Plaid and New Nuno

I didn't get a chance to do a blog post last week, so this is a longer one than usual. A few years ago, I tried a kind of plaid design felt, which ended up recently being made into a diary cover. I thought I'd give it another go, put a bit more thought into it. I thought I'd laid the wool out thinly enough to work how I wanted, but it's not as see through as I'd imagined. It still turned out alright though.

I blended some fine 18.5 micron Merino recently to make a scarf for my Dad for Christmas. I used what was left of a blue/purple/green blend I'd made for another scarf, and ran it through the drum carder with more green. This is one of the batts:

I had to go into town on Wednesday, so I wanted to try out a scarf I'd bought from a shop there when I last went, so I could see if it was worth getting more, since they were only £1 each. The batts I made for my Dad's scarf were the perfect colour so I 'borrowed' some of them to try a piece out:

It's probably just over a third of the size of a full scarf, or a full sized small collar:

It made a really nice texture, which is a shame because the shop had shut down recently :(

And, of course, a supermacro:

Those of you who go on the Felting and Fiber forum will have seen this piece, it's a sample I made using some georgette fabric I got from Abakhan last time:

I knew from other similar fabrics I've used that it would only attach loosely, the weave isn't particularly open, and one part of the bottom edge didn't attach at all. Even though I was fairly certain it would felt like it did, I like to just try a sample on top without wisps etc at first to get a good idea of how it felts, sometimes fabrics like this attach well around the edge if they are quite frayed.

I haven't decided what I'll use it for yet, but I did make it big enough to make a coin/zipper purse out of, I thought that might look nice.

Catching Up

I've been trying to some of the projects I started before I began working on my polymer clay e-book. I had a few purses and glasses cases cut out or part sewn up. The first one I finished was a ruffle camera case. It hadn't even been cut out, so I did some measuring and cutting then discovered my electric machine won't work :( I cleaned out the bobbin case and took the parts off and wiped them and put them back, but the needle won't pick up the bobbin thread. From what I can tell it is timing or something and I don't think it's something I can fix. So, out came my ancient electric Singer without the electrical parts. It's slow going but it works, for straight stitching anyway :)  This is the front of the case:

And this is the back:

This was one of the purses I hadn't even blanket stitched, it's made from the same piece of felt as one I made earlier. It's a slubbed wool which I added some cotton and silk threads to and some strips of rolled edges from silk scarves. Front:

Inside:

The felt this wool makes has a really nice texture. Back:

A piece of coppery bronze felt that I made a while ago was just big enough to make a purse and matching glasses case:

I have to edit a few more photos then I'll be able to add the pink ruffley camera case and the bronze purse and glasses case to etsy later today.

Do you have piles of WIPs at different stages?

Pink Ruffled Notebook Cover

I thought it was time for a well earned rest after finishing the Polymer clay book, we had a ridiculous heatwave here in the UK too, so it was far too hot to blink without sweating. I took refuge downstairs where it was a bit cooler for a few days and then had a look through my felt box to see what I could work on next. I found the pink nuno pieces I made for Ann’s Challenge on the Felting and Fiber Studio site, and decided to work on those. I started with the larger piece I made for a notebook cover. I’d measured carefully when I made the piece so I’d get the ruffles just on the front and back. This is the front:

And this is the back:

I must have measured properly because it worked out well. I didn’t want any of the ruffles where the flaps for the inside would go.

The fabric is a kind of synthetic crepe and ripples and ruffles nicely.

I’ve listed this on etsy now, though I'm going to swap the notebook for a red one. I’ve already cut and machine stitched the other piece for making a camera case, so as long as it stays cooler, I’ll work on the blanket stitch around that next.