Wool RSS

I love working with wool roving.  I do add that to work that I have done but not often because you have to FELT it into the base fabric using a felting pen.  That's a barbed tool usually having 3 barbed needles or more.  Clover makes and sells this product.  It is great for using when you want to "paint" on the wool since roving comes in all kinds of colors.  When I do the felting on wool you are so right, it can make it unstable.  I honestly don't remember what the heck I did when I was doing...

Just recently put together a needle felting project using hand overdyed wool as a base/background and Tussah silk as the fibers that are felted into the project.  Felting is a lot like painting, only using fibers.  It can create some absolutely wonderful artwork!  I will be teaching this workshop in Alaska when I go up.  I decided that I would include a freezer paper stencil in the pattern because it will make it easier for someone to duplicate this.   It's difficult for some people to look at a photo and then re-create it when there is no way to transfer...

It is here!Free block of the month.  Here is how it works: Each month, on the first, I will post a new block.  You have that month to download the block free.  On the last day of the month that block will be removed and a new block will replace it.  If you miss downloading one of the blocks they will be available at the end of the program so you can purchase whatever you missed out on.   Here is the first block - "Wonky".  All the designs are whimsical, contemporary images. I can envision this as a border going all of the way...

I just was asked a question about how to finish off the project after you are done sewing all of the lovely pieces of wool to the background.  Do you put batting in?  Do you fuse it?  Do you back it?   Here's what I do (not that it is written in stone).  All of the above... but not necessarily all together! If I am creating a small 6" x 10" hanging that I plan on dangling from one of those adorable Ackfeld Wire hangers I take some flannel or homespun and fuse it to the back of my project....

Brenda Jeschke is my hero!!  I've been learning to digitize and she has helped me TREMENDOUSLY! She is so knowledgeable about machine embroidery and has helped me avoid so many errors and problems in the new designs I am creating. Here's why I decided to learn digitizing... So many of us just want to do the fun embellishing part of wool.  Well, that's not entirely true.  I like to do the work by hand as well... but sometimes I just want to get started adding beads, different threads, and ribbons.  Not to mention that I have this beautiful machine that...