A noble experiment

The above piece was my latest experiment which didn't really work out the way I had hoped it would. It was inspired by a small square of glass inlaid with small shapes of iridescent glass, like a mosaic, that I saw in the shop at the hub. I thought it might be just the vehicle for my angelina fusible fibres.
With much excitement, I tried making a piece of felt with the angelina shapes held in the top layer. This did not work and I dismantled it rapidly. Then I thought that I could applique the pieces using various exciting hand and machine stitching. I made a piece of felt and incorporated silk fibres into the top layer to add more interest.
I then stitched the angelina on. Even though I had tacked the shapes in place, they moved against the felt while I stitched, and ended up rather skewiff. My machine sewing skills obviously need a little work too as I managed to allow the needle to miss some parts of the shapes whilst zig-zagging.
I decided to add some hand stitching embellishments to some of the shapes, and whilst this did add to the top surface, the amount of work did not justify the end result.
So, all in all, a noble experiment, but not one with a very pleasing outcome. However, I have learned more about my machine stitching deficiencies and that angelina is best used as an applique material. So, I shall look on it as a learning experience and perhaps I can find a different project that will work more effectively.

Pink hearts

These photos show a present for my god-daughter in Canada. She is getting very grown up now and so I hope she will like this decoration. She used to like pink a lot, so I am hoping she hasn't grown out of that yet! The heart has two different shades of pink with an angelina fibre heart stitched onto the centre of each side. The photos really don't capture the lovely sparkle of the angelina, but the effect was very pleasing.

I have emailed her mother, giving instructions that she is not to let her see it on here, but somehow I doubt she would be that interested in the mundane ramblings of her godmother anyway. Once it finally reaches Canada (the way the weather is going here, it might just get there by her birthday in May), I hope she will like it. Fingers crossed!

Angelina again...

Having investigated, in a very small way, the way Angelina works, I decided I needed some guidance on the subject, to know just what can be done with it. Trawling through various websites, I found only one book - 'Between the sheets with Angelina' - (rather a tongue-in-cheek title, I thought) so ordered it. I wasn't disappointed as it has lots of ideas and examples of exciting things Angelina fibres can be used for, from embossing to adding to scarves, the list is wide and varied. I think I need to keep the 'less is more' mantra in my head when I use it though, as it would be very easy to get carried away and it would then lose its impact and would detract from the felt. I have just ordered some more Angelina in 'Forest Blaze' and 'Peacock' as I felt these colours would work well with my felt landscape pieces. Now to do some more experimenting.

(Photo from Amazon.co.uk)

More on Angelina

Here are my first rather tentative experiments using Angelina fibres in various different colours. The camera does not really do them justice as they are a lot more reflective and sparkly than they appear. I combined a few different colours to see what the effects would be and then cut into a piece to investigate various shapes and cut lines. I can see possibilities within my felt making as I can apply pieces and attach them with embroidery as well as trapping fibres during the felt making process. I also tried to punch shapes out, but that wasn't quite so successful, as the end result didn't have the clean edges I was hoping for. I am going to have a lot of fun experimenting!

Hello to Angelina

I was busy doing my ironing and happened to be watching QVC crafting one Tuesday, when the presenter demonstrated Angelina fusible fibres. I had never heard of them before and was intrigued. She laid various strands of the fibres in between some non stick parchment paper and ironed over the top for all of three seconds or so. The fibres bonded together to create a fabric with lots of sparkle! This material can be sewn into, stamped on etc. and I could see huge potential for embellishing my felt work. The fibres stick to each other and not to any background fabric so could be placed and secured with wool in a felt piece.
I started to investigate via the internet and ordered a selection of colours so that I can experiment. I am looking forward to finding out what can be done with this material. It has been around for a few years and seems to have originated in America, as so many of the crafting materials do. I'll post some of my experiments onto my blog and you can watch my progress...