Sunday, June 9, 2013

Fun and Funky Felting




Fun and Funky Felting at the Felt Fest 2013

On Sunday the workshop was Fun and Funky felting. We worked on Making felted cords to be used as purse handles, Bolos, and for slicing up to make beads and jewelry.

We also made a felted flower ring that can be worn as a ring or used as a scarf ring or hair embellishment. By making the ring a bit larger it could be used as napkin rings


Bolo with flower scarf ring and felted earrings with a bead embellishment.
Beads sliced from a felted cord strung with other beads as a necklace.
Felted ring with glass embedded center and beading.
Side view showing the finger ring loop.
 
Thank you to Nicola Brown and Everyone at the Tin Thimble for putting on the wonderful 2013 Felt Fest.

          

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Felt Fest 2013 Saturday Class

     

 

 3d Workshop at Tin Thimble Felt Fest 2013


Saturday class with Nicola Brown an international instructor from  Ireland.

The first workshop was three dimensional wet felting using the open resist method. We also learned how to embed glass stones into our work. Also we learned how to make spikes and dreadlocks.

The first thing I did was make spikes leaving loose fiber at the bottom to attach to the vessel.




Next I began working on a vessel which turned out to be more of a bowl shape.




This photo shows the vessel at the stage where all the wool has been layed out on a plastic circular resist on both sides. The other side not shown has an opening left in the center for the top of the bowl and for removing the resist. The photo shows what will be the inside of the bowl. The spikes are being added to the bowl by spreading out the dry fibers left on the spikes and wetting them down and felting them into the bowl fibers.



 This is the bowl as it is being felted more after adding on the spikes. At this point it is inside out. It still need to be fulled and shrunk more in hot water.




This is the completed vessel. Not quite a masterpiece but not bad for working in a workshop situation. This spike technique can be used in many different forms such as on hats, in the center of flowers, on wrist cuffs etc. When felted well the spikes will stand up quite stiffly and can be formed when wet in to spirals or curves.


Adding a wire stem to felted flowers


Adding a wire floral stem to a felted flower

This is one method I came up with to add a wire floral stem to a wet felted flower. First I use an ice pick to punch two holes in the center of the flower about 3/8 to 1/2 inch apart. Insert the wire from the back into one of the holes and bend over and insert back down into the other hole. Leave yourself enough wire to twist around the stem tightly. Then starting at the top of the wire next to the flower back tightly wrap floral tape around twisted wire and all the way down the stem. You can also attach leaves to the stem in the same way.




Close-up of center of flower after wire is inserted.

Wire can be hidden with more wool needle felted on or some other 
embellishment.  Now you can easily arrange a bouquet with your felted flowers by bending and posing them as you like.