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This past weekend, I had the pleasure of teaching needle felting to a fine group of young ladies. The girls were all members of the Abbotsford 4H group. We met at the Real Canadian Superstore- a unusual place to hold a class, but we had a great time!
Everyone working hard, enjoying themselves.
Proud creators of bunnies and penguins.
Work in progress; bunnies, sheep and a turtle with polka dots!
Thank you everyone!
Oh dear...too much coffee. And we're expecting company tonight.
I know that sometimes photos of flowers are boring, but these are just opening up and so beautiful, I just had to share.
Magnolia
Still sleeping...
This one, a Daphne, smells incredible! I love the little pom poms of pollen.
I was given this book a few months ago and the projects in the book use a tool called a Felt
Twister. I found this tool for sale in an Etsy shop called From Japan With Love and here's how it works.
First, you take 3 long strips of roving and split them into thinner strips. The length of roving I used was 3 feet long.
Next, roll each strip of roving in your hands to begin making a rope.
The Felt Twister has two components. One is this piece which holds one end of the wool rope. You just twist the end of the roving around the tabs and then clamp it to a table.
Wrap the other end of roving around the tabs on the twister part.
Hold the twister by the handle and roll it in a counter-clockwise direction. This will twist each strip of roving individually. Make sure all 3 ropes don't get twisted together yet. We'll do that in the next step.
Now roll the twister in a clockwise direction and watch it twist!
Unwrap the ends of roving from the 'twisty tool' and needle felt the ends to keep it from unrolling.
I decided to roll this one like a lolly-pop or braided rug. Needle felt the layers of wool to help shape the twist.
Ta da! A rug for Pixie.
I think I'll have to make these next.
One last bunny thing before Easter is over -
This is a pattern from Indygo Junction called "Yo-yo Bunnies". The pattern has instructions for making a bunny with a yo-yo body or a stuffed one, which is what I've started here. Although the sample on the cover of the instructions is made with cotton print fabric, I decided to use part of a pink wool blanket that's been felted in the washing machine.
For the underpart of the bunny and inside the ears, I used some white felt.
After I cut the pattern out from the blanket and felt, I hand - stitched the pieces together.
I used a running stitch around the outside edge.
I added a pom-pom tail made with wool yarn and sewed it to the back of the bunny.
I stuffed the bunny's body with scraps of wool and felt-
-then embroidered details on the face.
Ta-da! Instant cuteness!
This little bunny was super easy to make. The patterns were great and the instructions were easy to follow. Check out some of Indygo Junction's other patterns at IndygoJunctionInc.com.
Our friends Brad and Cheri Clark at The Naked Sheep Knit Shop have recently added some fabulous new products to their store in Portland, OR. If you are as excited about the Visorganizer as we are, I suggest you click here to get the scoop and see the other essential products they are now stocking. They apparently have had a few famous celebs show up for their Knit Nites too! If you are in or around Portland or as far away as Burbank, The Naked Sheep is a destination that can't be beat.
