Stella Motus (For Felt Feutre)- Part 2

As the felting continues...

                             ...black fibers begin to migrate through the white wool...

                                            ...turning it a lovely heathery grey.

                                     I roll carefully, changing orientation regularly...

                                         ...to maintain the piece's circular shape.

                                                          Once fully felted...

                            ...beads and seed pearls are sewn onto the felt surface...

                                                       ...as 'celestial glitter'...

                                           ...and I embroider running stitches...

                                                      ...and French knots....

                                         ...to indicate the movement of the stars.

                                                The reverse side of the project...

                                                        ...with hanging loop.

                       The organizers of Felt Feutre asked Canadian feltmakers...

                                              ...and all workshop participants...

                                            ...to create a small wall-art piece...

                               ...depicting the movement of the stars (stella motus).

                         They will first be displayed as a community felt installation...

     ...and later sold to provide scholarships for the next Canadian Felt Symposium. 

Stella Motus (For Felt Feutre)- Part 1

Using a large lid as a template...

...I cut a circle from a sheet of commercial pre-felt...

                                   ...fold it into a wedge, and cut curved slits into it.

                                The lacy cut-out is laid atop a sheet of white pre-felt...

                                        ...pulled open a bit, and pinned into place.

                                             The project is flipped to side two...

                   ...and two thin, perpendicular layers of merino wool are added.

                                                   The project is wetted out...

                                             ...and flipped back to side one.

            The pins are removed and beads are lightly stitched to the project surface.

                        (Unfortunately, this experiment didn't work as I had hoped...

                             ...as the thread did not felt into the body of the piece...

                                ...and nearly all of the beads fell off during felting.)

                            The excess roving is folded in to create a neat circle...

                   ...and extra wool is added (over a narrow bubble wrap resist)...

                                                   ...to make a hanging loop.

                                        Rubbing commences (but no rolling, yet)...

                                       ...and once the project develops a 'skin'...

                                     ...the narrow white wool border is trimmed off.

                                           Next time: the finished stella motus...

                                             ...with beads and embroidery!

Embroidered 'Bumpy' Bag- Part 5

Punching small cutouts near the ends of each strap...

...to ease their movement around the felt hanging loops.

                                           Fashioning a leather buttonhole flap.

                                                         A couple of views...

                                                        ...of the bag's texture.

                                  The finished purse with leather strap and closure...

                                     ...and a close-up of its polka dot button.

                 To enliven some of the 'less interesting' areas of the finished bag...

                                           ...I embellish them with French knots... 

                                                      ...and running stitches...

                                                 ...in colorful embroidery thread.

Hat With Geometric Pre-Felt Embellishments- Part 2 of 2

The hat is rubbed and rolled in every direction...

                                                ...and turned inside and out...

                           ...until it begins to thicken and shrink to the proper size.

                              The colorful cotton dots (embedded in the yellow wool)...

                                      ...become increasingly visible during fulling.

                                    After forming pleats in the top third of the piece...

                                           ...the hat is left to dry on a hat form.

                                  Because they were leftovers from earlier projects...

               ...some of the pre-felt pieces sport embroidery thread embellishments...

                        ...and others are comprised of a layer of silk gauze and wool.

                                                            The hat interior.

                                    With so many colors on board in this project...

                                ...it's possible to choose which section to 'feature'...                  

                                                          ...while wearing it!    

                                                           The finished hat.