It's A Baby Boom! Wet-Felted Play Mats- Part 5 of 5

My three completed baby gifts.

 

A close-up of one of the cones...

...telescoped down.

 

Mat one with the cones flattened...

 

...and popped up for play.

 

Mat two with the cones down...

 

...and up...

...doesn't the purple one look like an elephant's trunk?

 

Mat three with its single cone down...

 

...and up.

 

As you can see...

...each of the play mats has convertible 'appendages'...

...for a baby to manipulate or hold onto.

The tubes can be pushed through to the back...

...or craftily 'peered through' for fun.

Since the cones were dried in the collapsed position...

...they easily fold back down when you want them flat again.

It's A Baby Boom! Wet-Felted Play Mats- Part 4 of 5

Carefully trimming holes in the felt behind the 'extensions'.

 

Notice the nylon stitches, holding the pre-felt tube or cone in place.

 

Never fear...the knots in the yarn that I placed at the project back...

 

...will be trimmed a bit shorter after felting.



Adding plastic and foam resists within the 'extensions'... 

 

...to keep them from felting together, flat...

...or felting into the white mat.



The piece begins to shrink and thicken during felting...

 

...and now the fulling begins!

(Looks a bit like a jellyfish, here, doesn't it?) :)

 

After stitching the cones and tubes to the mat surface...

...I trimmed circles of felt from the project back.

To keep the 'extensions' patent during the final felting...

...I filled each hole with pieces of thin plastic or foam.

Next time: the finished play mats...

...in all of their convertible glory! :)

It's A Baby Boom! Wet-Felted Play Mats- Part 3 of 5

Using foam resists to make cylindrical...

 

...and cone-shaped pre-felts in bright colors.

 

Centering each pre-felt shape within a 'yarn circle'...



...and stitching them to the mat with nylon thread...

 

...for a 3-D effect.

 

Play mat number two with 'extensions' in different colors.

 

A view of the mats from the top...

 

...and from the side.

 

Using wool roving in bright colors...

...I fashioned various pre-felt shapes using foam resists.

I hand-stitched these 'extensions'...

...to the center of each 'yarn-defined' circle or diamond...

...with sturdy nylon thread.

Next time: I prepare the mats for final felting.

It's A Baby Boom! Wet-Felted Play Mats- Part 2 of 5

Stitching around the perimeter...

 

...and adding circles (and a diamond!)...

 

...with multi-colored synthetic yarn.

 

Stitching into pre-felt is a lovely thing...

..."like buttah"!

 

Here's a second one...

 

...with just circles this time.

 

I placed all of the knots at the back for a more finished look.



I love the way that this yarn magically changes color as you stitch! :)

 

Reprising the use of some variegated yarn...

...last seen in this post...

...I happily stitched away on my lovely, soft pre-felt pieces.

I outlined the perimeter of each mat...

...and added central shapes for a later (secret) purpose. :)

Next time: those secrets are revealed!

It's A Baby Boom! Wet-Felted Play Mats- Part 1 of 5

Laying out layers of white roving in the shape of a rounded-off square.

 

Making 'dreads' using wool roving and a sushi mat...



...lots and lots of 'dreads'... 

 

...in lots of bright colors!

 

Attaching a number of 'dreads' (plus one loop) to the edges of the first white square...

 

...and to the second.

 

Wetting out the piece...

 

...and turning it into a pre-felt by partially felting it...

...and then letting it dry.

 

There must be 'something in the water' at work, lately...

...since we currently have a 'baby boomlet' going on!!

Needing three baby gifts for co-workers...

...I thought about some of the things I learned from Marjolein Dallinga in our worshop in August...

...and came up with this project.

After laying out rough squares of white roving...

...I attached colorful 'dreads' to the perimeter of each mat.

Because babies like to hold onto loops...

...(or hang things from them)...

...I included a felt loop on each play mat as well. :)

Next time: some hand-sewing...

...with synthetic yarn in bright colors.

There Are 'Many Ways To Skin A Cat' (Idiom)

An experimental project using multiple resists.

 

The finished 'accordion-pleat' felt...



...and seen again, here, from the open end. 

 

A second version of the project, done in a completely different way...

 

...using pre-felt circles stitched together with wool yarn.



I think it looks very 'sea creature-like'...

 

...especially the 'boingy bits' of art yarn which were a gift from my sweet friend, Lindy.

 

'Look, Mama!', it's a mermaid throne! :)

 

This is a project that I first noticed...

...during the 'Midweek Sharing Time' at Felter's Fling, 2011.

When I returned home that summer...

...I fashioned the yellow and orange piece (above) using multiple resists...

...but found it a 'fiddly' and frustrating thing to do.

At Marjolein Dallinga's class this summer...

...I discovered that there's a much simpler way to make a project like this!

By stitching pre-felt circles together with lengths of wool yarn...

...I was able to avoid the awkward fiber layout of my earlier attempt...

...with virtually identical results! :)