Tuesday 14 April 2009

Wet Felting

Today I have been a busy little bee. I am very pleased with my output, but less pleased with my exceedingly sore hands and wrists. I feel like a wimp, but at least I am a happy one. In case you didn't guess from the title of the post, I have been wet felting today. It is my first time, and I'm not sure if I will do much of it again, what with the sore wrist/hand combo and all, but I'm glad I tried it.

I bought a wet felting introductory kit, from the Harrogate Show in November last year, and it has sat glaring at me balefully every time I open my craft cupboard, ever since. I got sick of the waves of disapproval, and decided to wrestle that sucker into submission.

In addition I thought it would be a good idea to follow a tutorial posted on Chrissie Day's blog about wet felting a bangle. As usual, I forgot I can't do lots of physical things in one day, and decided that I could manage two projects using the same equipment, in a drive towards efficiency.

I got my work space (coffee table) set up with a bin liner and towel. I got some water and soap ready and got myself comfortable and ready to felt. The kit used a simple resist template, to make a flower. It included all the bits and bobs I could possibly need and the instructions were well laid out. I got through the tutorial fairly quickly and was very pleased with the results.



The kit also came with beads to embellish the flower, which I will apply once it is dry.



Until then, I will just sit and look at how pretty it is, and wonder what to do with it, once it is finished.



Any ideas? I will probably make it into a lapel brooch, or add it to a bag.

Whilst I was working on my felting, Parsley decided that she wanted to help. She read the instructions and everything. I wonder what she was planning on making, before I rescued my fibre.



Once I finished my flower, I was all fired up and ready to start my bangle. I printed the tutorial from Chrissie Day's blog and got started. I had quite a lot of the fibre left from my needle felting starter kit, which I bought at the Harrogate Show, and decided to use this for my bangle.



As you can see, I haven't gotten very far. This is because my hands, wrists and rest of my body gave out at this point.



But I am pleased with the way the project is going, even if it is waaaay too big at the moment.



I intend to start again tomorrow. Chrissie gave me a tip I am sure I will be grateful for. You can resurrect a felting project. You wet it, and warm it again in the microwave. That little tip, I am sure, will save my sanity in the future. If I still don't feel up to carrying on with it tomorrow, I may set it to one side and stick it in with a felting wash using the washing machine, my tried and tested method of fulling.

I have been working on other projects too, but haven't taken photos yet. I'll do a post tomorrow to update you on those.

See, I really have been a busy little bee today, especially when you consider my stinking head cold!

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails