From homemade bread to handmade creations

We started our day with yummy homemade bread and delicious soup from our hostess Laine before getting stuck in to some great felt creations. There were some new members to the crafty circle today who hadn't tried needle felting before and it wasn't long before they were getting the knack. Laine started with an abstract piece, regaling the stories of her ten year old beads she was sewing onto it...now they have a new lease of life. 

It wasn't until the end when the needles started breaking! I was impressed that there wasn't much finger stabbing happening, hmmm, I make needle felting sound like an extreme sport... but with lots of cups of tea of course. The felt balls are a necklace work in progress that Alessandra will be finishing the next time round, as she was layering different colours around the balls to wet felt them again.

This picture is before the finished felt brooch is put together. They were completed in time to wear out the door. How good is that? 

Wet felting - an introduction

We combined needle and wet felting today and started making felt beads or balls which ever way you want to call them! Lots of elbow greece needed to felt a piece of sheep fleece into a nice round shape. Soap and hot water too of course.

You can felt a piece of fleece into a ball without needle felting, but for a nice even shape with no lumpy bits we needle felted them first into rough ball shapes before plunging them into hot water.

We welcomed Varignia to the group of makers - she is a very talented crafter herself and uses recycled materials in her own creations. 

Ah...another member of the group, Simon, all tangled up...

And the transformation of all those felted balls into a stunning necklace. This is Clare's masterpiece.