The lower part of the brim is covered in wool tops to represent the sea and the rest of the brim is covered in texture paste and shells.  Once it was dried I sprayed it with yellow ink to represent sand. 

 The crown is surrounded by beach huts made of paper and painted.  The top is painted green and topping it all is a lighthouse.

I have been decorating a summer hat for a display at our art group.  We were asked to decorate a summer hat and or thongs (flip flops) for our annual display. 

It has been a slow process but I am pleased with the results. 

Beautiful gifts from dear friends.

 Today I received a parcel in the post from my friend Linda.  I have never had hand knitted socks before and these are gorgeous,  warm and comfortable.   Linda and I have been friends for several years although we have only spent time together on two occasions.  Our love of textiles, photography and the countryside underpins our friendship and I will treasure these socks. 

Yesterday I also received a gift from a friend.  Norma and her husband John are preparing to move home and when we caught up on Sunday Norma mentioned that there were a few things that she had put aside for me - would I like to pick them up before they move?    There were threads and needle and scissors and a very old book.  The book had been passed down to Norma from her mother and is very old. 

I am looking forward to reading this book and it will be passed down to someone who will appreciate and love it.

Do you have any old needlework books that you treasure?

colours of the reef

Last year I made several pieces of felt and they are just taking up space in my workroom so I have decided to make of bag out of this 

piece.  I had some matching fabric which was ideal for the lining so I have added some thin pellon and machine quilted it.  It is to be a simple bag with a fold-over flap so I hope to finish it tomorrow.  Unless of course I decide it needs a little bling to brighten it up.  The felt it made of merino wool and silk and the depth of the colour reminds me of the water in the great barrier reef.

 I have been looking through some of the things I have made in the past few years.  It is really amazing to consider how much time I have spent and how many techniques I have tried.
 

 The blanket was one I made just for the practice:  the background is wool and the embroidery is silk ribbon and stranded cotton.  The design is my own.


The piece on the right is the detail of a cushion.  The pleated ribbon flowers are made from gathered mokuba ribbon.  the roses are worked in silk ribbon.

The two pieces of silk are some that my husband gave me recently.  They are "pocket handkerchiefs" which came with ties.  I am not sure how to use them but I am thinking of a book cover for him.  The brown piece was part of a gift from his long departed grandmother.  I would like to make something that he can use.

Winter warmers

This week I have managed to find some creative time.  I have taken pics of some of the felting process.  I hope they are clear enough.  The first shows the wool fibres laid on bubble wrap and damped with soapy water.

 The colour here looks pink because I use red net over the fibres when I am damping it down.  I use this particular piece of net from the stash because it is firm and open enough to work with.
Once the piece is damp enough I turn it over and add some more water on the other side.  Then remove the net.  The next part requires a bit of an effort, covering the piece with a sheet of plastic and rub it hard all over and then turning it over and repeating the hard work.  

I folded the bubble wrap in to tidy up the edges a bit and then rolled it up tightly squeezing out excess water.
 Rolling it back and forth a bit to continue the felting.

I then carefully unroll this parcel and roll it longways and twisting as I go as the parcel is very skinny. Again I squeeze out any excess water.
After that I put it into hot water and rinse it and then rinse it again until the water runs clear, then into the clothes dryer to finish it off.

This is the felt so far.  Some of the fibres and yarns I used were not wool and didn't "take" but so far so good.  I will add some embellishment to this with my machine.

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In the meantime I have made a scarf using the embellishing machine today.  This is the first serious effort I have made with the new machine and I did enjoy it.

I used several balls of yarn, feeding them into the machine simultaneously.  The threads meshed  together quite well and when I was happy with the effect I added the piece of pink poly/silk to the back and used the machine to fuse the layers together.  This gave a bit more stability to the whole thing and looks really good.

The weather here is so cold another scarf is welcome.  I will wear it when we go out to visit friends tomorrow.

Yarns

This week I have spent quite a lot of time out and about running errands and going to work: this presented me with a chance to check out some different op shops.  I have managed to collect quite a lot of yarn to make some scarves.

I will do some wet felting first so I have been referring to this gorgeous book Creative Felting by Lizzie Houghton.  It has so many luscious images to inspire.

This book is very informative with clear illustrated instructions and some beautiful examples to encourage experimentation.

I doubt if I will find time in the next day or so but it is something to dream about.  

Once the felting is done I think I shall use my embellishing machine to add some extra interest.  

PRETTY PINCUSHION

 

Last night I added a magnetic clip to the inside of my needlebook, but of course I had to put it on the outside of the lining as I had been silly enough to finish off the construction already.  I decided to cover the little magnets with a pretty lace motif which I had in the stash.  The pink was just the right shade so I felt quite pleased with the result.  

The wool I used to line the needlebook was so pretty and I had a small amount left so I decided I "needed" another pin cushion.  Goodness knows how many I need but I do love making them so that was my goal for the evening as we watched an old episode of A Touch of Frost.   I had another of the little lace motifs and added a few french knots and embroidered flowers: blanket stitch and some polyester filling and you can see the result is quite sweet.  Now I wonder, do I need another scissor fob?  Not that I ever use them: they hang from door knobs in my sewing room and occasionally one goes to a friend for a gift.