I find that my enthusiasm for felting is never constant. Once I get into it I love and will felt for days on end, turning out new things and trying new techniques, but then eventually my enthusiasm ebbs away and I find myself re-discovering knitting or some other fibre based craft. When I got my drum carded I was banned from felting in the house, due to bits of wool top ending up everywhere, so I set up a studio in the garage, and felted like I have never felted before. It was great to have a space that I didn't need to clear at the end of the night so the family can eat breakfast at the table in the morning. Unfortunately the garage started to fill up with stuff, as garages do and the felting dried up. Well, last Friday I went on a workshop to learn how to make felt hats. I will write a post about the workshop soon, when I can get a photograph of me wearing my hat that I actually like. At the workshop there was some examples of felted garments which got me all inspired, so I have cleared a space in the garage and begun felting once again. Here are some of the results...
The waistcoat is made of alpaca felted onto cotton muslin, with sections of tussah silk on top and a lace trim felted on the bottom. The alpaca was placed randomly on the cotton giving gaps in some areas (not intentional, but I like the finished result). I originally felted this as a tube, but it ended up far too small, so I cut it open then felted a strip of white merino wool on to some lace which I sewed on to create the front panel. I then cut the arm holes. Once I was happy with the waistcoat I dyed it with some acid dye. The wool dyed beautifully, but of course the cotton and lace stayed white so I dyed these orange with some procion dye. I finished the waistcoat off with a large wooden button. I am quite pleased with the result, considering I wasn't really sure what I was doing when I embarked upon the project. I'm just not sure when I will get to wear it. The best thing is it's got me thinking and my head is full of ideas to try out.
These cuffs where developed as a result of the waistcoat, I'm selling them on ebay at the moment- vintage cuffs . I have been busy today playing around with ideas for more cuffs and vintage style scarves. Don't you just love it when you have more ideas than time!!!
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