Plum Purse with Upcycled Bling

This purse started out to be a gift for my mother, but I have another one in mind to make that she might like better. The next one will be somewhat more subdued. We shall see which one she chooses! Either one must have a cross body strap, interior pockets and a flat bottom.  

The felted decorations are pre felts from two beaded silk skirts from the Goodwill. The turquoise one my friend Sharon bought for my stash.

The trim on the top of the purse is an up cycled beaded silk belt from J Crew. The bits of green are hand spun merino and bamboo yarn cut into short lengths. It only took a few minutes to card the fiber to blend and to spin on the drop spindle.

The wool color of the main part is called plum. It is merino from Ashford. It might be called plum, but it really is a rich purple-brown. The strap is the cross body leather strap from a Brahmin purse. The strap was never used, as the original purse has carry handles, too. 

Floral Nuno Felted Wrap

Nuno felted silk flowers (up-cycled from a skirt) on custom hand dyed merino, silk, and bamboo fibers.

More Curly Locks with Batik

There's a lot going on with this purse. Curly locks, bright batik, and bling on the upcycled strap. I like the felted pockets inside because I am forever digging through receipts and glasses cases and STUFF while trying to locate one item in my purse.

Union Jack

With all the buzz over the Olympics and the Jubilee the Union Jack is popping up everywhere. This was wet felted and then quilted. Three pockets are felted inside and it is finished out with upcycled indigo batik cotton fabric and an leather braided belt for a strap.

Hand Spun Yarn Wet Felted Pillow

Recently, I had an uninterrupted evening to spin with the drop spindle. But since I'm not a big crocheter or knitter, the yarn ended up felted into two BFL / cashgora blend pillows. These are not my usual style, as there are no shouting colors. 

Wet felted Upholstry Fabric

A thrifted metal chair with a broken seat needed a pick-me-up. The fabric is nuno felted on silk to give it integrity and keep it from stretching too much. The pattern was inspired by an image in the book Gaia Star Mandalas: Ecstatic Visions of the Living Earth by Bonnie Bell and David Todd.

Felting, Dyeing, Sewing, Pricing, Listing and Blogging

This started out as an experiment nuno felting some tightly woven silk, but the weave was so tight the wool fibers would not migrate through. I peeled off the silk and had a basic natural white purse. That simply would not do, so after looking at it hanging on a skirt hangar for ages I got out the dyes.

I've been resisting doing a lot of dyeing. If a purse takes a couple of hours to lay out, a couple of hours to felt, and an hour or two to finish, adding dyeing to the process makes for a mighty expensive item in terms of man-hours. Or woman-hours.

But maybe that resistance was ill founded? I really like this purse. I like it better than the dark red one I am carrying now. In fact, I am tempted to make another one in another color with the same two interior pockets and a dark bottom with a bright top.

Fingerless Gloves

Lately I've been making fingerless gloves for texting. They are all merino wool with silk carrier rods, bamboo fiber and upcycled beads.

Of course the weather has been unseasonably warm. Who needs gloves when it's 70 degrees?

Pebbles and Patchwork

Yesterday, as I was cutting out prefelts to lay the pebbles out on the silk scarves, I swore I would not do anymore polka dots or pebbles. Some people enjoy cutting things out, and more power to them!

The green patchwork wrap needed a fresh photograph, so this morning in the early light it went on the mannequin out on the patio.

The rest of the pre-dawn was taken up loading them into the etsy shop.

What's Missing?

This pair of hand warmers is for my sister, but they look unfinished to me. The beads across the wrist aren't quite enough, but I haven't figured out what else to do with them. Maybe a bit of contrasting color or fabric inside peeking out either at the finger end or the wrist end? Constructive criticism is welcome!

A Matter of Semantics

Recently, I manned a table for my husband at an event. Trying to pass the time I was beading embellishment on a felted hat. A lady stopped by because the hat caught her eye. She is a spinner, weaver, knitter and in her words, a felter. She commented on the light weight of the hat I was working on and said hers were never so soft or so light because after knitting them and putting them in the washer they grew much heavier. I commented that she wasn't actually felting, she was fulling her knitted items. She said, "Oh, that's just semantics."

But is it really? Felt, by definition, is a non-woven textile. If one twists fiber into yarn and knits it, it is a woven textile. Fulling it produces changes, but it certainly does not produce felt. I didn't argue with her, but mis-labeling a product is deceptive. Does anyone else care about the definitions that pertain to their craft?

The Cat in the Hat

Check out Cathy in the curly lamb's locks beret! I made the hat to match a messenger bag adorned with curly locks. cAthy is the proprietor (proprietress?) of Villa Capelli in Decatur, TX.

Villa Capelli

We are working on the displays at Villa Capelli in Decatur, TX. Instead of putting everything in one corner Cathy wants to place mannequins strategically around the shop. The scarves tucked in the display of necklaces and candles insert a nice pop of color.

Beaded Nuno Felted Purse

What color is this? I'd hate to have the job naming paint colors! This has some golden dijon mustard, black, and an interesting blue cast. The bling comes from an upcycled beaded skirt, the strap is an upcycled leather belt, and the closure is one of the leather attachments for a pair of men's suspenders.

Busy Listing Scarves On Etsy

Completed Floral Scarf in Retro Colors

The colors in this scarf are so happy! So many things these days are drab, but this sure isn't. Nuno felting the cotton took about a hundred eleventeen hours. I didn't think the wool would ever migrate through. The bamboo and firestar didn't help speed things up. I'm quite pleased with the end result.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/84384261/retro-colors-floral-turquoise-red-brown

Floral Print Scarf Project in 1950's Colors

I've been cutting individual elements of a print out of a thin cotton fabric and laying them on wool roving. The fabric was a blouse in what look to me like 1950's color combinations. It must be the turquoise background that reminds me of my grandmother! It needs a bit more wool between the flowers and leaves and will be ready to felt.

Nuno Felted Ombre Burnout Silk

These need to be rephotographed because the ombre silk is washed out in the bright sunlight. However, this is made from upcycled burnout ombre silk and black merino wool. The edges are slightly ruffled.

Red Clutch

I made this bag as a tote big enough for paperwork, but it wasn't talking to me. After removing the handles and folding over the top edge to reveal the bright red interior it looks a lot better. The cuts in the wool closed up quite a bit as the wool shrank.

Samuel Chase Chapter, DAR

On Friday I had the privilege of speaking at the regular meeting of the Samuel Chase Chapter of the DAR. My mom is a member of that chapter, so they introduced me as both a daughter and a Daughter with a capital D. The photos are on my mom's camera, so they aren't posted here.