Jacobean Wool Applique, Lititz Artisans' Porchwalk, Rose Clay, Three Sheep Studio
Use these simple tips and tricks to get you started with the process of wool applique. It is a fun and relaxing art form that you will love!
It's the question I get asked over and over: where can I get wool for my appliqué ? Many people ask me about finding quality supplies for their hand-stitching projects. To help answer those questions, I am starting this blog series, In Search of Supplies. Today I’m covering the search for wool to use in your next applique project, with a focus on new wool. (Look for a post about vintage wool in the future.) In the meantime, I want to take you through the main kinds of wool that I use in my work,
In this lesson you will learn: How to appliqué a curved shape to your background, from beginning to end, using the blanket stitch. I am using a circle and am going to stitch all the way around.
The wool trend just won't quit, and no one knows her wool quite like Rebekah L. Smith, author of Wool Appliqué Folk Art. Today we're sharing her expert tips on how to find and process repurposed wool to use for appliqué and other wool projects. Plus, we're offering a giveaway of Wool Appliqué Folk Art! Scroll to the bottom to enter. Finding Wool In my wool work I use mostly repurposed wool. I obtain it by going to flea markets, thrift stores, auctions, and yard sales and searching for wool that is really no longer wanted in its current condition but can be processed into something useful. I look for wools that are medium weight, which can be dyed or felted to use in appliqué. These are usually in the form of blankets, skirts, jackets, or even old yardage. Keep an eye out for wools that are plain or only slightly patterned. They are the best to use in appliqué. The other thing to watch for is the color. The lighter the color, the better it is for dyeing or overdyeing. When buying wool, avoid wool that is too heavy or too light in weight and wool that is loosely woven, because it will fray. The other option is to buy wool that is already processed from a wool shop or an individual who sells hand-dyed wools. A growing number of sources are available for those of you who would like to start with wool that is ready to go. I recommend Crows on the Ledge and Heavens to Betsy Wool. Processing Wool When I use the term processing, I am referring to the necessary steps to go from woven wool to felted wool that is ready to use. This usually includes felting and dyeing. I would like to say that I start with a sheep and finish with beautiful woven wool, but that is not the case. Felting Felting is the process of getting the wool to be the right texture for an appliqué project. Some wools felt better than others. The wool fibers must bind together. This keeps the edges from fraying and makes the wool very soft and strong. To felt your wool, follow these three simple steps. 1. You need a large cooking pot that you will not use for cooking ever again. I recommend this because the commercial dyes are often acid-based. Put in the wool you want to felt and add water to the pot, covering the wool with at least an inch of water. 2. Bring the water to a boil and let the wool simmer for about 20 minutes. All wool is different, and you will have to see how the differing weaves react when boiled. Let the water cool before removing the wool. 3. Let the wool drip dry. I drape the wool over a clothesline outside in good weather or hang it over my large wash sink in the winter. This is how I do it, but there are no hard-and-fast rules about felting. You can also throw the wool in the washer and dryer. Both the agitation and heat will felt the woven wool. Dyeing I am not a dyeing expert, but I enjoy the process. When I dye wool, I often use natural dyes. If you want to try your hand using commercial dyes, please read and carefully follow the manufacturer’s instructions. I recommend Primary Fusion Spots with Wool Samples: A Guide to Dyeing Spots & Backgrounds Using Only Three Primaries & Black Pro Chemical Dyes by Ingrid Hieronimus and Antique Colors for Primitive Rugs by Emma Lou Lais and Barbara Carroll (2001, W. Cushing and Company). Natural dyeing techniques can be a lot of fun as well. My family appreciates that I do this type of dyeing outdoors because of the smell. I have a three-gallon brass kettle that I use for natural dyes as well as felting, and it works wonderfully. I just play around with whatever I can find in my yard or my friends’ yards and see what I come up with. I’ve used black walnuts, goldenrod, and onionskins. It can be very satisfying to know that you have had more of a hand in your project. Dyeing is certainly not for everyone. I never dreamed that I would take it up, but, well, here we are.Oh, and you can enter the giveaway we mentioned HERE. Happy wool working!Follow my blog with Bloglovin
Wool Pennies And Skeleton Keys, Wool Applique, How To Cut Wool Pennies, Rose Clay, Three Sheep Studio
When it comes to the art of appliqué, beginning with felt is a great way to learn and practice. Appliqué is simply attaching a small piece of fabric to a larger piece of fabric, usually to create a decorative bit of fiber art. Felt is a great fabric for appliqué work because you can cut it however
Have you ever tried to transfer a detailed embroidery pattern to felt? This process can be tough to figure out because many of the traditional embroidery transfer methods don’t work well on felt’s fuzzy texture. Rather than scrapping felt for your stitching projects though, try one of these felt-fri
This design was created as a smaller version of our Marcia’s FlowersPattern. This will be a generously sized needle book, but the design can be used for other applications as well. Finished size approximately 5”x7”.
Wool appliqué is a perfect take-along project for when you are traveling, or just NEED some tranquil time to escape from the whirling world around you. Wool appliqué projects can be the best with a
Questi sono solo i piccoli ornamenti più carini! Un'aggiunta semplicemente adorabile al tuo albero di Natale! Ognuno misura 2 3/4" di larghezza per 3 1/4" di lunghezza e può essere realizzato in feltro di lana o lana. Cucine un mucchio e regalali meravigliosamente originali, oppure tienili tutti per te! I kit con tutto il necessario incluso, sono disponibili qui... https://www.etsy.com/listing/1565512862/victorian-treasure-all-inclusive Questo è un cartamodello e non un cartamodello! Non appena ricevuto il pagamento, il tuo cartamodello sarà disponibile per il download... senza dover aspettare la posta ordinaria... puoi iniziare subito a cucire! Sarei felice di sentire la tua opinione per qualsiasi domanda o commento tu possa avere. Grazie per esserti fermato! Questo modello è protetto da copyright. Puoi vendere il prodotto finito su eBay, Etsy o alle mostre di artigianato, purché dai credito a Penny Lane Primitives come designer. La produzione in serie o la fotocopiatura di questo modello o dell'articolo finito è severamente vietata.
I went to a class last night at A Stitch in Time in Howell taught by Annette Shaffer from Annie's Wool Works and created this beautiful quilled wool Christmas wreath. It was a lot of fun to make, despite all the hot glue burns, lol. The wreath is 6 inches round. You roll the wool quills by hand then hot glue them down on your base. My friend Amy also took the class but she made a stand up Christmas tree. The great thing about the class is Annette has already cut all the quilling strips so you just grab them and start rolling. A fun holiday project that was a hit with everyone in the class.
Jessica asked me to give you couple of gentle reminders from the Shop today…first… The 12 Days items are not meant to be Christmas presents delivered in time for Christmas. We ship as …
AUTUMN, WINTER, SPRING AND SUMMER ~ "The seasons are what a symphony ought to be: four perfect movements in harmony with each other.... beautifully classic."
Wool is versatile enough to be used in a variety of projects, including penny rugs (made with circles the size of coins) and pillows. It also can be fashioned into embellishments for quilts, garments, wall hangings, and bags. For more projects using wool, go here.
There’s rarely a day that goes by that I don’t get a question for help or advice in my email. By far, the most misunderstood subject and most asked question I get is about the differences between Wool Felt and Felted Wool. For those of us who work with wool, we know that there is a difference. But those who are new to Penny Rugs and working with wool, it is confusing. Most who are just starting, think that it’s the same thing. Wool Felt and Felted Wool are completely different. One is Felt material and the other is Wool fabric. They look and feel different. I’m going to attempt to explain the differences. First, we start with the common factor, which is of course … Sheep! Well, wool can come from other animals too … camels and llamas for example but sheep are the most commonly used. Sheep are sheered which creates the wool fiber. The wool fiber is cleaned and combed to create the wool roving… It’s at this point where the differences between Wool Felt and Felted Wool are created. WOOL FELT Wool Felt is tightly compressed wool fibers. Using lots of moisture and heat, the fibers are rubbed and compacted together … much like the matted hair on a dog or cat or dreadlocks… the fibers are compressed tightly and that creates the felt. Or if you’ve ever made handmade paper … the process is similar. 100% wool felt tends to be stiff and rough so to make the felt more pliable and soft, it is mixed with rayon fibers to create a blend. Most wool felt that is used for penny rugs are a wool and rayon blend. The wool felt blend is usually a 65% rayon/35% wool blend. This type of wool felt can easily be found in lots of assorted colors. Joann Fabrics has a nice selection of it. It’s found in the aisle with their bolts of regular craft felt. Once you actually see it and touch it, you’ll know the difference between it and regular Wool fabric. The rayon blend of wool felt is ideal for penny rugs because when the fabric is washed, the little bit of wool that is in it shrinks, and the wool felt becomes soft and puffy when dried. It’s pretty important that it’s washed before using, otherwise the wool felt looks just like regular cheap craft felt. (that last sentence could possibly be my own opinion…some might like the look of the unshrunk woolfelt). Once it’s washed and shrunk, it becomes … Felted wool felt. The rayon blend of wool felt is a lot less expensive than 100% wool so your projects will still look nice, without that high expense of using 100% wool. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure that wool felt can not be used for traditional rughooking. But for penny rugs, wool felt is a perfect substitute for 100% wool fabric. FELTED WOOL Felted wool is wool fabric which has been washed and dried with heat. That process shrinks the fabric to make it thick and soft. To create felted wool, the wool fabric must be created first! The wool roving/fiber must first be spun into thread … The wool thread is then woven to create the fabric, much like any fabric is created. Cotton fabric is made the same way, only using cotton threads. We buy the wool fabric, bring it home and then deliberately throw it into the washing machine, set the washer to “HOT” water wash and let the washer and dryer shrink our fabric. The shrinking condenses those fibers and that wool fabric become thick and soft and fluffy. The threads in the fiber won’t unravel, so it’s perfect for penny rugs or rughooking because unlike cotton, the edges stay intact without fraying. Wool fabric from knitted or crocheted sweaters and scarves may also be washed and felted and used for penny rugs, but … Knitted or crocheted items use wool yarn instead of wool thread. The yarn, since it’s thicker than thread, creates a thicker felted wool. If it’s not felted enough, the yarns will pull away and unravel. Because the knitted/crocheted felted fabric is so thick, it can’t be used for rughooking and has limited use for penny rugs. I hope that helps with the wool felt / felted wool confusion. Since I don’t use wool felt, I have limited knowledge of it. If you do work with it and can think of anything else that should be mentioned about the differences, please write it in the comments … or email me and I’ll add it onto this entry. (Note: all of the pictures shown in this entry, except for the cute little sheep, were found in Google Images. If you are the owner of one of these pictures and don’t wish it to be used, please let me know and I’ll remove it.) Happy Day Everyone!
Gifts for you, gifts for your cousin, gifts for your spouse, gifts for your best…
penny rugs and wool
