Needle Felted Nuno Test Sample

I've been away for a while - I was actually quite sick while I was away in SC to be on hand for the birth of our newest grandson -- unfortunately I wasn't able to be present, but he is a gorgeous little darling who made it here without his Nana's presence! - thank goodness I'm better now.

I have this simply gorgeous hand dyed gauze in a special green that I dyed a few months ago and I want to use it to create something special. I've learned to create a small sample to see how the materials react before delving in to a large project, that way materials and colors can easily be adjusted. For those of you with needle felting machines, I've been experimenting quite a bit combining machine needle felting and then wet felting; more details are spelled out in my new book scheduled to become available in September 2009. This experiment was to determine the color compatibility as well as find out what would happen to the variegated mohair yarn once the wet felting process was complete. The mohair must have a non-wool fiber core; however, it got a lovely effect; even though it was added in long curves it ruffled up in a lovely fashion once wet felted - perhaps you can see it if you zoom in. A helpful tip - since this was quite a narrow piece, I used my marble rolling pin to roll it on top of a bamboo mat; this worked really, really well. Because the fibers were already integrated through the gauze by using the machine, the time spent rolling was cut down considerably compared to just laying on fibers and then soaping, rubbing and rolling. The puckers (seen on the back) appear once it had been fulled by tossing it in the sink quite a few times. I think these fiber choices will work really well for my larger project and I plan to add some other things for interest too. The bottom picture shows the preliminary wetting/soaping layout prior to rolling.

Kindness of CiberSpace friend

Isn't it lovely? A surprise gift from a friend I've yet to meet - Phyllis King from North Carolina created this special "Her Majesty" crown just for me using some of her vintage jewelry. My humble photograph can't begin to do it justice! Phyllis is a talented artist who does gorgeous watercolors (I'm lucky enough to have one of those too) and a myriad of other things - we share a love of fiber but Phyllis does so much more and is so very kind and thoughtful; every time I look at it, it gives me a smile or two and makes me think of her.

"THE WILD THINGS" FELT

A sweet little "Baby Sleeping" pillow created for a friend's new grandson -- all fulled wool in delicate shades with hand-stitched applique. You can barely see the stitching over the curve at the top of the duck.

I needed another baby gift so, of course, felting came to mind and I wanted to try something new. This wall plaque began with a piece of heavy prefelt and some Felbi animal cutouts. I needle felted these onto the background using my Embellisher, added some green Felbi (lightweight prefelt) for the hills and grass then did a little free motion stitching before wet felting. Viola! Here come "The Wild Things" tramping over hill and vale to say "Hello" to the new little one; it is a really lovely hard and pebbly felt. The hanger was made by felting wool around a wire covered with floral tape to help it adhere and then bent into shape.

Before felting


Finished plaque (I know the Giraffe's legs aren't perfect but he's having fun anyway, so who cares!)

Babies, Babies Everywhere!

Two down - one to go. Baby presents that is.

There is still a baby boy gift to get to for another friend's newest grandson (9lbs 11 ounces) - before I found felting, creating special baby gifts was my passion. Very soon I have plans to get immersed in felting and dyeing.

Two confections in the palest of pinks for a special little baby girl anticipated within a few weeks by a co-worker's daughter. This delicate "little lamb" gown is English smocking on a very fine Swiss batiste and will fit her right away (I'm always looking for excuses to make one as these are so dear); the jacket is the softest, palest pink fulled wool fabric (washed several times in the washer and then dried in the dryer before cutting it out) and will fit when she is a little older - it's irrestible to think of a tiny little dark haired girl toddling around in this cozy wrap.

"STAR" BUNTING FOR OUR NEWEST STAR

This very, very soft star bunting was made at the last moment for our newest grandchild, Win, who expected at any time; I hadn't considered polar fleece for SC until lately but it seems it has been colder than usual there and so Nana to the rescue! I've had this pattern for years and just came upon it recently by chance; the trim is flannel in the same shade of blue with a white poka dot. It has a velcro closure under the star applique.

Since I'm just a big kid at heart, I made the "star" tag to go along with it - complete with watercolors and a touch of glitter.

RED FELT GIFT

This pillow is a gift; it's just a little token of appreciation for a very kind friend. The front piece was machine needle felted/stitched and then wet felted some time ago and incorporates some silk shibori, silk velvet and hand embroidery. The stitching really adds a delicious touch as the stitched circles "pop" once the wool shrinks during felting and provides lots of interesting surface texture.

The cording matches the back which is a nectarine silk dupioni; the trimmings cut from the front felt were stitched together with lots more machine stitching and a silk velvet covered button secures the two halves of the pillow and adds a designer touch (it occurred to me that this would make a great Valentine cuff!) - the stuffed insert may be removed for cleaning.

From mohair curls to . . .

These soft and silky mohair curls were the inspiration for another butterfly wing design - the hundreds of combinations of wing patterns lend themselves well to felting.

This time the wings are lacy and I ended up adding some blue wool too - after using my Baby Lock Emellisher to needle felt the mohair and wool on to water soluble fabric, free motion stitching was used and it left a lacy effect once the stabilizer was washed out the piece wet felted.