I had a request for a penguin themed teacosy, from someone who liked my owls.. but wanted a penguin cosy. I wracked my brains over this for a week or 2. I think the main feature with my owls is the bright un-owlish colours and use of patterned fabrics.. but I couldn't see this working for a PENGUIN!
I got to work on it this week.. coming up with a couple of designs to try; first of all I made a baby penguin:
I like him.. but I REALLY liked the idea of the other design I came up with, so next day I made this one:
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| 2 penguins on each side.. and each penguin is a little different from the others :) |
The white in between the penguins has white silk caps stretched over.. the sheen represents sun on ice and snow. The yellow/orange of the throats is tussah silk.
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| 3 layers of white English wool inside, followed by 3 layers of merino then the design... this is lovely and thick, it should keep a teapot very cosy |
As I usually do with pictures I started the final layer by laying down silk chiffon, then worked the design on top of the chiffon. The chiffon seems to reduce the amount of blurring caused by fibres from the back migrating through, and allows me to really work the felt without losing all the detail.
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| I 'drew' the design on with thin strips of black merino dipped in soapy water |
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| Then filled in the colours |
I must admit it took a long time to lay out! Longer than I expected considering how few colours are there.. but I had to be very careful to keep the black and white areas as clean edged as possible.
Blanket stitching round the bottom with back embroidery silk finished it off a treat :)
Next time: A pictorial teacosy inspired by new felting book.. and mini review of said book :)
16 comments:
They are both innovative and lovely to look at. But the emperor's have a synergy that really works. I am also really interested to see you felt the lines in. I am lazy and needle felt my fine details afterwards.
I have to say I would give either of them a home quite happily.
oooh, yes, love the design you chose. Fabulous tea cosy !!
Deborah--This is a fantastic technique and I absolutely love your 'penguins in love' teacozy!!
Thanks for sharing...it's smashing!
XXO--
Beautiful!!!!
Lovely. Well worth the effort.
So lovely, I do love the first design but the second is so lovely, I love the fact there are two facing each other, adorable. x
Thank you all for your lovely comments :)
The Emperors are my favourite too tbh, one of the things I like was a happy accident - the penguins on one side are tall and proud.. the others side are shorter and dumpier :)
Charlotte its just a different way of working... I need to see the lines at layout stage, and with this design I definitely needed the lines there before felting as a guide for the white silk 'snow' and the black areas.
xoxo
I've admired your work for a long time now. We're so lucky that you blog about it and show us your process. Wet felting is on my list of things to learn this year.
Thanks Zenitude :) lovely to hear from you. Beware.. wet felting is seriously ADDICTIVE lol. Before you know it you will have a house full of fluff & be eyeing up beautiful sheer blouses imagining them incorporated into a piece of felt..
x
Love both. The upper one is gentle and serious. The penguins are so sweet. Looks like proposing, the shy pair. Thanks for sharing steps.
These are gorgeous! I'm glad it's not just me who does that with blouses :)
Thanks Terrie :)
x
Zed.. its definitely an addiction :)
x
I love penguins and your cosies are wonderful.
Thank you Lyn :)
x
Really fantastic design, you've captured them exactly.
Thank you for your comment. I'm glad you understand the love of the Moomins!
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