New Eye Candy

This beautiful wrap is by Zedster who generously includes tutorials on her blog.


Photos are small but follow the link.



This is work by Aileen Clarke


I've joined a few flickr groups lately and have found these two interesting people you might like to visit. I know this bead is felt but it reminds me of lollies!

Show Ready

Getting ready to send stock away with Rae. She is on her way to Rockhampton leaving Sunday. My house looks like a bomb of textiles has gone off. I have batts, laps, wool, silk, beads, yarns......Drying on anything that stays still long enough to be a clothes horse. It was dark yesterday that none of my photos of scarves came out. So, it's outside soon to try again. Bri liked my flower, and I loved the scarf made from Pilgram, The circes are old blanketing.
This is a scarf made from Persian carpet.

Grey days in Melbourne

Belle pretending to eat the wrap that I was heating in the microwave. After a while of felting or rolling, it gets cold pretty quick so I shove it into the microwave. It's probably more tasty than what I could cook! Rae is taking photos of it for me now it's finished. The wrap, not the microwave....




It's been grey and overcast the last few days, and I miss the sunlight. So it was back to the dyeing shed to dye the colours of a Melbourne winter. It's called Pilgram by Madelen who is pretty pleased she came up with the name.
I usually don't go for blogs that are all of people's pets, but I really had to include a pic of Bella's bunny Uki.

Felt samples in red

I love red. It's true..... so given a minute to play with stuff, it will be in red. The only problem at the moment is time is soooo short, I can only add to my stash of samples. I am dyeing (sorry for the pun) to make a poncho or wrap to wear but until I can get organized this is the best I can do. I tried Dale's idea of dry felting she learnt in a recent workshop (sorry, don't remember who with) but found it weird. So I added water.

Rolled Felt Beads

So, select your merino/ wool roving you want for the centre. The thicker the 'rope' the thicker the centre. I've chosen 'Kiss Me' red.


Sort your work space. I have bubble wrap to work on, bubble side up. A bowl of warm water with a bar of soap in it.


The 'rope' of merino is already in a sausage shape so all I do is briefly get it wet and lift onto the bubble wrap where I gently, without pressing, roll it backwards and forwards. This compresses the felt and pushes the air out. It's just like rolling pastry, just lighter. If you press it, you can't roll it.
You will see it begins to compress into a more solid roll.
Lay it onto a bed of merino in another colour. Again, the thickness of the next colour is determined by how much merino there is.

Roll it up in this white layer, as tightly as you can but don't fret. As long as the merino is even, pleats and creases generally felt out. It can be fiddly, you'll get better at it.

Check for thin areas which you can see at the right, patch by applying more white. Roll some more till slightly firmer.
Next colour- grey.

This time I just roll and roll, backwards and forwards, feeling it firm up. ( Sorry about the language)
I put it in warm water to help the felting process along. You can roll it in your hands or onto bubble wrap.

Getting smaller, it's supposed to.

You are aiming for it to be completely firm, it won't be rigid, it's fibre after all.
Mine needed more felting so into a sink of very hot water, then into cold, then into hot.....
When it keeps it's shape, slice how you like with a very sharp blade or knife.





Sometimes, you have to kick your own butt into gear. I needed to make or do something but with limited time, so a roll of felt to cut into beads for a bracelet and earrings. Have a go too, very satisfying and something to add to the stash. The ends of the rolls cut into eyes for Kookie Kritters.

Another Piece On The Go

Hand dyed woolen blanket, silk sequined fabric, silk chiffon, silk/ rayon velvet and silk dupion, hand dyed of course.
Waiting for stitch, or applique, or stamping or.......
Looks like brains.....

I think I used the colourway Rivendell for the felt part.
Too tired last night to put these photos up. These two pieces are the front and back of a book. People may recognize it from a sample begun in Orange. It worked great but I'm a lover of useful things and felt that a book cover or bag was a way of seeing it more often. Students also might remember me stressing the importance of rolling felt with velvet in it gently, really gently. Once my velvet caught, I popped the felt into the non slip matting recommended by Maris and it felted in a shot.
The piece was photographed on book pages from Shaun Tan's book The Red Tree. He is my favorite illustrator and I find infinite inspiration from the pages of his books. The colours, characters and techniques are amazing.

Work in Progress.

Stitching a silk edge on. I'll trim the excess off and leave it to fray.


I collect oyster shell buttons. About time I used some.

Pieces of hand dyed crochet doily chopped and couched down.


It's lovely to stitch through.


Thought I should put up some photos of works in progress. The grey cuff has been on the go for a year. I was trying to felt a bracelet but made it too large. So, it hung around for ages, going to be a felt book. But then, I relised it had a second life as a base for stitching and embellishment. The colours I have used are all Stonehaven. Which reminds me, in the mail today came Ironbark, Warrandyte and Middle Earth. New Rayon machine embroidery threads from The Thread Studio. Sorry no pics yet but hopefully.....

The Elephant

I've been enjoying a new blog I have found lately and had to share this image with you. When I teach I often say to students not to try and eat the whole elephant. Meaning of course, just solve the problem or challenge in front of you, don't anticipate because it will stifle your creativity. I LOVE this elephant and encourage you to have a look at this blog.

Finally I have remembered to put up a few images kindly sent to me by Jenny Riley who organized my workshop in Kingston Tasmania a few months ago. Thank you to all, honestly, you blew me away!







Another interesting 'look at' is a book on cd written by Maris Herr called Truly Simple Garments. It is amazing. I failed and failed dressmaking at school to my constant frustration. I would have loved to pursue wearable art years ago but I just couldn't get my head around construction and fitting. Until now. I think Maris had me in mind when she wrote this. The cd's are fantastic value, 64 pages long with oodles of diagrams with fabric being fitted to an artist's dummy so you are left in no doubt about what goes where. Contact Maris at www.textilesanyone.com.au She is also responsible for the Textile info directory that tells you where to get what- all things textile. I'm off to create!