'Mad Hatter's Parade' Felter's Fling 2013- Part 1 of 2

Dawn, Barbara and I share a drink and a snack.

 

A close-up of their amazing floral hats!



Colors and textures abounded...

 

...and whimsical touches were everywhere!

 

There were elegant hats...

 

...wearable hats...



...and theme hats... 

 

...like Marsha's bullseye bowler!

 

Felter's Fling 2013 kicked off like it always does...

...with a 'Mad Hatter's Parade'!

Of course, some of the hats were more mad than others...

...but they were all beautifully crafted and worn with great energy and spirit.

Next time: more hats! :)

Two 'Dining Out' Purses With Exterior Pockets- Part 3 of 3

Cutting and sewing a narrow leather strap for each bag.

 

The completed red purse with leather buttonhole, vintage button...

 

...and yellow spiral embellishment.

 

The leather closure handily secures both the exterior pocket and the bag itself.

 

The pink purse (back side)...

 

...and front.

 

Open to reveal the exterior pocket and vintage button.

 

The 'point of insertion' of the strap is not the same on the right and left of each bag...

...but begins in the back on one side, and ends in the front on the other...

 

...and each strap is nestled in its own 'sleeve'!

 

Oftentimes, when positioning leather straps on felt bags...

...I have difficulty 'centering' them for sewing.

It occurred to me that if I created designated strap 'sleeves'...

...I could place the straps into them, prior to stitching...

...and they would be held in the perfect position!

After drying, I folded in the sleeves, along with a small margin of felt at the top of each bag...

...and top-stitched the purse, securing both the bit of loose flap and the straps.

Two 'Dining Out' Purses With Exterior Pockets- Part 2 of 3

Laying out variegated pinky-peach roving...

 

...using the same resist as in Part 1...

...with one notable exception...

 

...this time, I extended the length of the foam 'sleeve' pieces...

 

...and treated them as 'open resists'.

 

Cutting the felt and removing the resist.

 

Fulling the purse.

 

The finished felt (back side)...



...and pocket side. 

 

Have you figured out the purpose of the 'sleeves', yet...

...or are some of you still out there 'scratching your heads'? ,)

Next time: the finished bags...

...and the mystery (such as it is) will be solved. :)

Two 'Dining Out' Purses With Exterior Pockets- Part 1 of 3

Fashioning a resist with a large pocket and two 'mystery sleeves'.

 

Beginning the layout...

 

...with merino roving in two bright colors.

 

Adding a spiral...



...and all the while, taking care to keep the pocket and 'sleeves'...

...from felting into the body of the purse.

 

Mid-way through felting...

...the pocket side...

 

...and the design side.

 

Cutting the soft felt in order to remove the resist.



Final felting and fulling.

 

As you may know...

...I'm nearly always thinking about new designs for my favorite felted objects...

...purses!!! :)

This one came to me, as they often do...

...in a dream.

For now, I will let you wonder (a little bit) about the sleeves...

...but, never fear, 'all will be revealed' in Part 3.

Giggle.

Portuguese Pencil Roving Purse

Taupe-colored, wool "un-spun" (AKA pencil roving)...

...from a Portuguese fiber mill...



...provides the design element for this bag.

 

It's covered with several layers of wool roving...

...then felted, cut open, and flipped right-side out.

 

The finished felt piece...

...on display at our class 'open house'.

(Shown here with a classmate's plant- and rust-dyed scarf.)

 

The finished bag (back)...

 

...and front...

 

...with ceramic button...

...and 'suede-side-out' leather buttonhole and strap.

 

The finished purse.

 

While in Portugal, I fiddled around with some wool pencil roving...

...that I found in a local fiber mill.

After placing it on the surface of the resist...

...I covered it with layers of white wool roving and felted it inside-out.

The suede side of a piece of black leather was used to fashion the strap and buttonhole...

...and a ceramic button completes the project.

'Spanish' Experiments

Change purse resist and clasp.

 

Laying out the design...

 

...and covering it with bright pink wool roving.

(Working inside-out, as usual.)

 

Positioning the clasp is not as easy as it looks...

...even for 'sew-on' ones like this.

(Mine came out slightly askew.)

 

A project sample made with Terriea's guidance...

...and some of her beautiful plant-dyed silk.

 

Pre-felt snippets and dyed cotton scrim formed the basis of my 'tutorial'...

...much like this earlier project.

 

Two sample pieces...

side-by-side.

 

While in Andalusia, Spain this summer...

...we had time to play in my friend's studio a bit.

Terriea, Sandy and I took turns sharing techniques and project ideas...

...and we learned (and laughed) a lot!

Plus, we had the lovely Alex (Sandy's beloved husband)...

...bringing us mid-morning tea and Kit-Kats! :)