"Why so much French", you ask? Well, something about the making of a chapeau makes me feel tres French.
I was puzzling over what to make for my eldest daughter's soon-to-be mother-in-law for Christmas, and my daughter suggested a red hat.
...so I couldn't resist.
No, honestly...I really, really struggle with resists in felting!!
...but I put my fears aside and threw myself into the experience.
I first drafted a paper pattern, making sure that there were no pointy edges and that it was a good deal larger than my final project (see ruler for approximate size).
The resist itself is made of a piece of floating floor underlayment.
I bought a huge roll of it at a local home and garden store, and I absolutely lurve this stuff!!
I applied several layers of a slightly variegated red roving to the resist, and rolled it until the resist started rolling up inside the felt.
I cut it open and fulled it more fully :O on my glass washboard.
...then tried to fit it over a blown-up Gertie ball.
No dice.
...but then I got the bright idea of putting the collapsed ball into the hat and then blowing it up.
Et voila...un succes!!
...to be continued...
