Felt Jacket

Ahh, I am sighing in relief. Another project finished. I am embarrassed to admit it took me about half an hour. I started the jacket in a Body Wrap workshop with Catherine O'Leary at last years Fibre Forum at Ballarat. I had taken a large amount of supplies with me and then saw the wool pre-felt and matching silk already dyed that beautiful blue/green and the plans I had went out the window, the colours were calling me, and I had to have it.
Before felting the greens were the dominant colour. With all the rolling washing etc the blues became the dominant colour. I also bought the buttons there. About the only thing I did use that I already had were some of the fabrics for the leaves, the white wool and the silk ribbon.
The photo below is of the detail on the front.

I took off a big wooden button that was on the front. Bigger than those you can see on the sides. I had thought that I was so careful in the placement but when I put it on it looked like a big wooden nipple and that would never do.
I replaced it with a large press stud and it holds the front closed nicely. The next photo is of the back. I added the colored pieces of fabric to the top of the wool, I wanted the jacket to look like a forest.
The last photo is of the neck on the back. I stitched and tucked the chiffon around pieces of the leaf fabric and then stitched on the silk ribbon. The green leaf was added after all the felting was done. There are more on the front but they don't show up well in the photos.





I still have lots of projects underway, time to finish another.

A new day in a new year

Well here we are 2010. I spent last night in a strange way, a different way I realized about 00.30 hours during an ad break while I was watching the end of Lord of The Rings. Doing something I have never done before.
I spent the whole night alone in my house. I have never done that before. In fact I have never spent a whole night alone anywhere that I can remember. Here I am 47 nearly 48 years old and I have finally done it. I went straight from home to marriage and as the last of our chicks only flew the nest 12 months ago it was something I have never had the opportunity to do.
We rarely go anywhere on New Years Eve unless we can walk. Daughter and SIL went to a party and we are the designated baby-sitters on NYE. So Husband decided that the two whirlwinds could sleep in their own beds and Darling daughter said she'd get a cab home and we would come home then. I however have a dicky ankle and I ended up going to the doctor yesterday to get it checked as it was bruised and sore.
The heat and having a dicky ankle was the prognosis so Greg said he would babysit alone and I stayed at home to rest said Dicky ankle. I didn't really expect him home and he didn't think he would be home early either.
I did spend my NYE laying out a scarf for felting which would make it a work in progress as I didn't finish it last year. I finished it this year. I am stretching things I know but it puts me off to a great start for the finishing things challenge for 2010.
The first photo is the scarf without wool.
Second photo is with a very thin layer of white wool tops and then a roving blend I had in the stash, it is wool, alpaca and silk combined. I spread it out as you do for cobweb felt so two fine layers at right angles over the silk scarf I got from Unique Stitching. The white roving came from The Thread Studio and the blend came from I don't know where but I think I picked it up at the Spinners and Weavers Guild Shop in Adelaide.
Other photos are of the finished piece and the wools used and the detail of the scarf looking at the fabric side and then at the wool side. I deliberately left about an inch free of wool at the edge so the sides of the scarf were visible. Yay for me a project finished. Now I have to finish something I have already started.

Day 2 - Adventures with Stuff

It is cooler here today, the temperature has dropped from around 40 degrees at 3 pm to around 27 now. I am sitting in just the right spot to catch a lovely breeze. This time last night It was still 36 degrees.

I have painted another piece of lutrador as I didn't make the other piece big enough I had a jar of copper paint that I used with the gold.

Greg the Long Suffering has just come in from the shed where the love of my life has fossicked around and found me some excellently rusted nails. Next I am going to ask him to find me some rusty wire but I don't want to push my luck too far today.

The felt dyed really well and the mulberry bark as well. I found a sculpy initial I made for a necklace which was way to big. The colour fits in with my colour scheme. I still have to do something with the purple tyvek but I am not sure what. I also found some dyed cheesecloth (scrim) that fits in with the colours. The abaca tissue has been returned to the stash as an orphan it wasn't quite right.

Working out how to add photos, has proved another adventure. Firstly I have a new camera bought from Ebay and the instructions are all in french, then there is the added lack of photographic talent. So the first photos are not worth putting up here.
Just as I was about to take more photos SIL rang to say he'd cut himself so we raced up the street and there he was bleeding from a fairly major cut on his foot. Ironing boards are dangerous. He was using it too stop the No 2 GD from getting out of the lounge and it was on its side and he managed to cut himself while stepping over it.
Luckily his Mum was on the spot so Greg and I stayed with the granddaughters and She took him to hospital, they patched him and said too come back tomorrow. So now the photos will have to wait until tomorrow as well. I am going to download the english version of the manual and print it off. Of course I am running out of ink so that will go on the list of To-Do's for tomorrow.