Felting homework! Do I have to?!

I'm sorry it's been so long since my last post, no excuses, just busy, busy, busy!

Lulus came home with her weekly homework last week and informed me that this one must be felted! I was of course delighted! She often joins me at the sink and enjoys getting her hands all soapy!

It was National Science Week last week and her homework was to make an Easter basket for the Easter bunny that would protect the eggs if dropped!
We place a few layers of felt over a pudding bowl to get the basic shape. Then, to decorate it, we cut out spots from some prefelt we had made earlier.

Once rolled and dried, we sewed in some sections for the eggs and added some handles. Finished, phew!

Three chocolate eggs went into school in the basket, but only two came home! Those teachers!


I have a lovely blog award to pass on to some worthy bloggers.

But first 7 facts about me!

1. My husband and I have a role reversaI (stereotypically); I go to work whilst he stays home to look after the children and our home. I would love nothing more that to be a full time Mum and housewife, but I can earn more than he can and so that's the way it is. No point moaning about it. I am lucky to have a job that I love, pays well and offers fab holidays.

2. I would love to open my own making cafe. How amazing would that be!? My husband and I did some serious thinking about it, but we just don't have the finances to invest into such an enterprise. It's a dream that must sadly remain just that (and I really have dreamt about it!), but maybe one day...

3. I love reading fantasy books like 'The Golden Compass', 'Eragon',  and a series of books by a chap called Terry Brookes. I have never managed to finish 'Lord of the Rings'!

4. I can't get to sleep without playing on my DS for 10 minutes. A very bad habit!

5. I am addicted to lattes! I have a new Gaggia espresso machine which I love and couldn't live without! I think I have told you before that if I go on holiday I take my machine with me!

6. I am an night owl, hate going to bed, hate getting up!

7. I love baking and wish I could find the time to do more. The trouble is I love eating my baking, but my ever increasing waistline is becoming a problem, so perhaps it is a good thing that I don't have time for more!

Well, that was a struggle!
So now for my chosen bloggers to pass this lovely award on to... in no particular order

1. Stuff n Bits

2. Polka.Button

3. No knitted knickers

I've chosen 3 blogs that are quite new to me and I'm very much enjoying reading their posts. No pressure to do anything with this award, just know I love reading your blogs!

I had some fantastic news today - OfSTED have done an interim assessment on our school and told us that we will not be inspected for another 12 months (they last came 3 years ago). HOORAY!!! This means I can concentrate on my class and not ticking boxes (sorry to sound cynical).

Hope you all have a lovely week.

Becky x

How 'Versatile' Am I?!

VERY! Apparently! As I received the Versatile Blogger award twice only one day apart of each other. A huge thanks to Carrad of Faded Reverie and Rae of Felt by Rae for my latest awards. I'm making quite a collection as you can see in my sidebar! I don't mind them at all. I think it's just a nice way of saying 'I like reading your posts', which, of course, we all like to hear. So, THANK YOU!
I will dutifully pass on the award to 15 bloggers and share 7 new facts about me in my next post.

I have been busy with the fluff and bubbles again, mastering (ha!ha!) another technique so I can add it to my list of tutorials. Another vessel has been felted, again on a flat resist (circle of bubblewrap).

Why does this one make me think of a sea anemone?

I used dark turquoise for the main colour, with some beautiful peach and coral yarn felted on the surface along with some creamy gold sari silk.

I'm not sure that the sari silk is actually silk, even though I pulled it out of a sari silk waste yarn ball. It just didn't felt in the way I'm used too, it was more rough (almost synthetic) and didn't want to work into the felt. Just strange.
I used my felting needle and jabbed in any bits that were left sticking out to stop it looking untidy. I am pleased with the finished effect and the sari 'silk' catches the light well.

I have also felted another pair of baby shoes. This time I made two flat resists and I think I liked this better.

I am still learning lots with each new thing I felt. This time I went on to the rolling stage too quickly and the felt started getting ripply edges after a session of rolling. I quickly backtracked to the rubbing through the net part until the fibres stopped pulling away in the pinch test. What did I learn? Don't try to take short cuts with the process!

Anyway, I saved them and they have turned out well. I'm going to crochet a cuff for the ankle part in a less pretty finish for a boy. I may have to cut the openings a little larger first, they may be a bit on the small side to squeeze a chubby foot in!

I'm back to work. I had a busy and productive half-term and feel revitalised and ready for action! I wonder how long that feeling will last?!
Becky x
PS. A huge HELLO to my new followers! Thank you for joining me here!

Baby Shoes and A Felting Tutorial.

Hope you're having as nice a week as I am. There has been a lot of relaxing and catching up with my favourite magazines. Molly Makes arrived just at the right time. I sat down to read it Monday morning with some homemade scotch pancakes and look who was eyeing up my treats!

I didn't even realise Little Mannie was in the room until the hand shot out as I was taking the photo! I did let him eat it and made several more for the family before I got to sit and enjoy mine with the mag'!

My husband made a lovely fuss over me for Valentine's Day, he's a true romantic. We went to some stunning gardens and ate at a seafood restaurant at St.Ives in the evening. Bliss!

There hasn't been a lot of felting or crocheting going on, but that's OK. The weather has been too kind to sit indoors. However, I did promise to show you the baby shoes that are now finished.

Adding crochet to felt is in several projects in my new Japanese felting book. It inspired my crochet and felt jar jacket and now it has inspired these little shoes.

They are just so cute now they are finished. They make me want to add a pair of little feet to the family just to fill them!

You may have noticed that I have added a link to felting tutorials in my sidebar. Some of the lovely comments I have received have said that many of you would like to try felting and I thought I would share some of the things that I have learnt so far and tempt you all to give it a try! I have started with a simple piece of flat felting.

This is the piece I made for the tutorial. It's ever so easy to make. This technique could be used to make a picture, a book cover or could be cut up and sewn. If you make something and blog about it or post pictures on flickr, please let me know, I would love to see how you use my tutorial.

Nearly the weekend! Hope you have a good one!
Becky x

Felt and Crochet Jar Jacket

Something new from me again, inspired by my lovely new Japanese book (I promise to share it with you soon!).

This little jacket has been felted over a glass jar (quickly whipped out of the recycling box before the recycle van came) and then finished with a crochet collar.

Another fiddly felting project. Or perhaps it's just that I haven't done it before. I can remember when felting little balls was a pain and they would all end up with little creases, but now I can make them with my eyes closed whilst icing a cake! All right, I exaggerate, but you know what I mean!

The felt is quite thin because I wanted to see what it would look like with a tea light inside. I used turquoise and teal felt which I tried to blend subtly into each other. With the light shining through the colours it looks just beautiful. 

I added the crochet to the top using a yarn called Pompeii, it's a chunky wool mix and I love how it looks with the soft felt. I can see a whole batch of these being made in a range of colours and finishes! I'm still thinking of adding some natural shell buttons down the front to finish it.

I think I will mostly use this one for pens and pencils, although it would look great with

some paper white narcissus in it. Or some white hyacinths.

I'd like to make a shorter, smaller one for my crochet hooks too.

So that's my first Monthly Make for February finished.

I have also finished the baby shoes and they are just gorgeous, but I'll save them for my next post.

Half-term is here. I'm looking forward to spending some time with my family. Baking. Walking. Playing. Laughing. Relaxing.

Lovely.

Hope you have a good weekend. Keep warm and if you have the snow enjoy it!

Becky x

New Felty Projects!

So, as you all know, I'm experimenting with different felting projects and I just had to show you this one! Can you guess what it is from the template?

Mmm... do you need a clue?!

It's actually going to be 2 things!

So, template cut out of bubble wrap.
Fibres laid out on one side, gently felted, turned over and edges turned in.
Repeated for the second side.
Layer 1 done!
Repeat the whole process twice more so that each side has had 3 layers.

Now for the hard work! I use a foam tube covered in a vinyl table mat and roll over the piece wrapped in bubble wrap 25 times, rotate 90 degrees and repeat until I'm back to where I started. I then turn the piece over and again roll, turn...

Then stage 2 of the hard work, lots more rolling! Rolled in the bubble wrap and a bamboo blind 100 times, rotated x 4, each side.

By now it's shrunk a lot (and my arms ache!)...

...any guesses yet?
Time to remove the bubble wrap.

I cut the piece into two, trimmed and shaped them.

You've guessed, now, haven't you?!
Yes, a pair of baby shoes!

They were a bit of a pain to get the same size and shape but now they're dry I'm quite pleased with them. I don't think I would make them this way again. It was hard work trying to rub away the thicker raised line down the centre which was where the felt was folded around the template.
I'm hoping to embellish them this week and add some crochet edging or maybe even sock style crochet tops. However, the new felting book has arrived from Hong Kong and I'm desperate to start the next project - it should be a good one and add another string to my felting bow!
Hope you're enjoying your weekend.
No snow here and not likely to be :(
Becky x

Felting - An Expensive Hobby?

'Hester' asked me a question in a comment she left on my last blog post that really got me thinking - is felting an expensive hobby?
The short answer is - no!
Now, because I'm going to ramble on a bit, I'm going to throw in some pics of other felter's work with a link to their blogs to inspire you to felt!

from CorNit's Felt Blog

The actual wool fibre is really very cheap. I buy the majority of my felting wool from Sara's Texture Crafts. She runs a small business where she dyes, cards and blends a range of wools and other fibres. She also spins it into yarn and does lovely things with it herself. It's great quality, she is passionate about what she does and is also very helpful; there are lots of tutorials for felting projects on her website. She sells her wool fibre in different weights and, obviously, the more  of a colour you buythe cheaper it is. For example 25g of a single colour of merino wool is 99p. I used exactly 25g of the raspberry chocolate blend to make my vase, flowers and vessel (plus a little white).

by Deborah of Felter's Journey

So, when you look at it that way, no, not very expensive, but I appreciate that for some people this would be beyond their budget and I know that I am lucky to be able to afford the luxury of a hobby. However, what I sell does cover the cost of my materials (but not my time) so I feel I can justify my purchases. 
Blends are a little more expensive than single colours and if you have other fibre mixes, like silk, that's a little more too, but not massively. Postage pushes the price up a little. My last order was about £40.00 but the postage was £9.00 - I will add that Sara is very fair and only charges what it costs her.

by Gillian Chapman of Felting Matters

Other than the wool to felt, you will need some soap (I use bars of sensitive soap, but others use olive soap or even washing-up liquid), netting to hold the fibre in place when you begin to felt it, bubble wrap to help agitate the fibres and a bamboo mat for rolling. And, of course, lots and lots of water!

from Rabenfilz

Some people say you should put a drop of white wine vinegar in your final rinse to restore the natural ph balance of the wool. I never used to, but more recently have. I can't tell any difference if I'm honest!

from Loco Life of Lindy

Then you need time and that's why this hobby will never make me rich!

from rosiepink

There are loads of tutorials on youtube and people's blogs to get you started so you don't need to spend out on books unless you really want to.

by Elizabeth Armstrong of Studio Felter

Are you inspired to have a go? I've been felting for two years now and feel like I'm only just beginning to find out what I can do. I really love it!
If you fancy a go and want a small starter pack of lots of colours I would recommend you visit The Rainbow Room on Etsy.

The Rainbow Room on Etsy

These are great packs and the merino wool is super quality. This pack weighs just over 200g and costs just under £10 +postage. That works out about 10g per colour. Clara Luna who owns the online shop is based in Wales, unlike many things on Etsy which are in the USA.

by Liz at The Felted Garden

Other things like unusual fibres, beads and buttons to embellish and add interest you can pick up over time.

by Liz at That Fuzzy Feeling

So, that little essay should get you started!
Were you inspired by all the work of those super fibre artists? I get so excited at their use of colour, texture, fibre and range of projects. They are all just amazing and I can't thank them enough for sharing their inspirational work.

Time to go felt!
Becky x

January Make #3

I have had a very productive January and am very pleased to have completed 3 makes. I didn't have any real New Year's resolutions but did see it as an opportunity to push myself a little and try some new things. In my pursuit of inspiration and advice I have found some lovely felter's blogs which led to me to my third monthly make, a felted vessel.

Isn't that felt just a gorgeous colour? I am absolutely in love with it - it's the raspberry chocolate felting wool I showed you a couple of posts ago and it is a dream to felt.
I found instructions on how to make this vessel using a 2d resist on a lovely blog called rosiepink! They are a mother and daughter team who run a business and blog all about their felting. They have some very inspirational ideas and a few tutorials, one of which was instructions for a 'felt pod'. I have only made a couple of felted vessels before and, being very honest, found them a bit of a pain, but I was amazed at how easy this method is. 
I added the flowers and pebbles as part of a Valentine's theme.

I made the flower stems by felting over pipe cleaners and added needle felted heart-shaped petals and finished the flowers with shiny shell buttons.
I have wanted to make felted pebbles since finding the instructions for them in a copy of Making magazine last Spring. These were really easy to do and I finished the white one with a small needle felted heart, which I did very carefully at angle so I didn't break the needle!

So, I still haven't had a go at that book cover yet, but it is on my 'to do' list and at least I'm not adding to the WIP list so that's something!

I have ordered a new felting book which I am very excited about. I'm hoping it will be here in time for half-term so I can have a go at some of the projects, but as it is coming from Hong Kong I might have to wait a little longer than that.

Hope you are all enjoying your weekends. We did a super walk around the local reservoir this morning, fed the ponies on the way, had a bacon roll and carrot cake at the water sports centre and the children played in the park on the way back! So now we have all flaked on the sofa! Happy days!

I'm off to start tea then have a little hooky time planned!

Becky x

Edited to add:

Forgot to say thank you for your suggestions for fastenings on my last post. I am definitely planning to try some of them out. Thank you!