Happy New Year!!!

The New Year began with a somber tone, our family lost someone very, very dear to us... it was a tragedy that defies logic and I will miss Jerry very much. I hope the next year will bring as much joy as this one brought pain.

To calm my frenzied mind I resorted to what I always resort to when I need distraction... my crafting. It is a way to escape, much like putting together a 1000 piece puzzle ( we did a few of those too) or reading your way through 800 pages in a day or two ( did that as well).

Since mushrooms seem to be sprouting everywhere in this torrential rain that in moving through, I figured I'd sprout a few right in my kitchen. So to hopefully satisfy a request I recieved via Etsy I made a few without the wooden bases.

I am in a fungus mood... so you will definitely be seeing more in the near future.

Shoe Makin Time.

I have always secretly habored the notion of being a cobbler... I want to make shoes.

So yesterday I woke up and I was shot through with inspiration. I would use my nice brown sweater that tragically was washed in hot water and make a pair of moccasins to use as slippers.

So I gathered my moccasins to examine, scoured the net for ideas or patterns. I still had not found a shoe that was what I wanted to make. So I gathered my slippers, my uggs and any other shoe around the house that I thought I could make. I set about to make a shoe. I drafted a pattern, it looked like it was going to work, and I sewed one up. I made slip on boots.

Yikes! I should have taken a photo... in my husbands words "thats hidious"

The boot I created was somehow twisted, so when it was on there was a large ill fitting area and the fabric twisted over the foot.It was also HUGE! I guess I added plenty of seam allowance. Definatly not what I wanted. But I could see the potential and I could see the mistakes. So I used a razorblade to dissassemble my creation, made some changes. Added a front zipper, took in the back...

And here are my new boot/ slippers

They are washed wool outer, the lining is Faux fur the sloes are three layers, leather, jute and velveteen.

They fit better than I dreamed they would, they are very very warm.

I am thrilled.

While there are still a few tweakes and I would like a more finished bottom edge I have decided

I will definiatly be making more. I have some fur pelts that were given left to me from my grandparents. My grandfather was a trapper in the 1920's and somehow there are still a few pelts of the little critters left. one pelt is a little dry on the leather but I think it will work. I also have a ton of leather to work with, but I'm leaning tword a brown or a black.

Velvet handmade felt and the food dyes.

Top of the morning to everyone who reads this little blog.

In my previous post you saw I was experimenting with kool-aid to dye stuff, well I moved quickly on to Wilton's cake icing dye. Success!

I browse the Internet regularly for inspiration generally I love texture, color, fiber, sewing, and vibrant items. I came across an English Artist I find intriguing, check out her blog here.

She combines wool and velvet, huge color and embroidery in delightful and fabulous ways. So I found my muse.

Here is a tray of the velvet and wool felt scraps I dyed this weekend, sort of pretty don't you think?

It is really to bad I do not have 100% silk velvet to dye I think it would be much brighter, but since I don't, I'll make do.

The wool really took the cake dyes well, the colors are rich and deep, yeah! Possibilities seem endless right now.

Anyhow, now I am playing with ideas and testing out my applique skills. I am not certain what I am creating.

You can see in the first photo where my musing has taken me. I am thinking of cutting the design out and sewing it to another piece.. maybe a tote bag or a journal cover. my mind is still wandering and I don't know where it will end up. Yet just having the possibility of creating something new and fresh gets me out of bed each morning. I just wish I had a studio so I could spread out all my projects.... basically I want to make a big mess and revel in it.

On another note, my angels are selling quickly, got an order for 12 of them yesterday! yeah *clap, clap, clap*

Making a Bird Using a Resist.

This project assumes you have some experience in wet felting as well as perfunctory knowledge in using a resist.

The first thing is to design your resist. I draw what I imagine my 2-D design to look like, then I add 25% . After that I add another 15-20% to the parts I would like to be fat after the felting is done and my creation is stuffed. So on the picture to the left I added to the belly the back and around the head and beak. The reason in the whole thing will be shrinking and we don't want our creation to look gaunt or skinny.

I then cut it from paper and use a plastic bag such as a grocery sack or Saranwrap to wrap it thoroughly. I run it through the sewing machine to tack down the edges.

This method the resist is not waterproof, but it works for me. Please note my resist is missing a tail area, I will later make up for this blunder with a triangle section of bubble wrap.

Choose your colors, silks, and fibers you wish to embellish with. I used silk scraps and yarns which I will be cutting into long thin "feathers". I also have picked a variety of wool roving's.


Place your resist under the bubble wrap or plastic sheet so you can see it.







Begin to pull small wispy amounts of roving and color your bird. I like to layer colors in cascading colors so you can really see a fade of color from the belly to the back.

As you lay the body color be certain to make a number of layers and fill in any thin spots. The beak is easiest if you pull small wispy bits and place them vertical to the tip then add a thicker bit horizontal . This will wrap better in a later step.

Another thing you will want to note is that on this side you are laying colors in the reverse order you will be laying them when we cover the resist and create the other side of the bird. The first layer of this side is the outside layer of your finished bird. I keep notes if my layout becomes elaborate.

To do the tail, I fist lay down a bit of colored roving, I leave many gaps so the fibers and silk can really mesh and nuno through here. After I lay the wool I lay the silks, yarns and fibers, then another layer of wool bits just as you see in the photo. Tufts here and there overlapping thinly. Basically just enough to catch the silk.
Now when you are ready to call this side finished gently spray your wool layout with soapy water. I don't bother with hot water, mine is room temp and it is just 1/2 tsp ivory liquid soap and water.
Spraying will make it easier to wrap it over the resist.

Gently pull your resist out from under the plastic and place it on top of your arranged out wool.


Mist the bare resist as well as the surrounding wool. Gently pull the wool over the resist, add a triangular piece of plastic to the tail area to keep the sides from felting together. (or you could have designed your resist so this was not a problem, I did not. )

Now in reversing order layer the colors so your bird is the same color on either side. On this side the first colors you lay are the last colors from the other side, the colors from the inside of the bird.


When your resist is covered and you are ready to felt mist your project.

I used bubble wrap over the top to jiggle it gently just to set the water and the wool so I can flip it.

Flip it over and wrap the wool that is hanging over the edges onto the other side. Check for thin spots, fill them in if you need to.

Now spray your project until is is good and wet.

You can proceed to felting using either bubble wrap and screen , rubbing gently at first then felting and forming.

Or you can use a sander. I have a little Black and Decker with a Velcro bottom cover with a bit of vinyl so it does not snag. I set that on first the beak area, then move it down the body. I leave in motion on each section about 15 -20 seconds.

Flip the bird and repeat from beak to tail.

To continue the tutorial ... Part two

Saturday the rain is gently falling.

I thought I was going to be working in the garden this weekend, but with the rain comes the mud... I'll stay inside.

I had a bust week at work, and it has spilled over into my weekend. I have one more car seat to repair and return then I can do my own thing.

This week I'm working on a Baluch nomad child she is cradling a baby goat, although my goat is more like a lamb. It has been a very pleasing and relaxing project. I started poking last night at 5 pm and at 10:30 when my husband went off to bed I realized I had been at it for 5 and half hours without a break. It did help to pass time listening to my husband and daughter singing and playing music for the songs they are recording.

I have decided to use as many different fiber types as I can in this one. So far I've used Corridale, Alpaca, Lincoln Locks and silk. This picture is just a teaser... She is a WIP and I feel there is many more hours till I am satisfied with the final picture.