Finally making felt again

I have been finally getting round to making felt again and it is lovely!  I had forgotten how much I enjoy it.  It takes me two hours to make two pieces but I really enjoy creating the blends and deciding what colours I need to use.  I have reserved a table at a craft fair in November, so that has given me the push I need to start making again.  In the whole of last year, I think I made two pieces in total, so I am doing much better this year.  The stripy pieces are destined for the craft fair, but you'll have to wait until then to see what I make them into.  I am also going to make some other coloured pieces - pink and a pastel green and whatever else takes my fancy.
I now need to replenish my stock of white wool for the base pieces...it's a good job I have just been paid!

Jewel colours

Owing to my recent felt making, I had to check my stock of lovely merino wool and ordered some more to replace some I'd run out of.  When I opened the box, I was greeted with this selection: turquoise, aqua, sky blue, purple and royal blue.  In gemstone colours they would be: turquoise, amazonite, chalcedony, amethyst and lapis lazuli.  What a gorgeous treasure chest of colours!

My PeaceFelt gift to America

Above is the sunset felt I made as my PeaceFelt gift to send to America. I sent it at the end of September but have only just heard that it arrived safely (the email got lost in the ether!). The recipient said she loved it and was going to get it framed. I sent it without fixings so that she had the flexibility to use it or display it as she wished. I incorporated lots of gorgeous rich colours of merino wool and then highlighted some of the areas using silk threads. I am so pleased that she likes it. PeaceFelt was a great thing to be involved with and now I have two contacts in America who share my interest in and love of felt making.

Present for a baby

I made this little felt star as a present for a friend's baby. It isn't designed for the baby due to the satin ribbon, but it is meant to be hung up in the baby's room. Congratulations to Katy and Steve! The star is made out of merino wool and is embroidered with stars in a random pattern. I then stitched it together using small running stitches and stuffed it with toy stuffing (one that conforms to all the safety standards). I hope they like it.

More felt!

Above is my most recent felt piece (made yesterday, in fact), and hopefully destined for my colleague at work as part of her commissioned pieces, (if she likes it, of course!) It is made from merino wool with pre-felted circles applied onto the top surface and then the whole lot is felted. Again, it is about A4 size.

Latest felt piece

Above is the latest of the circles series of pieces I have been working on. This is my favourite so far as I think the combination of blues works very well (as blue is my favourite colour, I may be a little biased!) I used Merino for this piece, which felted very well, in about 20 minutes. My next pieces will see a return to my primary source photos I think, as well as continuing the little hearts and stars. It's all fun!

More experiments

The above photos show my latest experiments with pre-felted wool circles using Merino for the background this time. It worked very well I think and I like the colour combinations. I shall continue with this idea and see where it takes me...

A new departure...

The above piece is an experiment using circles of already felted wool applied to the top surface of a separate piece then the whole thing is felted together. The natural colours come from the wool from my sister's sheep - (Texel cross Black Welsh) - and they do give some lovely shades. The wool takes a lot longer to card as I have to remove any bits of grasses and twigs as I go along. It also takes about 45 mins to felt, whereas Merino only takes 20 mins or so. It does feels wonderful when it is felted. I like the way that the felt decides how it will look in the end; the circles have moved slightly during the felting process, but this just proves it is hand crafted. I am very pleased with the end result and I think I shall make lots more of these - they would also work well using the Merino too.
The inspiration for this piece came from large circular straw and hay bales I saw last summer, but, of course, circles are everywhere.

A Treat!

Recently, I treated myself to some Shetland wool in the gorgeous natural colours seen above, from 'World of Wool'. (http://www.worldofwool.co.uk) While browsing, I also bought the shades of blue merino with silk fibres added into the blend. No, I haven't decide what I shall use it for yet, but no doubt inspiration will come at some point.

I haven't used Shetland wool before, so it will be interesting to compare felting times with the Black Welsh cross Texel wool from my sister's sheep. Now, what shall I use this wool for...?

Commissions

Another view of the Feltabulous stall, showing the decorations on the little Christmas tree. I am working on some commissions at the moment and have been making merino felt squares in different shades of reds and pinks. Today I am going to make squares in blues and greens. I shall then turn them into the little hearts, two sets personalised with initials. I do enjoy working with Merino wool because it felts so quickly and easily. I always blend the colours using my hand carders to give a combination of colours to the pieces.

After completing the commissions, I would like to concentrate on some of my landscape ideas, using the roadside verge photos and sky photos I took recently. It should be fun!

Natural Wool Colours

I have been experimenting with wool from my sister's sheep (Black welsh) and interpreting some of my landscape ideas into these neutral shades. The wool felts well although it takes much longer than merino to full. The mottled colours are interesting and I shall continue to use these shades, which also look effective made into hearts and stars. I have been looking at other types of wool to use and I think Shetland is my favourite at the moment, purely on the colours. That could be a future project...

Dramatic sunset

I have been continuing to make new pieces as well as the hearts and stars. I made this piece as I was inspired by the amazing colours in a sunset. The blended colours are quite bold but sometimes this can give a really good effect. Adding yellow and white silk fibres to the top layer of merino gave an extra lustre to those areas. I was pleased with the end result, although the felt itself is very thick, even though I used less layers than I do usually. I have come to the conclusion that the layers themselves must have been thicker than usual.

Felt Hearts

Still a lot more to finish, but here are the ones that I have completed so far. The coloured Merino hearts are going to be left plain but I shall make some more with embellishments. Each of the natural coloured hearts is decorated with a vintage button, sourced from family button boxes.

Dyed Merino Wool

My lovely, kind, generous, thoughtful husband (he's dictating this) paid for this Merino wool and a large bag of mixed threads as a gift for me. I can't begin to tell you how much I love him (he told me to say that as well). I have started to make some felt hearts during the last week, in both the coloured wool and some of the natural wool that my sister gave me. I will post a picture of the finished articles so far. I've booked a table at a Christmas fair so I have got to have plenty of things to fill the space.