Another creative adventure: the felting workshop I attended 19 Jan 2006 at a local wool crafter's house. She raises her own sheep and dyes their wool into luscious colors. It was a fun gathering of seven women, the other students already active in various fiber crafts, I gathered. The teacher provided munchies and dessert, too, adding to the "party night" feeling.
Felt is easily made by layering combed and carded wool, applying hot water and a little detergent, then encouraging the wool fibers to bond with each other by pressing and rubbing. This process is known as wet felting. Decorative elements and straps are created and applied by dry felting, using special needles to bond the wool fibers by pressing them together.
I made two small pouches (about 6 inches square) at the workshop -
and added a few holes in my fingers from the needles, which are very sharp and
a bit jagged! I named the pouch
in the first photo "BeachBag", for reasons that are hopefully
obvious. The
subtle background
color is from dyed wool placed between two layers of white wool during
wet
felting, while the other elements and strap were applied with dry
felting. I left the back plain and later added a closure with cute
seagull buttons before giving it to a young friend who loves the
seashore.
