Felting Crewel Threads WOYWW 369

A few weeks ago my friend Pat from Spellbound Beads came to CRUNCH and brought a bag of woollen skeins which she had been given. Some of the ladies took some which left me with a puzzle of what to do with the rest. They are wool so they will felt methinks and this could use up some of the 'short' skeins. So today I am finishing off some of my test pieces to show at lunchtime. Here I have stitched using large stitches into cotton fabric, aida and scrim with most of the stitch (mainly chain) on one side of the fabric and then cut around close to the stitches and felted it.

I love the scrim version because the loose weave of the scrim combines with the wool fibres in an uncontrolled way giving a white 'vein' in the felting and also this may technique I can use with folk who are unable to use fine needles over at Marie Curie. The pink flower is the  done on cotton - I have shown the back of a petal.

Last week some commented on my thread organisers - I do not keep mine in number order because they have no numbers since nearly all the threads are dyed by me over many years. I love the subtle variations in shades you can get on one skein this way.

For those unfamiliar with Wednesday desk-hopping check out this link - you may like to join in.

Jackie

Pin Weaving WOYWW 368

It's CRUNCH at lunchtime today so I am preparing something to take along and show. I saw dolls made from pin weaving on Pinterest (here) and thought they were a good way to use up more bits and bobs. These I have made smaller so that they can be made into brooches and all you need is a piece of card and some pins with some sort of foam board underneath. A pipe cleaner is used for the head and arms and beads for the legs.The one on the board at the moment will use the face from my daughters old ring. Some of the fancy yarns in the bag I'm sure date back to the 1980s.

I missed last week because I was at Ascot - it was forecast a wet day so the hat I'd done never got there because I changed my whole outfit (cream not good in mud), and at the end of the day although we only had a couple of showers we had to have our coach pulled out of the mud by a tractor. The only alcoholic drink you are allowed to take is sparkling wine/champagne so I came away with a lot of corks and some cork cages.

So here's a place setting I knocked up for when the Queen comes for dinner.

Have a good WOYWW - if you would like to check to see what other deskers are doing follow the link here

Jackie

Hat for Ascot - WOYWW 366

Had a wasted week due to illness but getting back to doing a bit more now. This morning I am titivating an old hat ready for Ascot Races next Wednesday (hope the weather is as nice as it is now). I have already altered the shape of the top of the hat by putting a 'dent' in it because it was too tall by dampening it then resting a weight in it overnight and then pushing back a bump for the top of my head. I have dug out all my old lacy bits and made a couple of flowers and just made a band out of some fabric scrap which I know will go with my jacket. The lace I have draped over the brim is a shaped piece of vintage handmade lace which has been waiting for a project. It is too good to just use on the hat so has been lightly tacked in place so I can remove it afterwards. Let's hope it doesn't rain.

A few weeks ago I mentioned a friend had given me another challenge - this time it was to use up some empty wire spools. Here is the result - I painted the tops of the spool with acrylic paint and then screwed them onto a backing board and voilà a hanger for all my necklaces - guess who wears a lot of orange. Off for a drink - can't face coffee at the moment -and to do some desk-hopping now. 

Jackie