Wool Felt Hearts Tutorial

Living Crafts is featuring my tutorial on sewing wool felt hearts on their blog.

"These wool felt hearts have been a Valentines mainstay in our family for years. The hearts made their first appearance when my sons were quite young, starting a tradition of them coming downstairs in the morning to find a Valentines neck pocket each, hanging in the doorway and filled with little treasures. After discovering what was hidden inside, the boys would wear their hearts as necklaces all day and look more sweet than any Valentines candies have ever been.

We have made variations over the years; quilted cottons; knitted yarns; wet felted wool; folded paper….but always come back to these felt lovelies!"

The tutorial includes the pattern plus instructions on sewing them up to create neck pockets, pin cushions, bean bags and wall hangings. 

Enjoy!

Fiona

Candlemas

Candlemas has always been a special celebration in our family.

Marking the time on the calender halfway between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox, and also the time when the days start to feel appreciably longer.

We celebrate the day as a time to start bringing all the thoughts and ideas that have come forward during the quiet, contemplative time of winter, into a period of germination. Just as the plants are starting to wake up underground; as the sap is starting to flow again through the trees;  the young animals are growing within their mothers, preparing to be born, so are our hopes and visions. Becoming aware of Candlemas, many years ago, also led us to take a greater pause through the winter; to be sure and slow down and use that time for meditation and clear thinking, so that we are ready to grasp the strength of spring renewal and shoot forward towards our goals.

Each year we plant a Wish Garden, sometimes with close group of friends, some years as a community party, and some years, just as a family.  We usually dip candles in our own beeswax from our hives and prepare a planter filled with earth, through the day. That evening, before we start our evening meal, we write out our wish for the year. When the boys were younger, they would draw a picture to represent their wishes.  We each dig a little hole in the pot, fold up our wishes and plant them deep within the hole, then cover the wish with a spring bulb or some seeds, and some more earth. Then we plant our candle on top and light it, representing the returning sun warming the earth so the seeds can came forth and flourish. The wish garden sits in the middle of the table, alight, and we leave the candles burning in the planter, until they burn down completely. 

 Then the planter stays in the kitchen where we can watch and wait and as our little plants start to sprout, coming into full growth 4-6 weeks later- for Spring Equinox.  A warm welcome to spring and it's renewal.

  This has been a wonderful tradition to share with others....one of my favourite occasions was one Candlemas that we invited everyone we knew from our different social circles to come and join us. The house was full of children and conversation and laughter. We dipped candles, had a potluck meal,  and each family created their own wish garden to bring home with them. Just before the end of the evening, all the gardens, alight,  were together in one room- a shared community wish, full of light and warmth. It was a sacred moment.

This year, Candlemas also marks the day we take over our new property. We don' t have our bees yet, so bought candles and walked up through heavily overgrown paths to a special spot under an an Arbutus tree. As dusk fell,  we planted our wishes and our candles right in the earth, our earth,and appreciated being together in our own place, and all that the coming seasons will bring.

Several books we found to be great resources while establishing our family seasonal rhythms and traditions are Circle Round , Celebrating the Great Mother, Festivals, Family and Food, and The Children's Year.

Wool Felt Fairy

  When I was about 10, we went to Denmark just before the holidays, on our way to visit my family in Scotland. It was such an exciting trip.  Denmark was so different from anywhere else I had been- very modern and stylish,and old at the same time.
We had gone out to dinner with some friends of my parents, and on our way out of the restaurant (after a meal of pigeon- a regional specialty! Somethings you never forget!) , a gold angel on the Christmas tree captured my eye. For some reason, I absolutely loved it. The kind family friend talked to the restaurant manager, and then presented me with this gold angel ornament. I felt like such a princess. Now, this was just a gold metallic paper cone,about 3 inches tall, with the same materials for the wings, a gold glass bauble for the head, and a gold pipe cleaner for a halo- not so fancy. But she caught the lights around her, and reflected them all around, and somehow encapsulated the whole magical experience of being in Denmark just before Christmas. 
  And of the simple gestures we can make that can mean so much to others. A key message for Christmas Day.
   I still have my angel- she goes on my tree every year, and every year it is a heartwarming memory- just as I feel now writing about it!

   But she is in the box of ornaments back in Ottawa, so I thought I would make an angel in the same style, out of wool felt. Perfect!

Wool Felt Fairy
materials:
small square yellow/gold wool felt, we used our Rainbow Dyed Wool Felt
small square white wool felt
yellow embroidery floss
wool felt bead-white or skintone
small amount wool locks or yarn for hair
sewing needle
fine wire or twist tie
gold beads
gold embroidery floss (optional)

 Using the Wool Felt Fairy Pattern pieces, cut out one wing and one body.

Wool Felt Fairy Pattern

(To open the pattern, click on the small text "Wool Felt Fairy pattern"above. Still investigating the best ways to make scale patterns available! Thanks for your patience!)

 Sew up the back of the body using blanket stitch.

 Using running stitch, sew around the top of the body and pull tight to gather to make the neck. Knot off.

 Sew the head to the neck. Tuck in the gathered edge as you go to make a neat finish. Try to pick up a good amount of fibers on both the neck and the head to get a good attachment.

 To make the hair with wool yarn, make a mini wig by making loops of yarn around your fingers and then tying together in the middle. Clip of the looped ends.

 

 Sew on the wool yarn wig in the middle to make a stitched part. If you are using wool locks, use this method also.Spread the hair out to cover the whole back of head, and sew in place around the bottom of the head, at the hairline.

 To make the halo, use a 4" length of fine wire, or a twist tie, stripped of paper. Make a little loop at the end and twist to secure.  Fill the wire with gold beads, then twist a loop at the other end to hold the beads in place.

 Sew onto the fairy's head, stitching on either side through the loop in the wire. Adjust the halo so that it is nicely placed and rounded.
Sew the wings onto the back of the fairy.

 Add a little embroidery, so she can catch and reflect the light. Try spirals or star rays, both made with simple straight stitches. These fairies look beautiful tucked onto a branch on a tree. They can also stand in a seasonal display, or be used as finger puppets. I have to write a story for mine! As I was making her I was thinking about what her story might be! 

Enjoy,

Fiona

Folded Paper Flowers

These are some of my favorite ornaments- so simple, and an unusual design here in North America. This style of folding is traditionally done in New Zealand using green flax leaves.
Once, walking down a sidewalk in a New Zealand town, I passed a garden filled with flax growing out and over the path. Rather than cutting it all back, some creative passer by, or the gardener themselves, had woven the ends of the living flax leaves into this flower pattern, clearing the way with a visual gift! This random act of beauty reminds me to appreciate the beauty of our surroundings, and to hold a sense of that beauty within, in our day to day actions. And to occasionally participate in some guerrilla origami in the garden!

Materials:
watercolour paper, painted on both sides
scissors
embroidery floss or ribbon for hanging
wool felt beads (optional)

Cut the piece of watercolor paper to measure 14 inches long, 2 inches wide at one end and tapering evenly to a point at the other end.
Round the edges of the wide end.
Cut up the middle of the paper from the pointed tip, to within 1 inch from the rounded end.

Holding the rounded end in one hand, fold the left half strip behind the right half strip. Do not crease.

Continue folding the left half strip under the right side strip and over the top of the wide rounded end, as the folded spiral grows. The paper will first form a circle, and then will spiral around on top of itself.

Continue folding in this way until your reach the end of the strips. The paper folds will hold themselves in place. Trim the points as desired

Make a hole in the rounded end of the flower with a needle or hole punch and thread a 6” length of floss or ribbon through and knot at the top for a hanger. Thread a wool felt bead onto either end of a 6 inch length of floss or ribbon. Knot at both ends to secure the beads. Thread this through the bottom fold on the flower and knot, as an embellishment.

Wool Roving Pompom Snowman and Trees

There so many ways to use wool roving pompoms and here are two- 

Snowmen and Evergreen Trees.

Snowman
 Materials:
24 inches (60 cm) white wool roving, or about 0.4 ounce (10 grams)
24 inches (30cm) white wool yarn
small amount of orange felt
two small twigs for arms 

sharp scissors
yarn needle
tacky glue

small amount of dark colored wool roving for eyes

felting needle OR

two small black glass beads

Time for the project:
pompoms: 10minutes each
assembling: 20 minutes

Age suggestion:
3+ with assistance
7+ on own


Following the instructions for making wool roving pompom's here:

Making Wool Roving Pompoms
Make 2, trimming one a little smaller to be the head of the snowman. Be sure and leave the long yarn ends on the head pompom. Yarn ends can be cut off the body pompom.

Use the yarn ends to attach the head to the body. Sew one yarn end at a time, sew through the body, then back up to come out at the neck.

 Wrap yarn ends around neck in opposite directions and tie tightly.
Cut yarn ends off close to knot.

With just a small amount of wool roving, needelfelt in gently at the right eye placement.
To get the most neat finish, needlefelt only a little to hold to place, right in the middle of the fibers. Trim the protruding ends close to the wool surface.Instead of needlefelting you could glue on small black beads for eyes.

 Cut a small triangle in orange felt. Open up the fibers in the pom pom and glue in place.Dab a small amount of glue on each twig arm and push well into the pompom.
A tacky or quick set glue works really well for this.

If this snowman is to be a tree ornament, sew on a thread as a hanger, passing through the whole head to make secure.

We think these also look like little owls- we may have to try some with small wings, instead of twig arms!
The Evergreen Trees are made in the same way as the wool roving pompoms.
When trimming, cut one end on more of an angle to form the tree top. These are fantastic used on a playmat, or in a nature corner.

To make the Christmas tree- cut carefully around the yarn ends used for tying the pompom. these can become the hanger. Follow the instructions for the snowman's eyes to add some decorations or lights to your little evergreen tree!

You can also wool roving pom poms to make little mice- maybe you can imagine how fluffy and  cute they would be! Made in the same way as the Evergreen Tree, but leaving one yarn end at the round end as a tail.  So sweet!

Warm wishes,
Fiona