Felted "Detritus Tote" Tutorial- Part 3 of 3

The highly textured surface of the finished tote.

 

Side one in all of its wild glory! :)

 

Close-ups...

 

...of the layered and felted-in embellishments...

 

...show what good 'bedfellows' these quite disparate inclusions can be...



...when felted together... 

 

...into one bright and chaotic project! :)



Side two of the finished tote. 

 

It was a little surprising to me...

...how harmoniously all of these different elements came together in this project...

...especially because so many of them had initially been discarded and rather dirty detritus...

...or small snippets left over from old projects.

I did, upon occasion, have to pull out a clot of fuzz or other non-fiber-type matter...

...but, as my friend, Els says...

..."with lots of soap during felting...

...the 'dirty' isn't a problem anymore"! :)

The finished felt is quite thin, but very strong...

...owing to the quality of the superfine merino roving...

...and the layer of supporting cotton gauze.

                                             

Felted "Detritus Tote" Tutorial- Part 2 of 3

Mid-way through felting...

...you can see the piece starting to shrink on the resist.

 

After removing the resist...

 

and turning the project 'right-side' out.

 

Additional rolling from side to side...

...reduces the width of the tote's 'mouth' and makes it a more appealing shape.

 

Side one with raw locks...

 

...and side two with lots of leftover snippets from this project.

 

Close-ups...

 

...of the bag's texture.

 

Many of you know how very much I enjoy working 'inside-out'...

...and this project is a good example of 'why?'!

Even with all of the synthetic add-ons and partially felted bits...

...working in this manner kept them all in place!

Next time: the finished tote...

...and a few more close-ups of the fun stuff! :)

Felted "Detritus Tote" Tutorial- Part 1 of 3

Laying out bits of yarn and cast-off bits of roving...

 

...then covering the whole shebang with layers of superfine merino wool.

 

After wetting the project out...

...carefully flipping it to side two.

 

Layering snippets of old projects and bits of odds-and-ends...

...onto the foam resist...



...then wrapping the extended rays of roving over the edge of the resist...

...and adding layers of merino roving to side two as well...

...folding in the edges of the handles for neatness. 

 

Piecing together enough small pieces of cotton gauze (or scrim)...

...to cover the surface of the wool on each side (including the handles).

 

Adding a final layer of wool to the cotton-covered surface...

 

...and wetting it out.

 

While I was helping to clean up after my rug class at Felter's Fling this summer...

...I picked up a lot of (quite filthy!) bits of leftover wool. :)

Along with lengths of yarn and pre-felt snippets that I had lying around...

...I decided to make a tote purely from castoffs! :)

Next time: the felting continues!

Winter Headband Tutorial (More Sewing)

Cutting one pattern piece in felt...

...and one in chenille.

Pinning the two layers together for stitching...right sides facing each other.

After sandwiching in a hair elastic and sewing the layers together (leave a small gap)...

...turning the piece right-side-out.

Flattening and straightening the piece (be sure to tuck in the edges of the un-sewn gap).

After top-stitching.

Two finished headbands (one in fleece and one in felt)...

...with re-purposed buttons.

Before the winter slips away entirely...

...I wanted to share this quick and easy sewing project with you.

The idea came from my middle daughter...

...who saw a similar headband made from a knitted material.

To make the oval paper pattern...

...measure around your head as if the tape measure were the headband...

...and decide how wide you would like it to be as well.

(This pattern is 22 inches by 4 inches at its widest point.)

Cut one pattern piece in fleece or felt...

...(an old woolen sweater that's been fulled in the dryer would also work well)...

...and one in chenille or another 'fluffy' fabric.

Pin the two pieces together, right sides together...

...and sandwich in a thick hair elastic at one end.

Sew around the headband, leaving a small space for turning...

...and turn the headband right side out.

Straighten the seams and flatten the piece...

...then top-stitch all around, very close to the edge.

Try it on for size and to determine the button placement...

...then sew a medium to large button to the non-elastic end.

Voila...

...a soft and cozy headband that won't wreak havoc on your hair-do! :)

Drum Carder Tutorial-Finished Batt

 

 

 

 

One of the nicest things about blending your own batts...

...is that you can choose just how homogeneous you want the final color to be.

I, myself, love little bright bits of different colors...

...so I stop when I can still see the elemental parts of the batt.

When you have finished using the carder...

...it's time to use the cleaning tool to clean the fiber from the teeth.

Be careful-this tool is sharp!!

It's also good to remove any fibers that have caught anywhere else on the machine...

...a vacuum and pointy-nosed pliers help with that job.

Questions? Please comment and I'll do my best to answer them.

Need More Info? There are many good video tutorials on-line.
One multi-part one that I'd recommend is by Rexenne (who is quite a unique character!)

Drum Carder Tutorial-Splitting the Batt

 

 

 

 

At this point, I have a striped batt, which you may want, sometimes...

...but since I want to blend the two colors, I will repeat this process several more times, until I'm satisfied with the shade.

In order to do so...

...I have to split the batt into two layers.

I lay one palm on each side of the batt...

...and pinching, pull it into thin layers.

I re-feed these layers into the carder several more times, repeating the entire process...

...until I get a color I like.

Drum Carder Tutorial-Removing the Batt-2

 

 

 

 

I wrap the free end of the batt over one end of the sushi mat...

...and start to wrap the batt around it.

The drum will turn as you remove the fiber...

...just remember to position it slightly to the left, in order to avoid the handle as you roll.

Don't roll it up all the way to the end...

...because it just makes it harder to find the end when unrolling.

As you lift the sushi mat away from the drum...

...the remaining bit of batt will come cleanly away from the carder.