"Addition-Noil" Tote With Flowers- Part 2 of 2

                                                       Mid-way through felting...

                               ...the project looks like it's starting to come together....

                                      

                        ...but in the end, the layers on the fabric side didn't 'couple'.
                   
                                    ...and required basting to hold them together.  

                              As a permanent fix, I used variegated merino yarn...

                                         ...and hand-sewed the layers into place.

                                      On the (successful) side of the finished tote...

                                            

                                              ...the short fiber merino flowers...

                                                     ...felted-in beautifully...

                               ...while holding their glass centers securely in place.

A close-up of my hand-stitching.

                                                 The finished tote flower-side...

                                                          ...and fabric-side.

                                 By layering an intact layer of (quite dense) fabric...

                                      ...between the layers of wool in this project...

                ...I didn't allow for any 'wooly connections', and thus ran into trouble.

                        Cutting slits in the silk layer of my 'noil and nepps' project...
                        
                        ...allowed wool to meet wool, and...'problem solved'!

                                     Next time: a pre-felt and yarn project...

                                               ...with marine overtones!

"Addition-Noil" Tote With Flowers- Part 1 of 2

Pieced silk noil fabric is cut to size...

                                

                                              ...using my resist as a template.

                                          Each side of the resist is then covered...

                                     

                                                 ...with two layers of wool roving.

                                           The fabric is placed on side one...

                                 ...and a painter's tape grid is applied to its surface.

                                An additional two layers of roving are then added...

                                   ...carefully keeping the tape tips free of wool.

                                Flower 'blobs' are prepared from short fiber merino...

                               ...and a rounded glass nugget is centered on each one.

                                        The flowers are 'outlined' in pencil roving...

...and the glass pieces are covered with more short fiber merino.

                                                  Sorry for the outrageous pun...

                                ...but having blogged about another silk noil project  recently...

                             ...this had to be an "addition-noil" one, didn't it?!? :)

                                              I actually made this tote first...

                 ...and refined my technique for the 'noil and nepps' version.

                             Next time: I'll show you how it all goes 'pear-shaped' for a bit...

                                                     ...and then the 'fix'.      

Portugal- Felt Flower Rings

Laying out the ring front...

 

...and back.

 

One finished ring...

 

...with a raw Bordeleria lock center, silk embellishments and beads.

 

A second ring, accented with mohair off-cut strands and Angelina...

 

...and cut into individual petals (on left).

 

A multicolored ring...

 

...with extra colored beads for 'bling'. :)

 

On our last morning of class...

...Nicola did a demonstration of felt flowers, beads and rings.

While I'm not generally much of a jewelry maker...

...I was rather taken with the jaunty style of her felted rings!

I made the first one with orange, short fiber merino...

...embellishing it with a small raw lock from the farm...

...(for remembering).

I also tried several more in different forms...

...cutting some into petals...

...and stitching on glass and colored beads for fun.

I may try making a few more of these at some point...

...since Nicola did a 'spiky' version that was really appealing! :)

Springtime Table Runner- Part 2

The finished runner.

 

Close up.

 

Ruched cotton gauze backing.

 

Glittery Angelina fibers and dyed locks.

 

With the addition of a little color and shimmer...

...the slightly off-white hue of the 'mystery fiber' was no longer an issue.

The dyed locks provided a bit of texture, but not too much...

...since a table runner should be as safe for underpinning a vase of flowers...

...as it is for cradling a warm casserole dish!

I like the way that the pencil roving doodle...

...morphed into a vine bearing colorful flowers.

And the batt-like quality of the short fiber merino...

...helped it to felt into individual blossoms quite easily.

Springtime Table Runner- Part 1

Laying out cotton gauze over fluffy mixed roving.

 

A second layer of wool and a doodle of pencil roving.

 

Adding blobs of color, texture and glimmer.

 

Wetted out during felting.

 

This was a project that I made just before Easter...

...as a thank-you gift for my handyman.

I had bought some 'mystery carded fiber'...

...which is a blend of what came off the carder last at the fiber mill.

It still had some natural lanolin in it...

...and this batch wasn't perfectly white or free of vegetable matter (v.m.).

I wanted to try it to see how it would felt, though...

...and thought it would make a nice spongy base for this runner.

After making a swirly design in pencil roving...

I added bright, short fiber merino, dyed locks and Angelina fibers to the surface.

Next time: the finished runner.

Knitting Needle Roll- Part 2

The inside of the roll with tapered pockets for different sized needles.

 

The outside of the roll...note placement of ties.

 

The piece all rolled up.

 

The knitting needle roll in action! :)

 

Once I had trimmed my piece of felt into a proper-sized rectangle...

...I folded in the top and bottom edges in order to get a sense of my eventual pocket placement.

At this point, I could get a feel for where my tie needed to be attached...

...so I pinned in on and machine stitched it to the flat felt.

Next, I calculated the height needed for the longest and shortest pockets...

...and using these measurements, made a diagonal cut along the front edge.

I pinned everything into place (making sure that the ties were pinned up and out of the way!)...

...and sewed the raw edges together, leaving a small seam allowance.

For the next step, I drew vertical lines onto my felt...

...making different width pockets for wider and narrower needles.

I continued the markings on the small upper hem as well...

...the function of which is to help hold the longest needles in place.

Following the drawn lines (and backtacking at the openings)...

...I stitched in the lines for the pockets.

As you can see, I have pitifully few knitting needles...

...but I imagine, by now, it is filled to the brim in its new home!! :)

Knitting Needle Roll- Part 1

Layout for large felt piece...

...with prefelt snippets and short fiber merino blobs.

 

Scrunching and throwing to full the felt.

 

Tri-color braid of silk yarn with tags cut from the trimmings.

 

Cutting and pinning the finished felt.

 

I have a sweet friend who's a knitter...

...among her many other artistic skilz! :)

When she admired a felted pencil roll online, recently...

...I offered to make her one to use for her knitting needles!

She gave me carte blanche regarding the shape and size...

...and I was left to my own devices regarding how wide to make each section, too.

Luckily, I found some old knitting needles in the attic...

...and measured them for a proper height and width.

Once I knew how large the piece of felt needed to be...

...I laid out white roving and some happy, colorful accents, too.

I wanted to make a strong tie that would coordinate with the roll...

...so I braided long pieces of silk yarn in three bright colors.

After trimming the roll to size...

...I used two pieces of the finished felt for 'tie tags'...

...to keep the ends of the braid from unraveling.

Next time...

...the finished roll!