I am fascinated by finishing and how a different finisher or a different end result changes a design. So I found Ruth Schmuff's latest blog posting about two pieces from her mystery class particularly interesting. This is Sandra Vargas's "Playful Squirrel" which was one of Ruth's mystery classes last year. Two of her students have finished their versions and sent them to Ruth's shop for finishing. It's amazing how different they look even though the designs themselves are nearly identical. I can see the boxed standup on my mantel piece in the living room while its twin is a cushion for the tall leather chair in the library.
http://www.notyourgrandmothersneedlepoint.com/2015/06/finishing-options.html
Great job on Ruth's part, the finishers' and of course her students!
Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright June 10, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.
Showing posts with label felting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label felting. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Felting for the Needlepointer
One of the reasons we are going to miss the late Wendy Harwood of Aristeia is her creative use of things like wool roving on her canvases. Check out this Melissa Shirley canvas in progress using Wendy's stitch guide. The squirrel is wool roving that was "needle felted" into shape. The wool berries are made from wool roving using the "wet felting" technique that is explained here briefly.
http://thenimbleneedle.blogspot.com/2012/06/diy-berries.html
Making round berry shapes by wet felting wool roving (or pet hair) looks incredibly easy.
http://www.lilblueboo.com/2012/02/how-to-make-felt-balls-wet-felting-101.html
Needle felting looks a bit harder but I won't know how hard until I experiment. There's a video on this felting website that shows how it is done.
http://www.livingfelt.com/
Needles, mats and wool roving in colors that are amazingly ugly are available at the big box craft stores. Etsy.com also has assorted color packs available from quite a few sellers if you want to support the little guy by purchasing several natural shades to play with for animals for your canvases.
I'm going to see if I can make a few felting balls from dog hair. Watson, come here! [time passes]
What you see above are felting balls made from Watson (left) and Suki (right) and a tuft of Watson's fur. His is longer and finer than Suki's and it made denser balls. The trick is to use hot, soapy water and to keep working the mess into shape. Watson's fur immediately made a flat disk, so I squeezed the disk into a ball shape with my fingers, then rolled it between my palms, pushing hard. The two balls above took less than 10 minutes each. I'll let them dry for a day or two and see how they look. Each ball needs a little trimming to cut off bits sticking out. Watson's fluff is longer and more like raw cotton, so it is definitely the better to make felted beads with. You will have to experiment to see if your dog or cat or sheep or goat fuzz works well in wet felting.
I've not tried needle felting yet.
I've heard that you should use pet shampoo to deodorize the fur but I was experimenting. By the way, the little balls are dry now and there is no dog smell to them.
Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
http://thenimbleneedle.blogspot.com/2012/06/diy-berries.html
Making round berry shapes by wet felting wool roving (or pet hair) looks incredibly easy.
http://www.lilblueboo.com/2012/02/how-to-make-felt-balls-wet-felting-101.html
Needle felting looks a bit harder but I won't know how hard until I experiment. There's a video on this felting website that shows how it is done.
http://www.livingfelt.com/
Needles, mats and wool roving in colors that are amazingly ugly are available at the big box craft stores. Etsy.com also has assorted color packs available from quite a few sellers if you want to support the little guy by purchasing several natural shades to play with for animals for your canvases.
I'm going to see if I can make a few felting balls from dog hair. Watson, come here! [time passes]
 |
| Wet Felting "Beads" From Dog Hair |
What you see above are felting balls made from Watson (left) and Suki (right) and a tuft of Watson's fur. His is longer and finer than Suki's and it made denser balls. The trick is to use hot, soapy water and to keep working the mess into shape. Watson's fur immediately made a flat disk, so I squeezed the disk into a ball shape with my fingers, then rolled it between my palms, pushing hard. The two balls above took less than 10 minutes each. I'll let them dry for a day or two and see how they look. Each ball needs a little trimming to cut off bits sticking out. Watson's fluff is longer and more like raw cotton, so it is definitely the better to make felted beads with. You will have to experiment to see if your dog or cat or sheep or goat fuzz works well in wet felting.
I've not tried needle felting yet.
I've heard that you should use pet shampoo to deodorize the fur but I was experimenting. By the way, the little balls are dry now and there is no dog smell to them.
Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
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