Sharing a new find

I just came across this AMAZING video on Pinterest!  It's a documentary about felt / felting by Judit Pocs and is wonderfully inspirational!  

The video covers the journey from sheeps back, through cleaning, dyeing, carding and then steps into Judit's studio.. and this is the real treat!  You get to watch her creative process through several different projects; a FABULOUS Noah's Ark rug, nuno scarf, hats, and sculptural critter.. it is such a lovely glimpse into a wonderfully artistic mind.  With lovely music and animation throughout.

It lasts about half an hour, so go make a cup of tea and enjoy :)

On Gentle Threads

I must keep my ear to the ground for upcoming workshops :)

Sun, sea and sand...

What a wonderful summer we have had here in the UK this year!  It may of come late, but it has certainly made up for lost time.  I haven't really posted much over the kids break (which is now almost over.. it's gone quickly!).  It's time to start catching you up with what's been going on :)

We've had a lovely camping holiday in Cornwall.. the weather was great!  

My mum-in-law has been asking for a photo of us all..
 I love this one because Jesse is peeking in at the side :)

Not a bad pic, considering the camera is plonked on a bench on a 10 second timer :)

It was a differently paced holiday than usual.. our dogs (who always come with us) are getting a little older and need a slower pace.  The first couple of days we took some lovely long coastal walks, then the rest of the week was pretty much spent in the sea!  

I have a panorama setting on this camera and enjoyed experimenting with it

Although we often had to take it in turns staying behind with the dogs, taking them on small, gentle walks etc.  It's such a shame that they aren't allowed on Polzeath (our favourite surf beach) during the summer..  The days we went kayaking on Daymer Bay were lovely I got first go in the kayak with Gary while the kids kept the dogs company, then we swapped and I strolled along the beach with the dogs, paddled and sat on the cliff watching the world go by, while Rachael swam and the boys kayaked.  Amber was funny.. she swam out to the kayak (she could hear Gary's voice) climbed aboard with a little help and rode it all the way back in :)  She was like a little tug boat going through the water, she was so determined to get there.  

This is one of my fave pics.  Looking out across Daymer Bay at high tide..
it looks SO different at low tide

Other days were spent entirely at Polzeath with the boys kayaking, Rachael and me bodyboarding.. (it was too choppy for me to want to kayak).  We picked up a waterproof camera in the bargain bin at a local electrical store a few months ago, and we got some fun action shots and some silly videos too :)  

Just look at that silvery sea!

Our very last day was grey and rainy.. but it didn't start raining till we had packed the tent away thank goodness!  The rest of the day was spent body boarding, and you honestly couldn't tell it was raining in the sea lol

My water baby

Having a laugh

Gary picked up a hitch hiker on his board .. a fair sized jellyfish!
Right next to his hand.. lucky he didn't get stung.

I have never seen as many jellyfish in my life - there were HUNDREDS.. many different varieties.. and they were everywhere.  We all got stung once or twice, but poor Rachael managed to get lots of stings on the palms of her hands and fingers from swimming and body boarding.. and they were really sore.  It didn't stop her boarding though! 

We celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary while we were there..
a romantic walk together watching the sunset on our favourite beach was our ideal celebration

It really was an amazing sunset

Back home we are getting a plentiful harvest from the fruits and veg we grow in the garden.. I LOVE eating fresh home grown produce!  

Next weekend I am camping with a friend.. my first ever time away from the family.  And then Rachael goes back to school, Matthew starts his apprenticeship, and of course Gary is at work.. I shall be diving back into my wonderful woolly world.

Inspired by Pinterest

I must admit I'm a bit of a duffer when it comes to social media.. but I do like Pinterest!  It's a bit addictive I think.  ANyway.. I just wanted to share this bag I made recently.  Inspired by this beautiful ancient Egyptian blue faience bowl that I spotted on Pinterest.  This is my felted bag version of it :)

I used on of Sharry's gorgeous handmade ceramic buttons :)

I stretched silk caps over the resist so the show on the inside.  There are
2 integral internal pockets, one on each side.

With a tiny flap and handle loops

Drawing the dancer from thin strips of merino fibre

and the on the front a musician with lotus and papyrus border.

Part way through felting, just after removing the resist.

I didn't take any more making photos, but here are a couple of close ups

Some smaller details were lost during felting, but I think that
works too.. gives it a slightly aged effect.

I love the dancer :) did think about adding a few beads
 but I think I'm going to leave it be.

xoxo

A hat in it's new role :)

I just had to share this photo!  I was recently asked to make a hat for a 16th century re-enactor.. and here he is in his kit and sporting my hat :) -  the chap in the middle.  Doesn't it suit him?!

I really do LOVE it when customers send me pics of them wearing my hats :)

This hat was basically the same as my Radagast hats, but made from all natural British wool; Jacobs, BFL & Shetland.. so it has lots of lovely texture. The pin on the front is a rose of York.. Josh's is a Yorkshire regiment.  Amazing how wearing it at a slightly different angle gives such a different appearance.

:)

My latest critter cosy..

Please meet Nelliephant :)

My cuddly red Indian elephant
 tea pot cosy :)

Nelliephant has been growing in my mind for a while.. always red.. though I'm also picturing her in emerald green now too :)


As with all my cosies, she was worked HARD and shrunk as far as she would go.

Blocked and left to dry.
I'd already filled her trunk with wool fibre to give it some plumpness

When dry I filled the head with wool fibre to keep it firm (and sealed the fibre in)..
added a couple of nice glass bead eyes.  Then embroidered a detached
buttonhole stitch all the way around the trappings

This Nellie is going to have to stay! :)
I've put her in my shop as a made to order though..
and I've just had a request for a pair made into door stoppers :)

The silk worked beautifully for the head-dress and blanket

As you can see, Nelliephant was born on a week that I was completely fixated by RED

xoxo

When one simple addition..

didn't go as simply as I expected!

I recently had a request for a Hobbit Hole tea cosy complete with Party Tree on top.  No problemo.. I could picture just how I was going to do it; felted cords, beads for leaves etc.  To begin with it went to plan..

I made the tree from short felted cords..
leaving enough fluff at the bottom to root it into the teacosy.

I'd also been asked to include the gate one this one :)
I used natural oatmeal BFL

rooted in nicely :)

Adding machine embroidery for definition

AND I finally remembered to take photos as I was free motion embroidering the script!  

I love my darning foot!  It's great for free-motioning..
I just follow the line of the writing on the tissue paper, being careful not to tear it
as I go.  This one was even trickier to machine stitch on than usual due to the tree lol

After stitching I tear the tissue off and pick out any tiny bits caught in the stitching

And this is where things went wrong for a while..  I had planned to use green glass seed beads, stitched to the limbs of the tree to represent leaves.  In my mind it worked.. in reality it really didn't!  After beading more than half of the tree I decided to take them all back off and do it differently.  So once again I beaded just over half of the tree.. again it just wasn't working, so off they came.  

After some tooth grinding and growling :)  I decided to cut small leaves out of a piece of variegated green felt left over from a previous project and stitch them on.. And I LOVE how it turned out now!  Shame I just didn't do it this way to begin with.  I had thought about it but got caught up with thoughts of perspective and how tiny the leaves would need to be.. DUH who said it needed to be realistic?!  

In the book the tree is described as always being decorated ready for a party, with coloured lanterns and bright streamers and garlands.. 

so I made 3 little lanterns from glass beads and fine brass wire
and strung them from embroidery thread streamers :)

Hand embroidered flowers everywhere

Finished & ready to go

I'm happy with how it turned out.. but OMG it took forever to finish!  

xoxo

Flap Bag #2 part 4

The final instalment :)  No need to say too much here.. just a few pictures 

Close up of front with hand embroidery in pure silk thread, and silver star beads sewn on

Under the flap 

The back has the biggest moon.
The smaller one was made from the unused portion of Mawata silk using a smaller bowl to get a crescent

I LOVE the little stars :)

Inside pockets

And there you have it.. my big moon flap bag :)  I had never done a handle like this before.. it turned out very strong and really comfortable on the shoulder 'cos of how cushiony it is.  I forgot to mention earlier that I did take the basting stitches out once it was felted :) .

xoxo

Flap Bag #2 part 3

Once the decoration was in place I carried on felting as normal..

Once it was holding together well I removed the bubble wrap beneath the flap
and worked it a little more

Time to remove the resists

Carefully cutting the underside of the flap, following the curve formed by the resist
and shaping of the bubblewrap

Once the resist was out of the handle I flattened it out and added some huge
basting stitches to hold it that way till it was finished

All edges carefully healed

with very wet soapy fingers

More rolling and pummelling needed

Fully felted, blocked and dried.
I forgot to take a photo of it blocked to dry - I stuffed it with tea towels
to hold it firmly in shape

Nice strong edges.
You can't spend too much time 'healing' your edges..
the better attention you pay to them early, on the nicer the finish will be

The next post will be the last one about this bag :)

Flap Bag #2 part 2

The theme for this bag was 'Guess how much I love you book' by Sam McBratny...  So it needed the moon and stars..  

I made silky crescent moons - one for each side of the bag.

Several layers of mawata silk squares

Using a small plate as a template

to draw around with a gel pen.  

By moving the plate along and following the curve of one edge again
I got a nice crescent moon

Carefully cut out

Placed on the flap and wetted out.
I had already added greenery along the bottom (like in the picture below)
where it would show beneath the flap

This is the back of the bag. (before I flipped it and added the flap)
I wanted a hint of moonlit fields so added green with a few longer twists of green for grassy stems.
Some nice smoky blue/grey boucle yarn runs through the sky, and LOTS of tussah silk