Happy Halloween!

Not that this post has much to do with Halloween other than I am writing it on October 31st!

wet felted bags swinging in the breeze

sheep inlay design made with prefelt from New England Felting Supply

Merino wool with some coopworth curly locks

I hope to create a tutorial to upload in the next week or so. Meanwhile I am excited to share that I have been accepted for membership in a local artists gallery!

 I have been making a lots of seamless felted bags!  Using a Scandanavian seamless technique and inspiration from a book Chad Alice Hagen wrote called something like Weekend Crafter I came up with a pattern for these resist technique bags.

Simple Gifts Simply Felt has a Facebook Page!

Check it out!

http://www.facebook.com/SimpleGiftsSimplyFelt

Felting Frenzy!

 Started off the week with a fun trip to Stony Mountain Fibers with the hubby to purchase, weigh, package & price up all the merino wool  I was so happy to have help! It was no small task to select colors and then package it all up. I will be taking with me to West Va next week.

I have been felting all week in preparation for teaching a week long class at Augusta Heritage Center in Elkins, West Va.

https://augustaheritagecenter.org/craft/

Check out the Joy Of Felting in the craft class section! This will be a kind of intro to felt making class where students will explore wet felting as well as needle felting.

My latest "little" project is a nifty Ipod or Cell phone cover. These can be made with about 1/2oz of wool and are a nice way to teach felting over a resist pattern while creating a useful handy item at the same time.


I have been enjoying laying out thin layers of a rainbow assortment of fibers creating "rainbow" sheets of wool fabric and I am waiting to decide what or how to use them.

photos posted later today!

Wool Washing

The other day I was given a bunch of lovely unwashed wool~ a blend of Finn, Romney and Tunis and I don't know what else. Today I am experimenting by washing some of it by hand. It takes such a LOT of HOT HOT water and rinsing and transferring from tub to tub with a soapy mixture of Dawn dish liquid.
 I have also found directions for washing it in the machine and may try that  later today.

Wool washing part two...
after three 'washes" in hot soapy dawn detergent water and countless rinses I have some soggy mostly clean wool. It still needs carding ( i don't own carding combs). And ther is still quite a lot of debris in it which, i discovered, will only come out by picking it and carding it.

This was far more labor intensive than I imagined and am even more motvated to try the washing machine technique.

Felting Fun in Elkins, West Virginia ~ April, 28th, 2012!

Leslie Gordon and I are going to teach a day long class of felting fun this weekend in Elkins, West Va!
 Come and join us!

Felt bowls by Janice Seibert

Felting class this weekend @ Randolph County Community Arts Center
click above link for more information & registration