Sunday 29 May 2011

hand felted heart cushion cover



It all starts with the wool tops.....
.........which get teased out to little wisps of fibres and layed out in 4 alternate layers on top of curtain netting and bubble wrap.
With another bit of curtain netting over the top the wool fibres then get soaked with soap and water and patted down 
I had partly felted some red wool tops and cut them into heart shapes. They were placed on top of the cream wool once it had been patted down with soap and water and then rubbed with a small piece of netting to get the fibres bonded.
Once all the fibres stick together the wool is wrapped up in between bubble wrap, then wrapped around a bit of foam that you would normally use to keep your pipes warm.
That wool sausage is then rolled up in a towel and rolled back and forward at least 30 times, then rotated 90 degrees and rolled some more....over and over again and eventually it starts to shrink and felt.
Its then plunged into hot then cold water a good few times and all the soap rinsed out......
.......then then hung out to dry.
Meanwhile I had made a plain square for the back too. Once I had ironed the wrinkles out, the two squares were trimmed to size.
I then stitched the two pieces together using blanket stitch and put in the cushion pad.......
........ta da, finished! 

Monday 23 May 2011

knitting needle holder

My only rule for making the needle holder was that I wasn't allowed to buy anything new to make it with. I've got so many bits and pieces of things in the house that need used up for something so I decided to try and use them up.
1. screen printed fabric - mostly from my practise shots when making the blind and also a bird design that I experimented with.
2. ribbon from the market, bought for no particular reason other than the it was a stall full of just ribbons and they all looked good together so I decided I needed to have my own selection.
3. Thread from thread drawer
4. Chunky wool left over from jumper.
My rough plan
Add caption
I used some of the ribbon to make a border from the printed design

I used a contrasting colour of thread in zig zag stitch to attach the printed fabric onto the base fabric
This bit took ages - pining where the stitch lines would go to make pockets for all the different sizes of needles
I then made a second layer with pockets for smaller needles 
Inside finished - and stocked up
Outside finished - pleated wool ties to keep it closed 

block printed napkins

This is the first project I've completed using the new wooden stamps I bought as part of a block printing kit.   The fabric I used was left over blue linen from another project. 
I hadn't ever used this type of printing before so had to do a bit of experimenting first.
breaking the stamps in

experimenting on different surfaces

this is some scrap silk

and another type of linen, but the prints didn't come out as clear on the surface


this was my colour palette for the napkins
A bit time consuming but I got there eventually, a good few hours later. 

this is the fabric once printing stage is complete

I then just finished off the edges by folding them in twice and stitching it down on the machine.  Don't think just four will be enough though.......

Monday 16 May 2011

south africa inspiration

I got back from my holiday in South Africa last week. As well as having an amazing time seeing all the sights around cape town and Kosi bay on the north east coast to safari at Ngala and Sabi sands, I also got so much inspiration from all the fantastic artists and designers in cape town. 
Here are some of my favourite photos....

This little cafe come shop in Simons town used squares of printed fabric to cover the wall.

I think these buttons on string are a great camouflage for hiding odd and ends in this shelving unit.   



my favourite.....bird silhouettes 





I love this idea of turning an old suitcase into chair

This shop next to the old biscuit mill specialised in recycling old things into interesting bit of furniture


Its funny where you start to spot pattern and colour when your looking for it....



mmmmm....delicious!

fruit four ways made by Luan and Atlantic Suites











I love these tea cup designs for cushions covers by mingo lamberti. My pictures don't do them justice so check out the website
http://www.mingolamberti.com/#i/designs



When I visited one of the cute little boutique shops in cape town I found this designer who loves to print, just like me!  Her blog is http://jezzeblog.blogspot.com/ and etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/jezzeprints?utm_source=CraftCult&utm_medium=api&utm_campaign=api