I was able to get started on making more pins. I’m still trying to learn how to operate my mom’s sewing machine. I swear it’s harder to learn than a new computer. These are hand dyed felt and hand dyed velvet with machine stitching and some hand embroidery.
I’m still using up the felt I previously dyed. I have two more to stitch up, then I’ll get to dye more felt in different colors. Yeah!!
Yeah, I finished this sweater. It’s made out of recycled silk sari fabric that I got from Darn Good Yarn. Nicole, the president of the company designed the pattern.
Here’s the front. The bottom of the sweater is open and the sleeves are 3/4 length.
This is the back. The sweater is knitted from the bottom back up and over the shoulders to the front panels all in one piece. The slubs in the ribbon are part of the charm of the ribbon.
Pin or brooch? Not sure which. I do know it’s made out of hand dyed wool felt and hand dyed rayon velvet. I made it to match a top that I bought that was too small so I cut it up and added wedges of sweater fabric into it. The top is black velour and I added striped wedges of pinks, black and gray strips of sweater fabric. I think the pin goes well with the top.
I’m trying to come up with some new ideas for wearable art. I tried the nuno felting and that wasn’t really my cup of tea. I love the look so I decided to explore making smaller things with felt. I first purchase some wool felt and dyed it using regular food coloring and vinegar. It’s just like using acid dyes but without the chemicals and the food coloring is permanent after steaming the felt. Here’s a the piece I did first to try out the technique:
I really didn’t want the whole thing green but I made a mistake by mixing the food coloring up too much. It still turned out a nice vibrant green.
I made this pin out of the felt. I added more color with fabric felt pens and a piece of ribbon was cut to add an accent to the piece. I haven’t sewed in forever and my mom’s sewing machine is one of those electronic ones. I had no idea what I was doing even though my mom saying it’s so easy.
This is the back. I used a piece of fabric on the back as I had threads all over the place, it was really ugly. Then I sewed the pin back on.
My experiments with dyeing felt is in the works. I did these two pieces last night:
I really like the way the piece on the left turned out. The pink one on the right turned out too much the same pink. I later found out that red/pinks need less vinegar. And when I took it out, I wasn’t careful about the way I squeezed the water out so the dye got all over the piece. Still, it’s a nice pink with purple accents and I can still use it for something.
Mewkittie Creations 