Wool Plans

 

One of the places we checked out in Portland was the Pendleton Wool Mill store.They had a very nice traditional Pendleton design painted on the outside, very eye-catching.

We were stopped in our tracks by this enormous and gorgeous wool quilt .

I found some great wool in the header bin, about two yards worth for $9.

Buy 1 get 1 Worm Free!! I think these are the edge trimmings, basically the wool schnibbles.

The worms bins were fascinating, and they had examples of rag rugs made out of them. It made me very sneezy there was a lot of fiber floating around in the air.

I knew I wanted wool to make a messenger bag style purse from a Charlie’s Aunt t pattern I bought last year. I snapped a picture of the back of this pattern (I think it’s close) to get the yardage requirements.

Here’s the purple and green wool I found in the headers bin. My plan is to machine wash it (on purpose) to felt it so it’ll be sturdier. But I have to read the actual pattern first. I may use the stitching and color changes in the design of the purse.

First Try Needle Felting

I've had the supplies for doing needle felting for a while now. The other day I wanted to do something, but I didn't want to sew or do any of my usual things. The kit with all the pretty colors of wool rolled up called my name.

The white wool was the base, and in the kit they provide a nice thick block of foam. No kidding those needles are sharp.
Layering the fibers and then punching the needle in and out take a while. I was surprised at how long it took to really cover this small area. Now I see why people are buying those embellisher machines.
Every now and then you have to lift the piece up off of the foam, other wise it will get stuck on. This is a shot of the reverse so you can see the fibers sticking up.

Here is where I ended up. It hasn't been washed or anything, so I'm not sure if it will all fall apart. Stay tuned for a report on that! And if you're thinking "what's it for?", heckifIknow!