2.07.2011

Felted...finally

I had a large bag of wool sweaters (some with holes, some with rips, some that just didn't appeal anymore)that was holding space in my studio for the past year...waiting to be felted.  I don't work with yarn - it just has never been my thing... but I love wool & the concept of felting has intrigued me for some time.  The day finally arrived. 

I used these felting directions from FCF Creations.  Frances of FCF Creations is an incredible artist - and I have such envy for artists who work in mediums for which I have no affinity.

Here is my finished pile of felted sweaters.

















Now it was time to get to work...I wanted to keep it simple and just emphasize the beauty of the texture.  Here's what I came up with...

Felted Flower Pins














This is a scaled down version of the fabric flower pin that I taught at my Faded Elegance workshop last summer.  Since the felt is so much heavier than cotton or linen fabric, I used just two petal designs instead of three.  You can find a template for making these fabric flowers at the end of this post.

a vintage button & tulle
add embellishment



vintage millinery gives a
special touch

















Felted pillow














The bottom half of one of the sweaters was perfect size for a 12" x 16" down pillow form.  I sewed a seam at the bottom of the ribbing, tacked up the sides and then cut out a flap to fold over.  I whip stitched the edges of the flap with silk ribbon to give it a finished look.  I cut a slit for the buttonhole (with felting there is no raveling so didn't need to bind the hole) and added a vintage button for closure.


















Felted vases















I saw this idea of wrapping simple glass vases with wool cuffs in Country Home magazine years ago.  The sweater sleeves were ideal  - on the two above, I added a circle of small white buttons to set off the edge.  On the three below, gray metal buttons, one large mother of pearl button and more silk ribbon played up the gray tones.



















I have some sweater pieces left over...a small zippered pouch?  cozy valentines?  hand warmers?  A benefit of this sweater felting...one of the sweater vests from my partner was huge and twisted out of shape...after felting, it fit me just fine - and is plenty warm as well!
Be creative with the pattern below - I would love to see what you make!
click on pattern and then zoom in.
this will give you a full size paper
for printing.

worth a look...

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