Tuesday 17 July 2012

A tip..and a trip.

When I make a piece of felt I want to stitch on, I am always dubious about starting something in case it goes wrong. I do a bit that I really like...like this leaf. I love it.



Then this seaweedy looking leaf pleased me

 but then I went a bit mad and overdid it. Not so sure I like the black stitching. I showed it to my husband and said 'I like that bit and I like that bit but...' and he said 'Well I like it all'.
 Maybe. 
I particularly like this edge.

 Here's the whole piece so far. I will add hand stitches and see what happens.
 I have another 5 pieces which I cut from the same piece of felt. I didn't want to mess them up 

 so here's what I did. I thought I'd share. 

You need some plastic pockets
 and a permanent all surface marker.


Just slip the felt into the plastic pocket and try a few designs.

 You can see what works with the shapes available.

 These two are different versions of the same piece.




I wish I'd thought of doing this before with these pieces. I abandoned the whole idea with one stitched and one not. Now I can play about with ideas on the non stitched one.


I'm a bit stuck with the same colour schemes but I think the grey and green are very appropriate to go with the record breaking wet weather we've had.
You know its a bad summer when the fact that the weather forecast might improve is a major news item! 
Still, you can't let it ruin your life . On Saturday I felt the need for a change of scene so went went off for a few hours to Glasson Dock. 
Its a sort of canal-cum-River basin  near to Lancaster and we used to go there sometimes as children when there was a lot more going on than there is now. 


 However we enjoyed a stroll along the mooring path looking at the boats. This one was in need of some TLC. 
We walked along the towpath for a while, please note that weed across the other side. 

There was a patch of it in another place where I had let Hetty off the lead. 
She looked at it and decided it was solid, so leapt off the path and disappeared with a loud plop under the water and the weed. 
She surfaced and began to swim away from us. We called, she swam back towards us and my husband leaned over and dragged her out, all covered in green slime which she shook all over us. 
What a shock.
 We passed this lovely church ..imagine coming out on a Sunday onto such a lovely canal bank.

Lovely weeds too!

 Look at this massive brood of 9 cygnets..we were being eyed very carefully by the mum and dad..cob and pen?
Add to this a deeeelicious Cartmel sticky toffee pudding ice cream and a rest on a seat overlooking the Lune estuary ...a perfect afternoon out.

44 comments:

Rachel said...

Love the idea for trying out designs - that would be really helpful!

And I like all that you've done on that first piece of felt, too!

chocolatefrog said...

Great idea with the plastic - especially if the pen was removable so you could reuse it. I take a photo and work on it on the PC or on a print. The first stitched felt is gorgeous though, can't see why you weren't sure about it!

textile-alchemist said...

I love the way your felt pieces echo your photos and the shapes within.

textile-alchemist said...

I love the way your felt pieces echo your photos and the shapes within.

Jeanette, Mistress of Longears said...

Your felt is turning out so nicely - and you have hit on such a clever way to preview the stitching! As for poor Hetty, weeds may never look quite the same!

Heather said...

That's a great tip - thankyou for sharing it. I love all your designs and felts, especially the purply stitched one.
Glasson Dock looks such a lovely place - glad you were able to rescue Hetty. Our daughter's dog tried the same thing in our pond.

Mrs A. said...

I love the piece that you have done and the idea of putting into a bag to try different patterns is absolutely brilliant. Hugs Mrs A.

Magic Bean said...

Those colours are so seaweedy. Gorgeous rockpoolness and I can almost smell the sea.
Poor Hetty. Naughty pooch to scare you like that.
Ax

Erica said...

I just love the piece you are doubtful about. I was tempted to reach out and stroke it on the computer screen. It invites one into it - if you know what I mean! Your idea for test driving your ideas - so clever. Thank you too for the photos of your visit to Glasson Dock. It looks like one of those peaceful, soul restoring places. Hetty obviously enjoyed it. You must have thought you were going to have to jump in the canal to fish her out for a while. An alarming prospect...

Anonymous said...

What a good idea with the plastic sleeves - I once tried out a design in the same way using greaseproof paper but it wasn't terribly successful (too opaque!).

I really like the piece that you're not sure off. Perhaps you've been looking at it too long?

Terri said...

What a lovely little adventure. Thanks for showing the pictures.
Hugs

ferinn said...

The colours in your piece are so lovely.What a good way too, to play without committing yourself,

Judys Lace Creations said...

I'm very partial to felt- such a friendly material.Love the idea of putting the piece in a plastic sleeve to try out designs. Sorry about the gloomy weather.
my hands won't let me felt so I use wool roving and needle felt machine to get my colourful pieces.haven't done any for ages.It's Winter here, so good time to play with felt.

Penny said...

Such a lovely post, some lovely photos of your afternoon walk and some new ideas to think about, thank you.

Judys Lace Creations said...

Thanks for your kind comment on my dolls Jackie.
Judy

Pam said...

So beautiful as usual Jackie. Definitely up to your normal standard, and the colours are some of my favs. You know, I think the black stitch helps to define the shapes and I like it a lot. and the plastic pocket is a very clever idea indeed. I've been playing around with free stitching this past week and I find it so much fun to do!
Looks like you're having similar weather as ours at the mo, though I'd guess you have a lot more wet stuff. :)
Certainly did sound like a fabulous day out. Wish we had places like those over here to see on our walks. Such lovely scenery.
Take care. ♥

Pam said...

p.s. Have been looking back on posts I've missed and just discovered the sets of four oddments in your etsy store that I've missed out on!!! All really lovely. Bummer!! Oh well that's what I get for not being around a lot. x

arlee said...

YOu is AWESOME :0 ♥

Anonymous said...

love love your stitching - edges, middles, and back-stitchings... and the preview method is very clever.

caprejan said...

Such lovely work, the ideas of trying out the design first is such good idea and stops the mind wondering if you're like me!!
Wish the grass was as green here!!!

sharon young said...

Beautiful colours and such a usefulr tip, thank you. Your pics of your day out were lovely, thank you for sharing them.

Amanda said...

Lovely felt pieces! I've use whiteboard markers and plastic sleeves for years. Thicker florists cellophane on a roll is handy for larger projects too. Just put some masking tape over the edges so you don't miss and draw on your project!!

Nice afternoon shared too, thank you.

Gina said...

Great tip... and they look great Jackie. Love the stitching on that green/grey sample.

Twiglet said...

Thanks for the tip - I wish I had done that before tackling my big picture!!! (See today's blog) I love the seaweedy colours you have used. x Jo

Anonymous said...

I like it a lot and I love the colour scheme you are working with :) Your stitching on felt is so inspiring.

Rustic Vintage Country said...

Stunning work and such a brilliant idea with the plastic! Hi from your new follower. x

Wendy said...

Your work is incredibly beautiful. This is such a great tip, i so want to have a go at working with some handmade felt, but this kind of venture scares me. It's "art". I'm a "craft" kind of girl who aspires to be an artist!

Maggi said...

I like the black stitching as well. Great tip about using the plastic folder. I've used acetate for quilting designs but hadn't thought of it for stitching on felt.

naturalfiberandcolor said...

lovely work and photos

Magpie's Mumblings said...

Poor Hetty - to fall in, and then most likely having a bath when she got home! You've had a brilliant brain wave to use the plastic to test out your design first.

Tilly Tea Dance said...

Mum (Twiglet) said I would love your work. Its is fab - i love the colours you have created in your felt. The plastic wallet tip is a good one. Thanks for sharing. M

dottycookie said...

That's a brilliant idea for trying out designs!

FeltersJourney said...

I had to smile reading about Hetty taking a dip! Jesse our (now elderly) cocker did exactly the same thing when she was a youngster.

I love your felt embroideries! And the way that you work your designs out by slipping the felt into polypockets is very clever. I draw designs on polypockets for copying in fibre while I'm wetfelting (got fed up of soggy paper ;)
x

JP said...

what a clever idea Jackie - always knew you were brilliant - poor Hetty - hopefully we are going to get some sunshine soon - enjoy your holiday - we are off to Scotland for the Arts Festival tomorrow - be careful of late buses!!!!

JennyPennyPoppy said...

Your felting and stitching is fabulous and the colours are wonderful. What a super neat idea to draw a design on plastic over top of your piece to see what it would look like!

Emileitha/Tarja said...

Fabulous and clever idea..

5 Ladybird Lane said...

Glasson Dock is a lovely place, especially is you call at Wallings ice cream shop on the way home! Hettys photos could persuade me to get a dog, she is so cute. She has that look "who me, I didn't do it".

Rosie said...

You take such wonderful pictures - I haven't been to Glasson Dock in decades! The plastic pocket is SUCH a clever idea, but then you are aren't you? I just love those colours of felt and its fascinating seeing the felt alone, and then what you did with it.

Leslie said...

Arlee said "you is awesome" well I second that...thanks for sharing a simple but very effective idea with the plastic and felt pen...I liked the picture of the boat needing some TLC...the mind races...

Amy Munson said...

Fantastic tip. I have a few quilts that I have stalled on because I just don't know how to start the embroidered embellishment. Thanks!

Very Berry Handmade said...

Argh! You have me lusting for Cartmel Sticky Toffee pudding. Yum! And yum to your lovely stitching too. I like your plastic sleeve idea, and wonder if I could somehow adapt it for quilting... Definitely something to think about - thanks!

ozgrkdn said...

Hi Jackie,My daughter's blog LookbookUnlimited is began broadcasting...I hope, you do support her:)))Have a nice day:))

Linda Vincent said...

Brilliant idea! I'll definitely try that sometime. Love the piece with purples in especially.
Enjoyed the photos too.....

Unknown said...

I just 'stumbled' into your blog and am AMAZED at your work! I am an art quilter and love all things fiber but your work have inspired me to move into felting. So after spending 2 hours reading thru your blog I then spent another 2 hours looking at demos on You Tube! And it's not like I have nothing else to do :) You should do a book - really!!! I hope you will list somethings onetsy soon as I would be there to purchase!

Thanks-Joyce



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