"Disaster Struck" Yarn-Embellished Tote- Part 2 of 2

Wetting out side one.

 

Laying out side two...

 

...and making the tote and handle edges nice and neat.

 

After felting for a time.

 

The (very terrible) finished tote...

 

...which lost quite a few of its knitted bits during felting...



...and ended up felting to a weirdly soft and pilly consistency. 

 

Close-ups of some of the (sad-looking) felted-in bits of knitting.

 

During felting...

...this tote never really came together. :(

Many of the knitted pieces 'popped off' as I worked...

...and I struggled so to get this wool to felt...

...that I finally threw the whole thing into the dryer to finish it up.

The resulting felt is quite soft and strange...

...with lots of pilling.

It really looks like something that's been knitted and fulled...

...and then 'abused' for a long time. Sighhh.

Next time: a project that I love! :)

"Disaster Struck" Yarn-Embellished Tote- Part 1 of 2

Pinning knitted pieces...

 

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

 

...as an embellishment...

 

...including some that I made with pearl cotton thread...

 

...and others made with hand-spun wool, synthetic yarns or silk blends.

 

Covering side one with dyed domestic wool roving.

 

I even ran a knitted piece up the tote handle!

 

Side two...

...with more of my free-form knitted pieces.

 

I absolutely love sheep and wool festivals...

...for the staggering variety of wool roving that's available (among other things)!

I like to purchase roving that comes from domestic breeds and is hand-dyed by artisans...

...and mostly, this works out very well.

Sometimes, however (like this time)...

...I end up with roving which is not at all good for felting. :(

For this tote, I repeated the process that I used here...

...but with much less favorable results.

Next time: the finished tote...

...and the sad way that this roving felted.

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! :)