christmas sneak peek

i know it's still a little early, and believe me, i am not forgetting about thanksgiving. but i wanted to share a few more felt christmas ornaments that i have been working on. i'll be putting them in the shop this week.

felt heart shaped kitchen mitt tutorial

i think these kitchen mitts are a nice holiday project. this is an intermediate level felting project. it involves felting around a resist (in this case made of bubble wrap) that creates 2 layers of felt around a pocket. if you've never tried wet felting before, i have a beginning felting tutorial on my website here, or a how to make felt kit for beginners in my etsy shop. i recommend that you try making flat felt before you try this project, but then this project should be pretty simple.

materials you'll need: a few ounces of wool roving, dish soap, hot water, a waterproof tray or work area, a small piece of bubble wrap, and some towels on hand for drying up. optional: nylon netting.
make a pattern using bubble wrap. trace around your hand, leaving extra space.

the pattern piece. i made an asymmetrical heart, but you could make it symmetrical, or a circle or oval.

put your pattern inside a waterproof tray, cookie sheet, or tupperware. lay out the wool roving on top of the pattern in slightly overlapping tufts with all the fibers parallel, pointing in the same direction.

lay out the wool so that the ends of the fibers extend past the pattern. the fiber doesn't need to extend past the pattern in all directions. where the fibers are parallel to the pattern, they can line up with the edge of the pattern; where the fibers are perpendicular to the edge of the pattern, they should extend.

lay out a 2nd layer of fibers, this one perpendicular to the first.

drizzle some dish soap over the wool.

and some hot water. it doesn't have to be a lot at first, you can always add more. it's helpful to pour the water (very gradually, so as not to float the fibers apart) in the center, as it's good to keep the very edges dry if possible (you'll see that later).

you can put a piece of netting or screen over the wool before you start to work with it. a laundry bag for delicates works great. this is not necessary, but makes its a little easier to work with the wool and keep all the fibers in place. an alternative is to put a plastic bag over your hand, and then press down and continue to apply friction as in the following instructions.

the netting or the plastic bag both serve the same purpose: to allow you to apply friction to the fibers and let you move your hand smoothly over the wool without moving it around.

press down directly with your fingers flat, to wet the fibers. try not to get the fringe sodden.

you can work the wool in small circles.

turn it over. the bubble wrap pattern is now on top.

fold the fiber over the edge of the pattern.

the first layer folded all around the pattern. if the edge area isn't wet enough, it will be hard to made it fold over precisely. as i mentioned earlier, it's best to try to keep the fringe area dry. this is because in the following step, you will add fibers to the 2nd side, and you want them to felt with the first layer. if the fringe edges of the first side get completely wet, they have a tendency not to felt with the 2nd side.
lay out another 2 layers of wool on the 2nd side. as before, the second layer is perpendicular to the first, and the ends of the wool fibers extend beyond the edge of the pattern.
as before, drizzle some soap and hot water. work the 2nd side as the first.
repeat as before, work the wool and wrap the ends around the pattern.
at this point, each side has 2 layers of wool.

repeat this process: lay on 2 layer of wool on one side, add dish soap and hot water, work the wool and wrap the ends around to the other side. repeat on the 2nd side with 2 layers. at this point, there are 4 layers of wool on each side.

to make a really thick pot holder, add 2 more layers of wool on each side, making it a total of 6 layers on each side.
the pot holder in process, with 6 layers of wool on each side.keep working the felt, rubbing the wool in circles. it's felted when it passes the pinch test: when you pinch the fibers, instead of the fibers coming off individually, they hold together.

using scissors with a pointed tip, cut a vertical line in the center of the heart on one side only (don't cut through the bubble wrap), starting and ending the cut 1-2 inches away from the top and bottom. not all layers of the wool will be felted, and you can cut the layers gradually, taking as many cuts as you need.

if you are using the asymmetrical heart design, choose which side you make the cut in as follows: if you want a right-handed pot holder, align the large half of the heart with the fingers of your right hand and the small half with your right thumb, as in the diagram above.

when you cut through the felt, it won't be felted all the way through.
work the cut edge between your fingers and thumb, or the fingers/palms of both your hands.
the cut edge after it's felted. make sure to rinse out all the soap. do this as a gradual process, by adding more hot water and continuing to work the wool, it will continue to felt and become denser.

wring out all the water, roll up in a towel to absorb excess, and dry flat.

felt cafe ornaments for 2008

natural brown merino, wet felted into a ball. the modern snowflake is then added using the needle felting technique (stabby stabby).and if you liked the felt ball of hope, it's now an ornament!

they're in the shop, and i have some more holiday objects in the works.

printed french press cozy and coasters

photos from the open studio

there are the product of another fabulous collaboration i've been working on with isabelle from piano nobile, felted pillows! i make the felt front, and then she printed and quilted it, and sewed them into wonderful pillow covers. here's a photo of the studio, showing the beautiful lamps that were a collaboration of piano nobile and lit shades.
better view of laura yeats' beautiful wooden bowls.
some booties and hats all cozied up on one of laura's benches.
screen printed felt scarves on display.

all these photos are courtesy of piano nobile, and you can see a great slide show from the open studio at their site.

it was an amazing event, i am honored and inspired to be in such good company of artists and craftspeople. thank you to everyone who came by. for more information on any of the pieces, visit piano nobile.

hand made baby gifts japanese craft book

i just listed this book in my etsy shop. it may be the cutest book yet of hand made craft projects that would be the perfect gift for a new baby.

"sweet baby, hand made gifts"
ISBN 978-4-07-246385-7 i love that it includes such a wide variety of projects and different kinds of crafts, from sewing, embroidery, applique, and handmade rubber stamps. you can more pictures on my flickr account, in the japanese craft book set, but here are just a few more.

feltmaker spotlight: kobo h

i discovered kobo h through flickr, which i finally started using! i love this bowl and the way it combines a fulled portion with a crocheted addition.
hiromi of kobo h makes perfect wool bowls by crocheting then fulling them (using hot water and agitation to make them shrink and become denser).

you can see more wonderful kobo h pieces on the kobo h website or etsy shop.

the autumn open studio at piano nobile is tomorrow!

it's going to be fantastic, and i will have more photos next week.
there will be works from 8 different artists and craftspeople, and some beautiful collaborations.
saturday, 2-6pm in ballard, you are totally welcome to come by, and tell your friends who love beautiful objects!

for now, i'll just share a few photos from the piano nobile site.

the vollen series by chadhaus.

and a dot tote from piano nobile hand prints.

wooden bowls by laura yeats

only 2 more days until the autumn open studio at piano nobile!

today i wanted to share with you of the artists whose work will be on display, laura yeats.

Each sculptural bowl made by Seattle artist Laura Yeats begins with the discovery of the unique form that emerges from a familiar material: wood. Yeats uses reclaimed green wood from around the Puget Sound region, freshly cut trees that change drastically as she works. Each bowl is turned on a lathe, air-dried, and finished with non-toxic, food safe finishes.

yes we did!

by a landslide.

last night while we were watching the returns on tv, in a quiet residential neighborhood of seattle, there were fireworks outside and cheering from down the street.

last year, when i was in japan, i was shocked by how closely people were following the democratic primary. i went to get a haircut, and after she found out i was from the states, the first question the woman cutting my hair asked was who i liked better, hillary or obama.

the whole world has been waiting for this.

live coverage from democracy now

if you are reading this on tuesday night, this is live coverage from democracy now, http://democracynow.org a 5 hour special broadcast that started at 7pm eastern time. they will also have a special 2 hour report on wednesday morning 8-10 am eastern time.

i'll be back tomorrow with more craft related posting. for now, i hope you are watching the election results with your friends and loved ones. in fact, i am full of hope.

sneak preview, merino hat and scarf

i've been making hats and scarfs with my brown merino wool. i love it, so soft and such a warm natural color. these will printed with lovely patterns and available at the autumn open house this saturday...only 5 days from now!

and finally, tomorrow is the election! don't forget to go to the polls, people. and go early, there will be record turnouts. in washington state, there are a lot of important initiatives on the ballot this year. the progressive voter's guide is a good source for information on candidates and ballot measures, and shows which are supported by a number of progressive organizations.

i took the pledge, did you?

have you taken the handmade pledge yet?

i've always loved to make handmade presents, since i was a kid. i remember when i realized what a great feeling it was a give presents (and of course to get them in return). my first memories of that feeling are tied to making those presents myself. not that i remember what i made for my family when i was 8 or 9, but i remember sewing and standing at the ironing board. and probably cross stitch was involved more than not, since that was an early favorite craft.

when i got a little older, i remember the thrill of shopping for perfect presents (always a surprise) at the mall. this was years before i ever used the internet. today, with sites like etsy and all the amazing craftspeople that you can find online or in local stores (depending where you live), it's so much easier to buy hand made gifts, even if you don't have the time or desire to make them yourself.

i still love to make and give handmade presents. i also love that there is such a strong movement to support independent craftspeople. yay!!