EMBELLISHING & BEADING : some hard lessons...

Those of you who know me well know I'm an extremely un-fussy individual. Felt making appeals : you layout wonderful fibres, you felt and you've finished! Anything extra, any embellishing, sewing or beading is an unnecessary step too far in my opinion...

If you have been following my last post you will know I've been working on a felt panel for the Brading project. I'd hoped to have completed it long ago BUT in my haste to finish I made a terrible mistake. Rather than thread a needle I (super) glued all the little beads & bits in place thinking it would be a quick fix! FIX certainly - quick NO! As soon as I flexed the felt backing all those little beads popped off, leaving behind some very hard lumps of glue that would not budge. DISASTER! Very many days later I've ended up re-felting and needle felting patches over areas to cover up the mess. 

It's been a very hard time-consuming lesson, but an important one! I'm always the optimist!

Coming out the other side I thought I'd exorcise those beady demons and work on some beading samples. Never throwing any felt away I found some bag handle cut-outs which made perfect shapes for experimenting, plus a stash of wooden beads and lots of wonderful threads...  

I've had some FUN! 

And discovered that actually there is a place for embellishment...

My first love has always been knitting - I can chart my life in knitting patterns - I've knitted, worn and worn out so many Patricia Roberts & Kaffe Fassett jumpers. Felting became a natural progression. Sewing never figured much in my life apart from stitching up and attaching buttons and it's only in recent times that I've owned my own sewing machine. Last year I bought a second-hand Embellisher, which until last weekend I'd only switched on to check it still worked. Sad, I know! Working around patchworkers & quilters has influenced me - but only slightly...  

Again I exorcised a few more demons when I took advantage of a one-day Embellishing Workshop held by Su Douglas at Oliven. I started tentatively, was shown how to change needles and remove fluff, but in  a couple of hours I was flying... Lots of experimenting with fibres & fabrics resulted in some rather mashed up samples, but no broken needles! Again it was FUN! It has certainly opened my eyes to the possibilities of incorporating embellishing with the wet felting.  Another revelation and I shall no doubt be experimenting and posting up some results very soon...

By the way here is the revised felt fish panel...

Spot the difference! NB. the tidy sewing and neat beading... 

I shall be very glad to see the back of it / deliver it to Brading on Sunday. We have a 'Bowls & Bags' workshop scheduled, but as the Island is knee-deep in snow I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a thaw...

"UNDERWATER MOSAIC" Part 2...

HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all!

These precious few days between Christmas and New Year give everyone an opportunity to relax and take stock, count blessings and look forward to what the New Year promises! It gave me a chance to catch up on a particular project I'd begun several weeks ago (see Part 1)...

  

"Underwater Mosaic" the Brading community project set a challenge for each participant to take a section of Pat Clarke's fantasy picture and reproduce it in any craft or medium. The finished panels will be reassembled into three completed pictures which will be on permanent display at the Brading Roman Villa.

I'd been given a lovely central panel with some great colour & detail and set out by making an enlarged B&W pattern to work from, bearing in mind that the felt will shrink and the finished felted piece had to be stretched around a wooden base.

  

I made a series of coloured pre-felts, using paper templates to cut out the main shapes and felted these onto a black felt backing. 

It was important to keep all the main shapes and colours as close to the original picture as possible as they would need to match up with the surrounding panels when placed back together.

The "Underwater Mosaic" is perfect for this project - but there's a lot going on!  The painting is linked with coloured swirls which overlap and weave under and over, so there is an order in placing the layers. I made paper templates for the swirls and cut these shapes from commercial felt. 

Before attaching them I needle felted the details on the fish and couldn't resist playing around with some decoration. I was so pleased to find the perfect fish button eye! 

Then I had fun machine stitching all the swirling layers in place and used more stitching to enhance the movement and texture…

Finally, adding the beads and textures! Not being much of a hand-sewer or beader I must admit to gluing most of this decoration in place...

But it's not all secure as the felt panel now needs to be attached to its base. I'm going to wait to see how it fits together with the other panels before completely finishing it, especially around the edges where the joins need to match, and I may add some hand stitching too...

  

When we all meet up in a few weeks time there will be a total of 27 panels. No one knows what the other finished panels look like yet and it’s going to be really interesting to see how the new "mosaic" all fits back together again!

It's all very exciting...

AND... from the other side of the world!

I've been following Elizabeth Armstrong's Studiofelter blog for a while now, attracted by her style and her fantastic way with colour! Elizabeth is a textile artist, felt maker and teacher based in Melbourne Australia and recently she generously offered one of her wonderful felt birds as a prize in a give away draw - open to all her many blog followers (which are considerable!)

Imagine my amazement, shock and frank disbelief when on December 1st she announced that the winner was…. well ME!!! I had to read the name several times for it to register. I've never ever won anything quite like this before, let alone anything quite so "international"...  I hope that explains why I've had a permanent smile for the past few days!

This little bird is winging it's way half way across the world to the Island as I write and will come to rest on my Christmas tree one day soon.

What with the other exciting news that my Shibori cushion design is featured on the cover of the Australian FELT magazine this month - suddenly Australia doesn't seem so far away and our world (of felt) is that much smaller, cosier and a very friendly place to be in…

Thank you very much Elizabeth...

And FELT magazine too!

And you can see more of Elizabeth's work by following this link...

FELT MAGAZINE article...

Today marks the second anniversary of FELTING matters...

Two years on, and what better way to mark this auspicious day by mentioning some really thrilling news...!

FELT magazine, the Australian publication is featuring my Shibori Cushion in their next issue 8, available on-line from 1st December. The cushion project was originally designed for one of my summer workshops and was featured on the blog in May. It's been a very popular post with lots of views and you can see it again here...

The magazine editor Michelle asked if we had an alternative photo of the cushion that they could use and as we are literally minutes away from the Bay we thought it might make a good setting, better light, interesting textures... However it's been very autumnal here and every time we planned to take the shots it was either rainy, windy, gloomy or high tide! The slightest breeze causes the felt to move resulting in that fuzzy out of focus look, but KC took this lucky shot and it will be featured in the magazine along with all the step-by-step instructions to make the cushion.

FELT magazine has such a wide following across the world, with contributions by many internationally respected felt makers all sharing their expertise, so I feel very honoured to be included. And it's a such marvellous way to mark this anniversary!

The other piece of exciting news is the launch of my new "Felt Jewellery" kits. Many people have suggested I made them available especially with Christmas coming up as they will make ideal gifts!

Each kit contains enough Merino fibre to make a couple of felt flowers or plenty of felt beads for necklaces and bracelets, plus soap, beads for decoration and brooch pins. The simple techniques have been tried & tested in my workshops and the kit contains a 8-page leaflet with full step-by-step instructions and photographs. Making small items of jewellery is a perfect introduction to felting and is great fun for all ages and abilities.

The kits are £8 each and come in several different colourways. They will be available for sale on-line in my Folksy shop and at the Christmas events, with the first coming up this weekend...

The Dimbola Christmas Fair is this Saturday 3rd & Sunday 4th November, open each day from 10am - 4.30pm. There is FREE admission which includes entry to the Museum & Photographic Galleries, so you can browse amongst the craft stalls and enjoy the permanent photographic exhibitions and displays. The tea rooms also offer wonderful lunches & home-made cakes.

The weather forecast isn't too promising so where better to spend a few hours this wet weekend! Christmas shopping at Dimbola, Freshwater Bay...

"UNDERWATER MOSAIC" Part 1 ...

Today saw the launch of an exciting new community project based at Brading Roman Villa. The aim of the project is to reproduce an enlarged version of a sea painting by Island artist Pat Clarke in as many different media as possible….

"Underwater Mosaic" is an amazing fantasy picture painted by Pat about 4 years ago.  It's full of imagery, movement and extraordinary detail and for this project has been divided into 9 sections, three times making 27 panels in all, each approx 15.5" x 10" (40 x 25 cm).

Participants will each take a section to reproduce in any craft or medium, any way they choose - from oils, watercolour, pastels or felt tip pens to textiles, ceramics, mosaics, or collage... Then the finished panels will be returned to the Villa in January 2013 to be reassembled into the completed pictures, which will be on permanent display.

I'm delighted to be taking part and I've been given a central piece, with some lovely colour and interesting detail. I've already started planning...

I shall make a series of pre-felts to block out the main shapes, felt these together and then needle felt the pattern and fine details, possibly adding some stitch and beading? It will be important to keep all the shapes and colour as accurate and close to the original as possible as they will need to match up with the surrounding panels when they're all put back together.

I have known Pat and her artwork for a while now but I didn't realise her background was with the National Trust, specialising in Japanese & Chinese restoration work. This explains her attention to detail and her love of colour, especially gold! She is a member of the 'Society for Art of the Imagination" and regularly exhibits amongst fellow artists of international acclaim.

"Underwater Mosaic" is perfect for this project! There's plenty of interest & detail in every corner and the entire surface of the painting is linked with swirls of colour and texture. Having divided it up into the 27 panels it’s going to be really interesting to see how the new "mosaic" all fits back together again in the New Year…

If you would like any more information about how you can take part in the project please get in touch with Joy at Brading Roman Villa by email bradingeducation@hotmail.co.uk or ring 01983 406223

And more SCARVES...

The enthusiasm and energy generated at the recent Scarf Workshops was very contagious! It spurred me into action over the weekend - helped by a delivery of some wonderful fibres from Woolyknit…

I just love the subtle blends of colour in these mixtures. All the colour choices are already made, so there's no wasting time deliberating over what goes with which - you can just get straight into the laying out with no excuse for any procrastination!

Scarves do take time to lay out. As with all felting, that time taken in the laying will always reflect in the finished piece. It's really important to aim for consistency and evenness, blending in the colours along the whole length. I personally prefer the subtlety of these blends as for me they make the scarves much more wearable.

They also need quite a pounding in the final stages and at this point I usually hand them over to KC - being stronger and taller really helps. Throwing the scarves onto a hard surface really shocks the fibres and achieves the tight 'ruched' effect which sometimes causes the fabric to almost disappear.

As for fabrics I use any type of sheer scarf as a base, with a colour that works with the fibres or an interesting pattern. They're not always silk, some polyester chiffons work just fine as long as they are sheer and not too slippery. Most of my fabrics are recycled or charity shop finds! 

  

We are holding another Scarf Workshop at Oliven the Patchwork Café in Newport on Wed 24th October and there are still places available. I will be showing how to make nuno scarves like these, plus how to lay out the lattice scarves.  More details about the workshop here and to make a booking contact Wendy on 01983 554 934...  

And all the scarves featured here will be available for sale at the Christmas Shows coming up fast...

September SCARVES...

I seem to have missed out a month this year! I'm afraid September came and went without any posts. It's not that there wasn't anything to write about - quite the opposite - I just simply ran out of days!

Last Saturday saw another wonderful Scarf Workshop at Oliven in Newport! The great thing about making scarves is that they can be felted, finished and wearable in a day BUT they do take a lot of effort.  This class is for all abilities and there were some great results, with everyone experimenting with different textures and fabrics as you can see from this small selection of photos of work in progress...

We have another Scarf Workshop planned at Oliven for the end of October and there are more details here.

As well as the usual programmes of workshops at Newport & Brading we are holding a couple of workshops with a distinctly Halloween theme at the Alpaca Farm on the 31st October. It's also half term so these workshops are aimed at young felt makers. We have  morning and afternoon sessions making 'Felt Pictures' and 'Felt Jewellery' and there are more details and booking information here...

With Halloween in mind here is an appropriate picture to finish… 

Dorothy's Wolf is felted entirely from Alpaca fibres!