This is my latest “Ullapool/Ardmair” inspired piece. I wanted this textural necklace to capture the atmospheric beauty of the monochromatic grey days and the grey pebble beaches, punctuated by the yellow/green of the seaweed and the lichen on the rocks.
The necklace is made from grey, taupe and white Merino with just a hint of yellow added. It was embellished with Colonial knots made using Madeira metallic threads.
A quick post to show how Alison and Yvonne have got on with making their beautiful versions of my Yellow Poppies wet felted wall hanging today.
Alison was quite at home with the free machine stitching while for Yvonne it was her first attempt and she admitted that she had got on far better than she thought she would. Just the mention of free machining sends some folk into a state of panic but with a few basic pointers I find most people overcome the dread and start to enjoy it.
Both pieces are looking lovely but there is still some work to be done so I will post an update once the ladies have finished their pieces.
Green Merino scarf
This sculptural green Merino scarf was Commissioned by a lovely lady I met last October at The Big Textile Show. Kate bought one of my green wet felted clutch bags and decided she would like a scarf/collar to go with it…..I can’t wait to see how it looks on her!
Detail of green Merino scarf
A few months ago I came across a tutorial on making a Child’s Elf Hat. It was written in Russian but the photographs were self-explanatory and I’ve had it in mind to make one ever since seeing it, and here it is. If ever I get inspired by someone else’s work I will always credit them with a mention but unfortunately, at the time, I didn’t make a note of this persons website and I haven’t been able to find it since! If you happen to know where I might have seen this please let me know so I can add a credit.
In the tutorial the hat was made in a solid colour using a yellow or orange Merino. I wanted a mottled effect so decided to make the hat in white and colour it afterwards.
Normally you would colour wool using acid dyes but for this hat I experimented with a combination of Inktense and acrylic paint, both of which are colourfast once they have dried. I found that when the acrylic paint is sufficiently watered down it will not clog the wool and it retains its soft handle. The only area where I painted it on thickly was at the base of the top “tail”…..I wanted this to be stiffened and the paint certainly did the trick! The Inktense didn’t seem to affect the handle of the wool at all.
The two leaves and stalk were made from green Merino and copper coloured Tussah silk and stitched in place. I’ve started adding Colonial knots……I love Colonial knots so there could be a lot more of these added before I consider the hat finished!
During a (rare) tidy up in my studio last month I came across some sample pieces of coloured acrylic paper with wonderful textures.
Acrylic Papers
The reason I had hung on to them in the first place is because they are so beautiful, but I couldn’t see the point in putting them back in the drawer if I didn’t have a use for them……so I needed to find one! The result is this collection of wet felted, hand embroidered pendants with acrylic inserts.
Wet Felted Pendants
I’ve also been making solid necklaces and chunky bangles, again incorporating the acrylic papers.
Necklace and Bangle with acrylic paper inclusions
I’m a big fan of recycling, rather than throwing, and I’m now on a mission to find more things I can use as inclusions in my felting.
Today I joined a small group of ladies for a wet felting workshop in the Thomas Garrett Rooms in Heighington near Lincoln. The ladies meet once a month for felting and they were all keen to learn how to make Merino collars. The group all had specific ideas of how they wanted their collar to look and everyone was thrilled with how their work turned out.
It was a lovely day and thanks go out to Joan and Janet for inviting me over. I shall look forward to seeing some of you for felting in Belchford on the second Wednesday in December.
This is a hat I made last weekend in Ipswich where I attended a wonderful wet felting workshop with international feltmaker Annemie Koenen. Annemie had come over to the UK from her home in the Netherlands to deliver a three-day workshop for Region 7 of the IFA and I wasn’t going to miss it as it’s always a real pleasure to work with her.
The wool I used was a beautiful Merino and silk blend which Annemie dyes in her studio. This is only my third hat and it’s been fascinating making them as each one has involved a different technique, learnt from different tutors. This design is by far the most flamboyant and I’m looking forward to showing it at the Big Textile Show at the end of the month.
Earlier this month I found some small Nuno samples which I decided to stitch into and frame. The first was this blue, green and yellow sample……
And after trimming down and stitching…..
Nuno Landscape
The second was this pink, orange and brown sample…..
And after a little stitching…..
Autumn Sunset Landscape
I had a great time yesterday with the Waltham Textile Group ladies who meet once a month at Waltham, on the outskirts of Grimsby. It’s a lovely friendly group and workshops here are always a pleasure to do. I was invited over this time to run a wet felting workshop with the aim of producing a flower meadow type picture. One or two of the ladies had previously done a little wet or needle felting but for the majority this would be their first experience of felting. I had intended that we work small and simple to get the pieces almost, if not completely, finished before we went home………no chance!! These ladies know what they want to do and they are all very experienced when it comes to sewing so they decided to concentrate on the felting and the majority of the sewing will get finished at home.
By the end of the session there was some wonderful felt created, I am hoping to get back over to their November meeting when I can photograph the finished work and post an update. In the meantime here are photos from the workshop…..
Waltham Textile Group
Aileen & Anita chose to do a Flower Meadow
Carole based her design on a section of her garden
Kate’s design was inspired by her garden
Margaret went completely “off piste” and created a sea scape
Anita adding hand stitching to her meadow
Jacky adding free machine stitching to her design inspired by the work of Moy Mackay
Aileen adds detail with machine stitching
Brenda chose to make several pieces of flat felt to cut and stitch at a later date
Final show and tell…..lots more stitching to be done so I will post an update next month
Thanks go to Jacky for inviting me over and I look forward to seeing you all again very soon.
Nuno Landscape
At the weekend I was a having a clear out and came across some little Nuno samples I made a couple of years ago at Artvango. I decided they were too good to put back in the drawer so I’m making some small pieces of art with them, this is the first Nuno Landscape. It was felted with Merino, two of the fabrics are Viscose and the third (central section) was cut from an old wool scarf. The stitching has been done using Perle and a variegated thread I dyed while I was up in Ullapool. I just need to find a suitable frame now.
Lincs In Stitches 