the bigger piece (14 - 1 - 14)

I promised to tell about the bigger piece that I made

after starting the year with smaller work.

When the green collar was finally finished

(after all the setback)

I wanted to start another collar/shawl.

With the green collar I tried several things in this one piece :

like inclusions, nuno and different threads on the surface.

Now I just took some pieces of needle felt

that I bought at Hawar's (móre than a year ago)

There I bought a bit of red, magenta, pink and orange.

I wasn't satisfied with the pattern of the green collar either.

Felt can be rather "stiff".

It doesn't have the "flow" (flexibility)

some other fabrics have.

That's not a problem ...

as long as you deal with that caracteristic feature.

That's why I wanted to shape the collar

around a torso-like pattern.

I wanted two layers,

I wanted leaves,

I wanted points.

Two layers, and rolling wet felt means : shifting

and thát, I didn't want.

So I had to do a lot of sewing together with a running stitch.

Leaves, layers, everything !

A LOT of preparations, but it paid off at the end.

... and where would we be without the magical bubble wrap ...

Un-picking the linen threads was a lot of work too

.....

but finally

......

was  this  the reward  !

;-)

mistakes to learn from

Sure !

You should learn from your mistakes

 I hope that I will do just that !

Some time ago someone asked me 

why I said that you should put a bit of vinegar 

in the last rinsing water of your felted piece :

I said (like I learned from someone else)

that it was to neutralize

the (eventually) still remaining bits of soap in your felt, because :

soap eats your fibres in the end !

Well ...

you should think I'm aware of this
"soap eating your felt" thing

..... 

Some days ago I planned I would finally finish

some felt piece I started 

on my felting-day with my dear friend Jane

in April, last year !

Why did I take so long to finish it?

I don't know, sometines things go like that :

you don't have time, 

(because there are other things that need to be done)

you're not in the right mood, or

you simply forget all about it

;-)

That's about what happened :

and the piece lay there, started, wet and soaped, 

rolled in bubble wrap and a towel.

There were leaves and little half felted balls

with some "fibre fluff" to attach them to the main part,

there were glass beads inside, and a lot of "nuno"

First I put some extra layers on the back and over the glass beads

The layers were simply too thin, not strong enough.

But, when I wanted to add the leaves and especially the balls :

the wool fibres just broke down !!!

I had to remove some of them, but (pfffft) most leaves remained attached

In the end, when the piece was dry I removed the glass beads

because the top was still not strong enough to keep them safely in

(though I made tiny holes !)

Here is the finished collar

(thoroughly rinsed in vinegar and competely dry now)

some details

(around my neck, for the size)

A lesson well learned :

never ever 

leave a (half) felted piece in soap too long

waves

I always loved the undulating sides of some scarves.

( normally you try to make the sides of your felt flat

and definately not with waves ! )

Altough I 'd never done this before

I had a rather good idea how it must work :

so much of the end result is preordained

by the way you lay out the wool rovings.

Apart from the waves I wanted

some leaves too

I left the ends of the leaves untouched

so they would felt in with the rest or the scarf

... and this was the result : just as planned

;-)

( hmmm ... sometimes it's just your lucky day )

another August project finished

When I was in the felting mood

I tried another plan that I had for some time

but didn't get to.

I wanted to make a shawl with holes

or rather a collar.

I layed out the wool rovings on the paper pattern

that I made in the right (bigger) size

It was not very easy because I didn't want the fibres

to go in only one direction

well I finally managed to get it to my liking

and started felting

... keeping an eye on the size ...

So far it looked alright

but the largest hole in the middle was kind of sagging,

and I was not pleased with that.

Some holes had turned out too big and had a wrong shape.

( so I did some other things, as I mostly do in a situation like this,

before I decided what to do next )

I had to close some of these holes,

so up with the machine and some fabric

Then again some waiting and musing ...

there the internet is sometimes helpful with ideas

Cécile makes wonderful embroidery on felt

and the little bag of Corinna with hér embroidery on it

were just the little push I needed

So yesterday I started with swirls and spirals

( since long my personal  favourites )

on the collar

and finished it today

The other holes will stay open to be able to tie up the cords

( in fact the colour is more purple than in this photo )

*

btw .... another feather

pots of gold

This day day started gray and clouded.

I had to feed our daughter's cats for a day

so went away in a dress, legging and a jacket.

Then I visited a friend and it was already getting really warm. 

I ate my late lunch in the garden

and had to change my clothes because it was hot in the sun.

At dinner time the sun was still shining brightly

but there was a distant rumbling of thunder

...

and heavy rain came pouring down !

You know they say there's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow ?

Well ...

I think we definately were at the end of the rainbow

and in that pot of gold !!!

 

This afternoon I recieved a package with scraps I ordered

from Connie :

a little plastic bag ful of leftovers of her hand dyed fabric.

I layed them all out on the floor after ironing

( to see how big things are I have my own toes on the photo )

and a closer look

Don't you agree : another pot of gold !!!

Thanks Connie !

 *

Me, with my new ultramarine felted "Dragon" waistband

... or ...

should I say "Dragon" collar

?