Carmen and I spent a happy and productive afternoon continuing our experimentation with merino and artificial fabric.  Both of us have stiff backs after all our exertions during the complex bag workshop (just wait until you see the pictures when I post about that!) so we decided to stick with small projects today and have some fun together. 

Midnight I brooch prior to beading

If you are interested in creating an experimental brooch or pendant like the one pictured on the left here is the process.

1. Lay out a rough square of merino approx 6″ X 6″
2. Wet it lightly, soap and flatten to remove the air
3. Lay a small wad of dry wool in the centre and then place your stone, glass nugget or other found object on top
4. Cover the insertion with dry wool
5. Needle lightly through the dry wool into the wet to secure (don’t worry if you don’t have a needle, just leave this stage out)
6. Lay another layer of wool over the whole front
7. Cover this with strips or a larger square of artificial fabric, be inventive and try out anything!
8. Wet out, soap and felt by rubbing directly on top of the front and back of the bundle, you don’t need to roll your work
9. When fully felted cut a small cross over the insertion and using your finger nails push out the cut edge to expose your glass, stone or found object
10. Rinse, shape and bead or embellish as required

HAVE FUN!  More pictures of work I created during and after Lyda’s visit are now uploaded to Flickr.