needle work
Posted on | July 11, 2009 | 6 Comments
A few months ago, Indygo Junction generously sent me some needle felting supplies. It’s a craft I’ve wanted to try but never had. As the saying goes, time flies, and it wasn’t until recently that I tried my hand at it. I wondered if it was a craft suitable for someone my child’s age, 5. After Felix accidentally poked my finger a couple of times, and drew blood, he understood that the needle was really sharp and proceeded with caution. If you are right there next to the child, watching to make sure little fingers are out of the way, then it’s okay. I wouldn’t want to monitor a room full of children needle felting but one is doable. And, the good news is, is that it’s really fun to poke at fluffy wool and create shapes. Felix loved it. He used the butterfly mold that Indygo Junction sent, which led us to the idea of using cookie cutters to make different shapes. The bird on the dishtowel is from one of our cookie cutters.
The butterfly, our first attempt, is very thick with wool; we learned that it doesn’t take a lot of wool to fill in the spaces. Felix most enjoyed working with a mold, because he liked stabbing at the wool without having to think of a shape to make. This got me thinking about drawing easy shapes. So, he drew the little bug, and I drew the large bug, but by that time he was onto something else. Working on a sampler like this reminded me of the embroidery I used to do as a kid. I’m thinking how fun it would be to teach an embroidery class to children and let them use their own drawings to work from. As synchronicity works, I found this delightful entry at the At swim-two-bird blog with a book of children’s embroidery. I’m in love.
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6 Responses to “needle work”
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July 11th, 2009 @ 4:58 pm
Lovely! My friend Jill at Yarns in the Farms http://www.yarnsinthefarms.com does beautiful needle felting. I’ve always been a little intimidated to try because she is also an artist. Anyway, maybe Isobel and I should give it a try (she’ll be five in November).
July 12th, 2009 @ 5:53 am
Such fun! But it can be painful to get stabbed with those things! I love the idea of embroidery of kids drawings. My sister in law did this in blackwork with a drawing of Maya’s once and it totally captured it.
July 12th, 2009 @ 6:03 am
That turned out brilliantly. My daughter would adore a design like that on a hem of a dress. My son loves needles, but we’ve never tried felt. Simply using a lipstick pencil on a cloth to make a “shape” and he follows “in and out” with a needle and thread. He has never suffered injuries. I’m another story
July 13th, 2009 @ 5:49 pm
these are so sweet. i love how the embroidery shows up so well on the blue cloth.
July 15th, 2009 @ 6:16 am
The combination of embroidery and felting is magical! I love the colours you used. Good job Felix!
July 19th, 2009 @ 5:42 am
These are just charming. So cute! Way to go, Felix!