Photos from last weeks workshop

Hiya, just a quick post to share the photos of Dawns gorgeous slippers and vessel from our workshop last week.

I love this colour combo! I shall be making some in these colours soon. Dawn wrapped green throwsters waste silk around the outside, it shines out beautifully echoing the green inners.

Time was running away from us so Dawn took this one home to finish - its turned out beautifully! WAAAAAY better than my first vessel I can tell you!.. And it was a slightly awkward first one really; we started off by putting down a hand dyed silk cap & some eyelash yarn, then the merino. So we felted it inside out. The nice thing with this is the anticipation & suprise when you finally cut it open and see what you have got.

Dawn did another vessel a couple of days later (which is beautiful!) go take a peek over on her blog... Dawn Liu-Smyth.

I have collected my carder :D which I am very much enjoying playing with... when I get chance - I honestly need a good 6 extra hours per day at the moment. I have felted 2 shawls from my own batts though folks ... havent taken any photos yet though. Yesterday I did my last living history session until February, so that shall free up a little bit more time.

Anyway, thats it for now... be back soon

xoxox

More slipper talk

Its that time of year when the weeks start to whip by! On Wednesday I was joined by a lovely lady for a slipper workshop.

This is the first time Ive taught someone how to make slippers (especially `my way`) so it was a bit nerve wracking... Dawn is such a sweetie I needn`t of worried, we had a good laugh and got lots of work done too... we had a great day! Unfortunately I didnt take any photos though... by the time I remembered it was dark outside & indoor photos with artifical light never look good.

Dawn went home with a gorgeous pair of slippers in my favourite lime green & teal - they are lovely. And a vessel which was about 3/4 done... just needed a bit more fulling and shaping. Im hoping Dawn sends me photos & then I shall post them.

I really do enjoy teaching felting... Did I mention that Ive been asked to go into our local Primary school again next term? The topic is space... and Im already making plans. I have to go take down the sea creatires exhibition this week & deliver it to school.

What else did I do this week? Well I felted a pair of custom boots, finished them this morning..

These have been specially made for a very nice lady in Ireland... I decided to use the thickest part of my leather hide for the soles on this pair... as they are bound for being worn in a very cold studio. OMG it was tough to sew on... took just over 2 hours to sew them on even AFTER they had been soaked and the sewing holes already made! I couldnt sew for the rest of the day, my poor fingers were too sore - which is why they were just finished this morning.

Ive found it such a learning experience sewing leather soles on that Im planning to post `tips for handsewing leather soles` just gotta find time to write it now :D lol

Tomorow I get to collect my drum carder YAY...

Anyhoo, have a good weekend folks whatever you are upto xxx

In a nutshell

WOW its been a while! Ive really neglected my poor little bloggy the past few weeks...

OK whistle stop tour of whats been going on round here...

I got Heathers lovely wallhanging hung! Its in my living room & I LOVE it. I handstitched a calico `tube` to the back so I could thread the pole through to hang it. Shame the light hasnt been so good the last few days... the photo is a little dark

I have felted a few more pairs of slippers. I did much debating and deliberation over the pumpkin orange boots... I wanted to keep them for myself, but the red & blue ones I`d listed in my shop were getting a nice amount of attention & I really felt I should put another pair up. The answer (of course) make another pair & keep the originals :)

The green boots are my prototype new design `FrankinBoots` (as in Frankinstein cos of the side stitching). I changed my mind about where I wanted the opening to be on these... Id cut it diagonally at the side, and then decided they should go straight up the front. SO, with nothing to lose I witchstiched the side cuts shut & worked the felt some more until it was sealed. Turns out to of been a happy accident, I like the way it looks. Although the next pair shant have real cuts beneath the stitch detail.. lol. Doesnt matter with these though as they are part of Rachaels Christmas pressie (so Im having to keep them hidden!) I have sewn gussets into the front opening, and stitched jumprings to the front for the felted laces to go through. Im not sure about the name though... FrankinBoots. I personally like it & think it suits how quirky they are, but is that just my slightly weird sence of humor? What do you think? Will it put people off if I like them to Frankinstein :) ?

I felted another shawl from CorgiHillFarm Batts...

Im creating hammered wire pins to go with all of my shawls at the moment... Im really enjoying myself with them. I have a sweet simple white shawl in my shop that Ive made a pin for today... I love this one. It has a handmade lampwork bead from BlueBoxStudio , I brought 3 sets of gorgeous lampwork beads from Sue this week, and this is from one of them... they are all gorgeous & each bead is individual (& you know how much I like that)

Ooo and Im getting a drum carder!!! I AM SO EXCITED!! Its being made for me as we speak & will deserve its very own post when I receive it :)

Anyway, there you go, the past couple of weeks in a nutshell. Im off now to bake a plum cake for my nans birthday :) Might have to do 2 to keep the kids off nans cake...

Have a good weekend xx

Sunshine & photos

In total contrast to yesterday, today has been an absolutely gorgeous autumn day! The children spent the morning playing golf, while I sat enjoying the sunshine, birdsong & a good book - a rare treat.

As soon as the sun was up I took photos of my goodies before dashing off out for the day.

This is just a teaser of my lovely gift from Heather... I`ll post again when its hanging on my wall & you can see it in all its glory. I love the colours and the retro design - it reminds me of the `oh so 70s` wallpaper we had when I was a kid :

Now my new batts...

You cant tell from this photo but they are really sparkly, they have firestar in them. They are very appropriately named Bonfire Shimmer.... soon to be a bonfire shimmer shawl.

Ive made a collage of my most recent felted goodies...

There are 3 scarves that I was playin & experimenting with... 1 commision cobweb scarf & bracelet, plus 1 halloween/gothic cuff. The scarf at the top left has pieces of pure silk devore fabric felted in... Im really pleased with how it turned out.

Im desperately trying to sew leather soles onto slippers... but things keep on distracting me! My mission is to get them sewn & listed this week - must be strict with myself.

TTFN
xx

Christmas came early...

My `table runner` from Heather arrived today! It is SOOOooo GORGEOUS! Its going on the wall not the table! I LOVE it.... thank you SO much Heather :) xx

Its such a dull, rainy day today its too dark for taking photos, unfortunately.

I received new batts from CorgiHillFarm this morning too - which are awesome, I cant wait to felt them... that shall have to wait till next week though cos the kids are off school this week ... half term already! The rest of the week is going to be spent with kids golf school, visiting rellies, walks, pumpkin carving & baking... normal autumnal family fun :) Talking about walks, we have made some unusual friends on ours... there are a couple of shire horses & a belted galloway cow & calf who have been in the same fields along the bridal path where we walk for a few months now... I think theyve gotten used to us, they have started coming over to get their heads scratched everytime we walk by - its so cute!

Im hoping for some daylight soon so I can take pics to share with you all...

Have a good week

xx

What a lovely suprise

I had a wonderful suprise when I checked my blog comments... I`ve won a wonderful prize!

Heather at Woollove-Functional Fiber Art is celebrating her blogs 1st B`day (`B` for blog as opposed to birth :) and very kindly held a give away of a fabulous table runner.... and I WON!!! I cant wait to receive it & will post pics when I do... you can see pics of it as it was being made over on Heathers blog - it looks gorgeous! Thank you so much Heather xx

What else have I been upto? Well yesterday I as playing dressups at OakHouse (I work as a `Tudor` servant for a museum) ...so no felting :( BUT I was quite productive on my other days :) I made a bracelet to go with my turquoise necklace...

... and made another set very similar to go on my etsy shop.

Took photos of the first pair of boots with their fastings sewn on...

... Im really pleased with them. Got to do the other pair now & sew leather soles on, then they can be listed! Seriously I need some extra hours per day! lol

Today I have felted 2 scarves...which are drying on my radiator. Tomorow I may do more slippers... or will it be more scarves? Friday I am meeting the primary school children that I did the felting workshop with a few weeks ago. We are going to `visit` their felt at the museum & meet up with a photographer from the local paper :D which is rather exciting for all of us.

More soon xxx

New felted goodies

YAY the weekend... where did the week go though?!

This week I felted a lovely deep red shawl from the CorgiHillFarm batts... This is merino and bluefaced leicester - wonderfully soft! I added some silk fibres and some of my 100% pure silk velvet fabric strips.
Created a hammered copper wire pin to go with this one too :)

I worked on some new jewellery designs... this next one is mine. For years Ive wanted some nice turquoise jewellery (Im a December baby & turquoise is my birthstone) just never found anything I liked enough... Im really really happy with this. Flat felted beads with embroidery, & coiled sterling silver wire in celtic inspired spirals, with turquoise beads, swarovski crystals & sterling silver findings...

I tried out about 3 different methods of closure for the felted boots I made last week (felted another pair too :) pics of these next time...

I emailed my submission for the FeltUnited exhibition (hope I got it right!) any of you planning to do the same DO IT NOW! The deadline is the 17th Oct... TOMOROW.

Ive had a very nice, productive week... despite a couple of very odd `spanners in the works` - like my son losing his retainer down the loo (being sick - KIDS) and having 2 emergency dental appointments squeezed in to sort him out. I have a few exciting new pots on the boil (Im being mysterious & saying no more for now :)

Hope you all have a fanstastic weekend

xx

Twilight shawl

Hiya, just a quicky.. I wanted to show you the shawl I felted this week. I brought some batts from CorgiHillFarm on etsy... They arrived on Thursday this week & OMG they are so gorgeous! Look at all of this loveliness...
Within 20 minutes of them arriving I was felting them :) I really love the shawl that Ive made with the top batts (the reds are for next week).

This morning I made a hammered a copper wire pin to go with it...

Have a great weekend xx

Exciting news

I have some really exciting news to share! Im the new featured artist on Wingham Wool Works website! I am SO excited!

This is the lovely introduction that Tom at Wingham sent to their subscribers - what a compliment :)
...
Featured Artist: Deborah Allen

We are happy to announce Deborah is our new Wingham Featured Artist. Demonstrating the flxibility of felt-work Deborah impressed us by creating fantastic flat pieces, together with 3D sculpture, bags and slippers. Fantastic work all-round!
...

Check it out... Wingham Wool

OK Im off, just had to share...
xxx

Midweek already...

These are a pair of experimental felt boots that I made on Monday.

My polystyrene lasts - which are great for low slippers - are simply not high enough for making boots! And I cant find anytaller ones to buy... only one thing for it, I needed to make my own lasts. In the past Ive used tape, old socks & polyfibre stuffing, but the lasts I wanted are too high for that (I did try - I taped up to the height I needed but I couldnt get it back off, ended up cutting it off & chucking away).

The next idea was my husbands. I used a pair of old wellies, which he cut the heel and thick sole off. I trimmed the height, stuffed and duct taped them up and they worked pretty well.

They`re just drying out now.

Yesterday & today Ive been at work, so no felt :(

TTFN
x