for the encouragement!
Terrie--Thanks. I'd love to see what you could do with the straw idea!
Karen--Thank-you...and thanks for stopping by. I get so busy that I don't always comment as much as I'd like to.
:(
I have never used straws for felting in that way. Interesting concept. I have a few thoughts on how to do this. the flower purse you did was round ruffles. Have you thought about using rectangular resists with the center cut out? Oh the wonderful ideas you give me with your posts.
Love the idea of the straws, Heather! That is brilliant....so many possibilities....Imagining leaving them in and feeding things through...
It'll be a lovely bag for someone!
You are amazing!
Linda--I love the 'rectangle with center cut out' idea!! Maybe we can play with ruffles the next time we have a felting day together?!?
Fiona--You're right...they might make a nice channel for a corded handle somehow!!
Hi Heather
I would never have thought of using straws as resist's either but why not, and even though you didnt get the results you were after it was still worth a try and i think it looks really great anyway :)
cheers karen xo
Karen--I'm glad you like the bag. I do, too!
Experimentation is the best part of felting...figuring out new and interesting things to make with felt, and ways to do it! :)
Oooh can you add me to the list please? I would love to own that bag.
Fiona--Absolutely! You are on the list!!
I'm not 100% sold on the ruffles, but the color, shape and style of the bag it's self, is great!
Hang in there my friend. You will eventually master the ruffle making. I have no doubt of that. :)
Sandie--You always have such faith in me!! :)
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