I started this morning by free machine embroidering a couple of abstract felt landscapes. It’s difficult for me to decide when enough is enough with this sort of work, my personal preference has always been for NO stitching or embellishing but I do realise that not everyone feels the same way!
Stitching into an abstract felt landscape - the background colour is a richer purple but I find it hard to capture accurately
After Lisa Klakulak’s wonderful workshop at Felt in Focus I have really been trying to stretch myself in this direction, luckily Carmen arrived half way through the morning and was just in time to stop me stitching on some glass beads too, even she said that they were one step too far!!! Once the stitching was finished I needed to iron one piece to flatten it a little and then frame them before packing them all away for taking to Carlow tomorrow afternoon. I like my textiles displayed within a simple white frame without any glass covering the felt and feel that being so tactile they are definitely best displayed in a manner to invite the viewer forwards and tempt them to touch! Sticking some pieces of velcro to the mount I offer the felt up to the hook side (of the velcro), press it in place and voila, the work is framed. If this is not making total sense there are some pictures of the process I use in the section about displaying felt in ‘From Felt to Friendship’.
Why are these pieces heading in to Carlow tomorrow afternoon? The Blueprint group that I am a member of is having a Christmas exhibition with a theme of urban and rural landscapes, the work is juried and curated and I would love to have one of these new pieces accepted. I almost forgot, I actually ordered a batch of name tags this afternoon to stitch into bags and on the back of framed pieces, I don’t think that they will be ‘pretty’ enough to stitch inside vessels or on to scarves so this begs the question do any of you know where it is possible to order personalised tags online that look gorgeous and don’t cost an arm and a leg??? Thanks!
Rex trots through the flood outside my door this morning!
I’ll leave you with a picture of Rex plodding through the water outside my house this morning! Following on from this it rained ALL morning but thankfully has now cleared up and is actually warm and humid, amazing.
Nicola Brown Fine Art Textiles 
I’m not sure if this would give you the end result you are looking for, but what if you bought colorfast sew-in fabric sheets (http://store.junetailor.com/store/p-13-colorfast-white-sew-in-printer-fabric-3-sheetspack.aspx), used your scanner and word processor to print in a label format, printed a sheet on your printer, cut them out and sew them on. I just bought some of these sheets to play with but haven’t tried them yet. I was inspired to try it by the words, “color-fast.” It would allow you to change the labels without locking in to a large order with one format.
Here is an etsy store that uses this type of printable fabric on little bags:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/RosiesArmoire?ref=seller_info
If she can get them in England then they ought to be available in Ireland.
BTW, I am going to visit the National Craft Fair at RDS Dec 1st. Do you know anyone exhibiting I should look out for just because their work is that neat?
Hi Elizabeth, I’m going to have a think about the RDS and let you know whose work I would be most interested in seeing myself. Remind me nearer the time please if you don’t hear back from me!
Hi Elizabeth, I’m going to have a think about the RDS and let you know whose work I would be most interested in seeing myself. Remind me nearer the time please if you don’t hear back from me!
Hi Nicola…….Sorry I can’t help you with your “question”, but do have a comment on stitching and embellishment. I had an art teacher once tell me once about when to stop on any art project…”IF YOU ARE DOING IT TO IT INSTEAD OF FOR IT…STOP! I always keep that in my mind as I near a project! Just passing it along. Your work is fabulous! Keep it coming.
Good morning Nicola,
I will be interested in the label responses, too. I just ordered a catalog from a company ( http://www.nwtag.com/ ) that looks to be fairly reasonable for larger quantities. I have a friend who uses their tags and has been quite happy and the service is supposed to be great, but not having tried them personally, might be best to order a catalog and see what you think….They send samples.
I love the purple piece shown above…It’s marvelous!!!! Hmmm….I’m starting to like this sewing thing. Well, at least when you’re doing it;-)))
Nothing stops that Rex…He’s a trooper in all kinds of weather. And, he’s famous!
Hugs,
Dawn
Hi Nicola – If you have a custom rubber stamp for your label design or can have one made, there are now ink pads made for fabrics that are heat set. To make fabric labels fray-free, you can iron the final stamped fabric on light fusible interfacing and cut your final labels to size; use lightweight interfacing so the final labels are still fabric-like and not too stiff. I know a felt doll maker who uses these handmade fabric labels to great effect – that’s how I learned how to make them. Any company or printer for fabric labels is both expensive and require big minimum orders.
If you print out labels on any inkjet or laser printer on those fabric-printer sheets, the ink is never colorfast and can’t be heat set.
Hi Nicola, Have you tried iron-on transfer paper with your name/logo reversed on the computer; then printed out; then cut out and ironed onto a satin fabric ribbon (allowing enough room at the cut edges to fold back, ‘fray-check’ or treat with glue)? I’ve tried it & sewn it into the inside of hats and it seems ok. A bit fiddly. In theory the labels should be washable as this transfer paper is to make t-shirts. I’ve tried to iron on directly to felt but had no luck. Maybe it would work on a nuno type piece??
Here’s some instructions which I found useful: http://www.grumperina.com/labelcontent.htm
p.s.:Love how you stiched your landscape!