Not A Bad Mornings Work

I have been putting off doing the finishing work on more that a few items.  This morning I wouldn't let myself felt until I got most of this done.  My finished projects are whats pictured here. 


I had made this felt collar three months ago, all it needed was a button and a button hole.  I decided to use this black vintage button, and it only took ten minutes!  I am such the procrastinator!

I made a few of these white merino cuffs with Wensleydale locks on the edges, I think they look so pretty, like natures lace.  This one on the right has some pearl buttons and is for my lovely daughter-in-law, Alex.  I made two more that I may put on the Etsy site or I may give them to my Aunt to wear to the Renaissance Fair.
















This is a purple cuff that I had nuno felted some silk onto then put it in a dye bath of Brazilwood.  I left it in a little to long and the silk totally disappeared and turned purple.  So, I've tried to salvage it and did some free motion embroidery on it.  Still not sure if it's up to selling standard.  I do like the design though. 

Below is just a pic of some of my favorite embellishment treasures.  I am an avid collector of buttons and tend to like shell and bone ones the best.  If any one knows what the name or the use is for the white pearl circles on the bottom with the two tiny holes at the very top, I would love to find out!

The Making of a Pillow

   I've had this idea in my head for a few weeks for a pillow cover and finally got a chunk of time to make it.  The photo on the right is what it looked like dry, before I wetted it out.  I laid down silk on the dark brown base then put these swirls of merino, bamboo, and wool yarn on top.  Part of what I love so much about felting is how different the finished product ends up looking like.  You have to be able to imagine the final outcome.  I almost always learn something new with every project I do.

I laid down four layers of dark brown wool in a cross hatch for the base .  The more layers you put the less it will shrink.  I wanted this to shrink up quite a bit because I love how the silk crinkles up when you get a lot of shrinkage.  The photo here on the right is what it looked out after I wet it out and rolled it once in the bubble wrap.  

 This is just a close up of one of the circles after wetting it out.  The colors compress and take on such a different look.  The picture below are the colors of roving I used to make the swirls.  I blended some of them using hand carders to get my own colors. 
The finished product is the large pic at the bottom.  The colors are actually richer than the picture, I just love the outcome.  It started out being 28 " inches square when dry.  After fulling it, shrinking it,the

 finishes size is 16" square.  I probably could have gotten it smaller but I wanted it to fit on the back of my leather chair and it's the perfect size now. 
My mission today is to find some fabric to back it with, if I don't find anything I may just make a large piece of brown felt for the back. 

Felted Glass? Absolutely

  This is my latest fascination with felt...there are so many varied ways to use this amazing wool fiber!  I've been playing around with encasing glass with merino wool and felting it so it's nice and tight around the glass.  Then I cut out shapes on both sides of the glass so that the light can shine through.  A friend of mine said it's kind of like stained glass only you use felt instead of lead....that got my head going!  I have ideas now for designs that are similar to stained glass... soon.  It is a bit tricky, I'll have to say.  There were some failures in the beginning, but that's how you learn, right!  If I cut too much felt away, I ended up with edges that are saggy and want to pull away from the glass allowing the glass to pop right out. I also have to factor in the weight of the glass, like the red one on the right.  It is rather thick glass, about 1/4" inch, so the design is also helping the glass stay put.  I had to also pay a lot of attention to

cutting out the design, it had to be the same on both sides.  I finally figured out that holding it up to the light enabled me to cut more precisely on both sides.
   I love the purple one at the top!  They are large pieces of beach glass so the color is muted, it looks wonderful when the light comes shining through it.  I used a short fiber merino batt and some silk for this one.  The purple and yellow one here on the left is the bottom of a bottle that a friend in Florida found on the beach, she sent me some round ones too, they're next!  She has an Etsy shop called "made for fun" and sells beach glass and loads of other goodies in her shop.  The edges are all bumpy and soft from being ground down by the surf, I really wanted to see those so I cut away the felt to expose them.  Actually, all the glass I use is beach glass mostly found here in Northern California, except for the red one, that came from an old piece of stained glass that had an accident.  Below is a picture of where I hang all my little creations, it's the door to my cabin where I do all of my felting.  Around two o'clock the sun comes shining through and lights them all up,

beautiful.  I really am so lucky to have such a magical place among the redwoods to do this work that I love so much!  I got a card last week that sums it up perfectly:

Do what you
LOVE
what you do          

And i do!        
This is the perfect time to mention that all of this is possible because of my husband, Jack, who supports me completely in my fascination with felting.  He is my most honest critic, he too is constantly amazed at what can be made with felt.  It is so important to have the support of your family and friends in any endeavor one takes on in life, and I have such a great network of both, thank you all.  Sometimes I marvel at my good fortune!
  When I finish my big "stained glass"  piece, it still needs more mulling over in the brain, I'll post it up here.  If there are any wet felters out there that want to experiment with this and want more info on how to do it and what materials to use just drop me a note and I'll be glad to lay out the steps for you.  You don't need to use beach glass, any glass will do.  If you want to use beach glass though, Etsy is a good source, I've seen some good collections on there.  All of these are wet felted by the way, that's mostly what I do.
  Thanks for stopping by!     Terry

Beginning My Third Year

I just realized that I've been felting for two years now, I started in January of 2010.  It feels like I've been doing it much longer!  Maybe that's because I can't imagine myself not felting, it's such a huge part of my life now.  Yet there is a part of me that say's, yeah-just two years, because I have so much still to learn before I feel I'm really on top of it.  I look at the felters out there who's work I admire and they have quite a few years experience working with fiber and you can tell by the quality of their work.  I have to keep reminding myself of that,  often when I see some great work in felt I can  feel myself getting frustrated because I'm not able to produce that caliber of work, both design wise and technique wise. So, I'll keep taking classes and try to

perfect what I've learned and continue experimenting with new ideas. 

Lately I've been playing around with making jewelry with felt. I took a course this summer on felted adornment from Lisa Klakulak up in Mendocino and learned the techniques I'm using here to make these necklaces and the bracelet.  The necklaces are wet felted cords and closures that I make with these beautiful beads my cousin creates.  I love the simplicity of them and how well they show off her beads.  I'm probably going to put some on the Etsy site since I love making them and a gal can only use so many.

   The bracelet is made from a natural merino that I love working with and I used some dark grey partial felt circles that I wet felted onto the bracelet.  I did some machine stitching on it also, another technique I learned from Lisa last summer, and then sewed on these great vintage buttons that have huge holes in them.  I was told from the lady I got them from they originally were used to hold ones bloomers up-before the invention of elastic!  There is a loop and post closure in the back that were also wet felted onto the bracelet.  These bracelets are so fun to make, I'm working on two more now and trying to incorporate more of the things I've learned over these past two years.  

                                                                                     

A Contradiction to Consider

  Can one be in a contradiction?  Or does one feel contradicted about something?  Either way I think I'm there.  I looked contradiction up and it gave this meaning:
a combination of statements, ideas or features of a situation that are opposed to one another.  Hmmm.  Here is the deal...the holidays are upon us, and I love the holidays.  I put the red stocking I made in the previous posting up for sale on my Etsy shop (ifeltlikeitbyterry) and it got lots of hits and was "favorited" many times.  And, yes, it sold.  One gentleman even asked if I could make four stockings in different colors with that design on them, they're pictured above.  He was very flattering and naturally I said yes!  I could really use the $$ too.  So far I've sold 8 stockings off my site and I'm super happy about that.
  Here is the "contradiction" . I would one day like to feel comfortable calling myself a fiber artist.  That being said, am I getting off on the right foot creating multiples of something-the same thing over and over-like offering the above stockings again?  I ended up re-listing them on my site, and I hate to say it but the main reason was that it was an easy money maker.  OK, I know we're just talking Christmas stockings here, but it's a start.  One reason people buy hand made is because they want to get something original.  I would hate to buy a nuno felted scarf and a few weeks later see that same scarf on someone else, or even for sale again in the shop I bought it from.
A friend of mine said I'm being too hard on myself and that since I did design them I should feel free to make as many of them as I like.  True too.  But does someone who wants to consider herself an artist one day create the same thing over again or does she come up with new and original ideas in order to further her creativity?
  Now I think I may contradict myself...I've started making these simple necklaces pictured below left.  I make a felt cord with these beautiful lampwork beads my cousin makes on them.  They are tricky to make since you have create the cord while the bead is on it.  Anyway, I'm really jazzed at how they turned out, there is a felt loop and hook at the back.  I just got a new batch of beads and plan to make some of the necklaces in different colors to put on my etsy site.  Now here, I don't feel that making multiples of the necklaces is a problem like I did with the stockings.  Hmmm.  Now I could never make a replica of the scarf I just made, pictured below right.  That would just be plain wrong in my book.  Now, in another color with different yarns....maybe.     Contradiction?
  One thing I am sure of though is that I love making felt and feel blessed to be able to have the opportunity to do what I love.  For that I need to thank my husband, Jack.  He makes it possible for me to study the craft of felting and then run with what I've learned.  I am such a lucky gal!  And there is no contradiction there.

Wet Felting 101

 I've been emailing with a gal who really wants to learn wet felting and was asking me about some of the how's and why's so I told her I would try to do a photo/blog on some of the steps.  This is my first try at this so go easy on me....just email me if I get confusing.  I took pics while I was making a Christmas stocking.
  First start with some merino or corriedale roving, pictured right.  Then make a template from some plastic tarp or I use flooring underlayment, found at a home improvement

store.  Make it 1/3 larger than desired finished size. Place your template on a piece of netting larger than your stocking. You are going to be laying down thin layers of wool, pull gently out of your roving a thin "shingle" of wool and lay them horizontally across your template, being sure to slightly overlap the template; light pic at left. Cover the template then go back over the horizontal layer and lay another layer crosswise. 

 The fibers will be making a cross-hatch, pictured right.... Cover the template the same way with this second layer, again, slightly overlapping.
Now lay another piece of netting gently over the whole stocking lay out and using a scrunched up plastic bag,  apply some room temp. water with just a light amount of liquid soap dissolved in it.  Just press the wet bag onto the netting . You just want to wet the two layers so don't be too over anxious with the water at first.  Once 

it's wet, leave the netting on and using the netting it's laying on carefully flip the whole thing over, right.  Remove to netting.  Fold over the excess wool, right, this will help create a solid piece.  Now you are going to lay two layers of wool, as above, to fill in.  Layer the wool slightly overlapping the red already on the template, wet as directed above.  Now you have one layer completely  wrapping the template.  Now you need to lay the beginning of your second layer.  Lay two layers of wool over the template and have it over lap the edge of the template like you did at first. 

This is the layer you get to decorate.  After you have laid out your wool put down a design.  I used green wool yarn and white swirls of white merino roving to make this design.  Use any color of roving or wool yarns to decorate.  During the felting process they will fuse with the wool, it's very cool.  Be sure not to overlap the edge with your design.  Lay the netting over the whole thing and wet.  Carefully flip this over....


Now you're going to fold the overlap over the edge of the template again and finish adding the rest of your second layer, filling in.  Are you getting how this will all become a solid piece? 
Now you are going to get a sheet of bubble wrap that is at least 24" inches wide and 5-6' feet long and either a pool noodle or pvc pipe(we felters are very inventive) and put your stocking on the flat side of

wrap  and roll the wrap around the noodle so the bubbles are going to roll on top of your stocking (or if you have 10' of wrap like I do you fold it in half and have bubbles on both sides....) Pic left. Roll it all the way up and tie it with 3-4  strips of nylons or t-shirt strips in evenly spaced intervals, below.  Roll it back and forth, pressing lightly at first then getting to a medium pressure, 150 times-back once and forward once is one time! 

Unroll it, flip it over.  If you started it rolling up the sides, now you start rolling it up with the top or bottom.  Alter that way each change. Lightly wet it with the soapy water, roll it and tie it back up and roll 150 times medium firm pressure from now on.  Unroll, flip and alter side or top/bottom, wet, tie and roll 150 times.  Unroll, flip and alter, wet, tie and roll 150 times.  After doing this 4 times, rolling it 600 times, it's time to do the fulling, or shrinking.  What you just did was to compact the layers of fibers, now your going to make the fibers integrate-the ends of the fibers will move closer together- and form a solid piece of fabric, this is fulling. 
First cut a slit along the top and gently remove the template. Place your stocking on a solid surface that you can get wet...  Don't pick at the decorations to see if they stuck!!

Lightly wet the piece, take some bar soap and lightly  put some soap in your hands and pat it on the stocking.  Now start at the top and roll all the way down, jellyroll fashion, and using a light touch roll it back and forth on itself, about to the count of 20, unroll.  Put your hand in to see if it's sticking to itself and pry it apart.(you'll have to do this after each rolling-don't forget to do this!)  Now roll from the bottom, 20 times, unroll and put your hand inside.  You should notice some movement in the fibers, shrinking up just a little.  The decorations will start to grab now too and shrink.  Now re-wet and soap it, then roll from each side, 20 times each.  Then repeat from the top.  You will do this cycle until your stocking has shrunk about 1/3 of it's original size, above. The felt should be firm and solid, pinch the fibers on the surface and if they are loose at all keep fulling it.  See how the yarn and the berries have totally integrated into the wool.  By wrapping and overlapping the wool you have made a solid form.  Isn't it magical!
Now thoroughly rinse your stocking of all soap.  If you like you can soak it in a vinegar bath to neutralize the ph of the soap, about 1TBS per 2 gallons of water, for 15 minutes.  Rinse well.  Squeeze out water and then roll it in a towel to remove excess water. Reshape and dry flat-NEVER in the dryer!
Add a loop and you have a lovely Christmas stocking to hold all kinds of goodies!

Please don't hesitate to email me if you have questions about absolutely anything!
A few after thoughts:
I use a mild liquid dish washing soap to wet out the wool
My favorite bar soap is a pure olive oil soap
Have towels around to control the water, especially when rolling
Hope this helped...

The Making of A Pair of Boots

  I just completed the finishing touches on a this pair of felt boots I made a few weeks ago.  The finished picture of the boots is here at the bottom, I think they turned out amazing!
  The picture up at the top was the very beginning for this pair of boots.  Here is the templates wrapped with a natural colored fleece and some wool yarn on the side flaps for a simple design.  To give you some idea of scale, they started out being about 20" inches tall and 18" inches wide along the foot area.  After rolling them about 800 times I removed the templates and begun the fulling process-that's where you get all those little fibers to come together and create a strong piece of felt-that took about an hour.  When you think they are

close to being the size you want, you get to
put them on your bare feet, yep, all cold, wet and soapy, and rub them until they fit your feet.  I actually made these bigger than my foot because I was going to be dyeing them and was afraid they would shrink up during that process...and they did!  I made up a natural dye solution using Brazil wood-this makes a good solid red color.  Since the wool I used was naturally a light brown I was hoping they would turn out a dark red/rust color...and
again, they did-as you can see.
  To finish them off I stitched around the yarn design on the flap to help it stand out since it got a bit washed out in the dye process and added some brass steam punk buttons.  The last step was to sew on the soles.  These are great soles that you can get from a web site called Simple Shoe Making.  You give her the length of your foot and pick out the soles you want from a number of different styles and colors, and she sends you custom soles and the material needed to sew them on-waxed linen thread and a leather needle.  Mind you, sewing them on is a bit challenging.  Just reserve a few hours and gather your patience.  Once on though they really make the look of your boot stunning!  But...are they comfortable and functional?  Absolutely.  I love wearing them.  Now I have to find the perfect, long denim skirt to wear them with so you can see the whole boot.