Artful Blogging

I have read about the Artful Blogging magazine
and was so pleased when I found it at the bookstore.
If you get a chance take a peek.
It is inspiring!

Knowing there are many of us crafting
and living the Artful life
just tickles me.



My teal hat is coming along.
Today I refelted her in the kitchen sink
and made a brim.
The felted cashmere is nice for soft sculpting.
Hannah, the hat form, is excellent for shaping.

A man's silk tie is the hat band.

While the hat was drying I made a matching bag.
Cashmere is a lovely fiber to work with.

Soft hat or a neck wrap

Today I crafted a soft black cashmere wrap hat.
I felted the black sweater in the washing machine last week.
The striped wool bow was a left over piece from my
bag and hat project.

The hat wraps around my head and ears
and fastens in back with a large button I found in my
Grandmother's button tin.
I tried it around my neck and it looks cute as a neck warmer.

I am getting ready to take my hat out on it's maiden voyage.
I am going walking.
My ears will be nice and warm.



While I sewed up my new hat I felted
a few more sweaters in the washing machine.

The wool and alpaca turned out very nice.
It is dense and will take a few hours to dry.
I will have to think about what I will craft next week
with this nice piece.

Slippers

I am making slippers today
from a piece of wool I felted last week.



I made a trial slipper from a piece of fabric that was in my scrap basket.
I wanted to make sure my slippers would fit.
Once I get the pattern right and learn the technique
I would like to make a pair of silk slippers.




The felted wool is thick.
These should be very warm.
I will put the binding on by hand.



I would like to learn Stumpwork Embroidery.
I have begun to gather my beads and threads.

I dusted off my embroidery box.
Bees on silk slippers and dragonflies on silk bags sound lovely.

Perhaps I could embroidery a garden scene with butterflies and lavender.

I could wear my garden on my sleeve when the weather is cold and the skies are grey.

Wearable art is exciting!

Artist cap

I made an artist cap today.
Something to go with my bag.




I want to wear my new hat and bag tomorrow
when I go on errands.

I am in the design stage for another felted piece.
I like stripes and dots.



I have saved all the little scraps of felt.
For my hat I made a little decorative piece.

This is so fun!

Felting magic

I felted today!
I took my 100% wool sweater, placed it in a pillow slip
and secured the opening with a rubber band.
I place the sweater and a old pair of blue jeans,
(these are to help with agitation)
into the washer machine.
I added a cup of liquid detergent.
I set the washer on heavy soil, hot water, cold rinse.



Every five minutes I checked the sweater.
After twenty minutes I could see the wool of the sweater had changed.
I bought the sweater up to the kitchen sink and
soaked it for another five minutes in hot water.



I could feel the fibers change.
I could feel the magic happening!

I rinsed the sweater three times.
After the soap was rinsed out I laid the sweater on a towel.
I cut the sweater apart at the seams after I had felted it.
It would not ravel that way.

I blocked the felt pieces flat on towels out in the sun to dry.
I cut the silk dress I was using for lining into flat pieces.
The size of my bag was determined by the size of the silk.

It took about two hours to sew the bag together. Simple right sides together construction. I added a piece of interfacing to the felt to give it extra body. The velvet braided belt made an excellent handle.
I have enough striped felt left to make a hat and a coin purse.
I am smitten with felting!