"Book Bag" Envelope With Wrap Tie- Part 1 of 2

This wonderful little felting book for children...

...inspired four of my recent projects.

 

Laying out a squiggle of pencil roving...

 

...and then a bit more.



Making a long cord from strips of colored roving...

...and pencil roving.

 

Covering the design with a layer of orangy-yellow wool...

 

...then flipping the resist to reveal the squiggles through the plastic.

 

Adding fiber from a wool batt featuring tiny, multi-colored cotton dots...

 

...to each side of the project as layer number two.

 

While I was Christmas shopping in Hamburg last December, I bought myself a present...

...a thin book of felt projects intended for children.

Happily, the photographs in this book are wonderful...

...because 2 years of college German only gets me 'so' far! :)

Next time: the finished envelope...

...with orange button!

My Three Hats...And Friends!

Here I am in my avant garde 'newsboy' cap...

...flanked by dear friends Elis and Dawn (the blonde goddesses)!

 

A close-up of the same hat...

 

...and, here, from another angle.

 

This one looks like psychedelic cinnamon buns...

 

...or what Elis calls 'wasp nests' in Dutch!

 

My third hat reminds me a bit of a science fiction monster...

 

...like a Dalek mutant!

 

All three hats shown together...

...in (as one friend said) my usual subtle colourways! Grin.

 

P.S. The beautiful dyed silk scarf I'm wearing in the first photo...

...was a gift from the delightful Terriea.

A Plethora Of Protuberances- Part 2 of 2

A happy smile is shared between classmates...

 

...and a hat is pinned for hemming.



Here, Sue's "Warrior Goddess" hat gets a little TLC from Elis.

 

We joked that many of our hats were 'business in the front'...

 

...'party in the back'! :)

 

Jan's second hat looked a lot like a mouse at this stage in the process!

 

Our happy and satisfied crew...

 

...and the colorful 'fruits' of our labor!

 

A Plethora Of Protuberances- Part 1 of 2

I was fortunate enough to attend a workshop in Michigan last week...

...with the incomparable Elis Vermeulen.

 

My beautiful and oh-so-funny friend, Dawn Edwards facilitated the class.

(Thanks, Dawn...you rock!)

 

We spent a busy two days...

 

...drafting hat patterns, laying out colored roving...

 

...and helping one another!

 

At the end of Day 1, inventive hat styles began to fill the room.

 

Here's Dawn using one of my hats as a puppet...

 

...and here it is again, later, after I 'fiddled' with it a bit.

 

Next time: more photos of the finished hats!

Organza-Embellished Two-Layer Purse- Part 3 of 3

The newly narrowed bag...

...turned right-side out again.

 

A close up of the organza stripes.



Tucking the lining into the bag and pinning it in place...

...prior to top-stitching. 

 

Adding a leather strap and buttonhole (front)...

 

...and back.

 

The finished bag...



...with a matching iridescent button...

 

...and shown here with her two 'sisters'! :)

 

As you can see...

...my 'trusty' organza fabric did not disappoint. :)

The torn strips 'melted' into the project during felting...

...providing an iridescent shimmer.

I was especially thrilled to find a button in my stash...

...which so closely matched the appearance of the organza.

It's curious, isn't it (looking at the last photo)...

...how green leather accents seem 'right' for each of these three disparate bags?!

Organza-Embellished Two-Layer Purse- Part 2 of 3

The finished piece, immediately after felting...

 

...and, again, after blocking and steaming...

 

...which noticeably improves its texture and appearance.

 

A close-up of the felted-in organza...



...and one internal pocket.

 

After turning the project inside-out again...

...I narrowed the sides of the lining a smidgen...

 

...and trimmed away the extra felt

 

Sewing the cut opening closed, except for a 'turning hole'...

...prior to turning it right-side out again.

 

Even though I'm showing you this project well after my other two-layer bags...

...in actuality, I made this one first.

(Since it was a gift, I had to keep it secret until now.) :)

One of the things that I learned as I went along...

...is that it works best if the 'lining end' of the felt is slightly narrower than the 'purse end'.

In my later two-layer projects, I merely modified the resist a bit...

...but for this one, I had to stitch and trim the felt into the correct shape.

Next time: the finished bag with leather strap...

...and an iridescent button closure!