Textured felt fabrics

Limited offer

Special offer for a limited time in my Folksy shop www.alchemyfibrearts.folksy.com

For goods orders excluding shipping - 5% cashback on orders £50 + , 10% cashback on orders £100 +, 15% cashback on orders £250+ , 20% cashback on orders £500+

An excellent time for craft shops, teachers plus textile and mixed media artists to stock up. 

Koolaid

Koolaid drink isn't a product we use much for dyeing here in the UK but seems to be popular in the USA and gives good results from what I see. I do wonder though if it is so successful at dyeing wool what does it do to the human body when it is used as it is designed for as a drink !

Different tastes for different people

I pinned a photo of a necklace on pinterest. It is a bundle of vibrant colours and textures handmade by a talented artist and was popular, being repinned and liked many times positively but one person pinned it with a negative comment. Why do people do that ! Have they not learnt that posting such comments usually says more negatively about the poster than it does the item.Most people see items that aren't to their own taste and move on but the funniest thing about this comment is the person had pinned on the same board the saying "Believe there is good in the world"....I got a stitch in my side laughing! .....not from that person there isn't.

There seem to be some people who feel they have to be part of the crowd if something is getting a lot of attention.Those same people tend to put up false fronts for others as we see with their other selection of posts. Do they really believe there is good in the world or do they think posting the saying will just look good for anyone else looking at their boards.  Did they not think that what they posted was a bad deed possibly hurting someone's feelings not just accepting that other people have different tastes.

What goes around comes around in life. If you have a good attitude and respect for others in life then others give the same and the reverse is also true.

Textile cuffs, wrist warmers and fingerless gloves

From what customers buying my felt embellishments are telling me, it looks like handmade textile cuffs wrist warmers and fingerless gloves are going to be one of the most popular gifts this Christmas.

Using Felt embellishments

With Christmas in the not too distant future many of my current customers are buying my embellishments to either make quick gifts or unique accessories. 

Likewise my business customers purchase so they can add designer touches to otherwise plain products.As everything from my beads to my appliques and shapes are designed to be mini artworks in their own right, it means quite a punch can be added to an item in a relatively short time and cost effectively to maximize profit.

This bag is an example of a sample I whipped up in an afternoon, which included making the actual bag but the same can be done to a bought item in less time. I made a simple tote bag from a remnant of black velvet lined with satin then arranged my nubble style felt beads in my required design on the front. 

To keep the felt pieces in position for my design while I embroider, I put a tiny bit of fabric glue on the back to stick each one in place. Always be careful when using glue on fabric that you don't use too much so it squeezes out from under your embellishment or through the top layer onto the back of your item leaving a mark also. I always pop a piece of plastic bag behind the layer I am working on to avoid accidents. If it is a washable item I often skip the glue and just pin in place.

The finishing touch was a row of random sized blanket stitch down one side of each bead. I used a fine metallic machine embroidery thread to create highlights of colour, sparkle and when I pulled some stitches tight, extra texture.

I use a similar method to embellish plain garments for a quick designer touch. It's amazing how often I can pull out the same dress or top and always get the same comment of  " Is that new ?" by ringing the changes with toning , complimentary or contrasting embellishments.

You can touch the dust.......

I've been so busy creating recently my housework has gone up the spout so I'm having a flurry of domesticity this morning. 

Looking at my mantelpiece has reminded me of a plaque I saw a few years ago.It said  'you can touch the dust but please don't write in it' . I think I should adopt it as my main house rule ! Blush!!!

Actually I should set myself to do more housework as it's so boring it gives plenty of creative thinking time. I often have my best ideas while cleaning or doing similarly boring jobs.