Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Raw Fleece Purse With Leather Strap- Part 1 of 2

Applying raw Bordeleria fleece, 'tips down'...

...to the surface of my resist...

 
...followed by layers of wool roving.



Wetting out side one... 
 
...and side two.

 
Mid-way through felting.

 
A close-up of the highly textured felt surface.



The finished bag, drying. 
 
Next time: I add a leather strap...

...and vintage button closure.

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Sunday, July 28, 2013

Felt Knitter's Tote With 'Yarn Hole'

I took a piece of merino and alpaca blend felt...

...that had been won by a friend...

 
...felted it down quite a bit further...

 
...and stitched it up into a tote bag!



I used embroidery thread to hand-stitch around the 'yarn hole'... 
 
...and fashioned lengths of burgundy leather into tote handles.

 
Seaming on each side of the bag provides visual interest...

 
...and there's plenty of room inside for needles and patterns!

 
The finished tote 'in use'! :)

 
Some months ago, when my friend, Sandie...

...won a piece of softly felted alpaca and merino felt from Spinderella's Fiber Mill...

...she sent it to me as a gift.

Little did she know that I always intended to make something with it for her...

...and 're-gift' it in its new form! :)

Not being a knitter, myself...

...for this project, I attempted to think like one...

...and fashioned a roomy, flat-bottomed tote with soft leather handles...

...and a reinforced hole for the yarn (so she can knit on the go!).

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Friday, July 26, 2013

Salamanca and Frigiliana Design Inspiration

A shell wall motif in Salamanca.

 
Even house numbers there are lovely...

 
...and you know how I feel about vaulted ceilings!



(Remember this one?......and when I used it for inspiration here?)

Torre del Gallo was full of elements that would make wonderful felt projects...

 
...including the brick-like design on this enormous wooden cathedral door!

 
My traveling companions thought I was mad...

...but I just had to capture a view of this wonderful brass sidewalk decoration...

 
...and this very elegant manhole cover! :)



An artful pedestrian walkway in Frigiliana, Spain.

 
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Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Spain and Portugal 2013

A door in Salamanca, Spain.

 
My wonderful traveling companions...

...Sandy, Ann and Terriea.

 
I may be anthropomorphizing a bit here...



...but the sheep looked a little embarrassed to me...
.
 ...when they found themselves suddenly 'naked' after shearing! Grin.
 
Sandy and Ann preparing for our workshop with Nicola.



Popping up through the spaces between granite pavers...

...were these lovely poppies.

 
One day, for an outing...

...our class took a tour of a local fiber mill.

 
Although yarn is their primary end product...

...we were able to purchase roving and dyed wool nepps from them as well!

 

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Sunday, July 21, 2013

Felted Collar and Brooch- Feltfull 2013

Laying out wool, novelty yarn and dyed silk hankies for a pre-felt.

 (The reverse side was decorated, as well.)

 
After drying, irregular plastic and glass marbles were tied into the piece with cotton string...

...and the brooch was felted a bit more.

 
To finish it off...

...some of the 'pods' were cut open to reveal their embellished insides.

 
For the collar, I laid out merino wool...

...shapes cut from pre-felt, silk and rayon fabrics, and yarn...

 
...then stuffed and tied bits of bubble wrap into the finished pre-felt...

...leaving some sections smooth (for ruffles).

 
A close-up of the spiral-accented cord and rayon ruffle.



A vintage button and hand-stitched buttonhole form the closure. 
 
The finished collar...

...nestled in the warm summer grass.

 
Claudia Burkhardt's work has a lovely, feminine aesthetic...

...and the above projects are ones that I made in her class at Feltfull.

Sitting and chatting and stitching with Claudia and my fellow classmates...

...was a lovely, peaceful way to spend the last two days of our workshop...

...almost like the 'sewing bees' of old! :)

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Friday, July 19, 2013

Feltfull 2013 Hats- Part 3 of 3

Laying out wool and hand-dyed silk...

 
...like I did with hat number two.

 
Mid-way through felting...

 
...and after removing the bubble wrap resist.

 
The finished hat, displayed on a 'hat block' made from two wine bottles(!)...

...and accompanied by several others from our wonderful class.

 
Getting a little 'carried away' with my teacher...

...the oh-so-delightful Judit Pocs! Grin.

 
A closer view of side one...



...and side two.
 
Next time: a little foray into felt collars and brooches!

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