Handmade Felt Pillows

My Pillows.  Made with Handmade by me felt....

I'm a Fits and Starts kind of person.  I get an idea or inspiration and I throw myself into it, learning the process completely, getting all fired up and creating an abundance of products.......for about 2 months....and then I stop....either I lose interest or hit a roadblock.  Felting is one of those things that I started several years back and then abruptly stopped.

My Felting Life starting when I went back to college at 43 and was encouraged by my teacher to do fiber art instead of studying colour theory and architectural drawing.  I did a fair bit of work, had a couple of commissions and got 3 of pieces into a juried art show.  And then I stopped. Later, in a fit of inspiration I made several pieces of felted cloth.  Handmade felt is made from rovings....the clean and carded wool from a sheep before it is spun.

I started to buy roving from Maureen Harding at Dreamspin Fibers.  Maureen knew sheep and better still the farmers from whom she purchases her beautiful fibres. I experimented with different sheep's wool.  Corridale, Blue Faced Leicester and Finn wool quickly became my favourites.

Felt is the oldest fabric know to man, thought to have been created by accident when men used wool to sit on while riding horses.....the sweat and agitation from riding caused the wool to bind into fabric.  Working with roving, pure vegetable soap and water and a bamboo mat, I created my own handmade felt fabrics.

I love the process and the finished product because it is completely natural...no chemicals, no sewing....a purely organic process.  I've made a few felt vessels. ....one has taken me 3 years with hundreds of pieces attached and still to be attached.......

The fabric is completely washable and cozy and beautifully soft. When I first started felting I wanted to start with raw wool...and like a real amateur I worked with raw Finn wool for a while. Although my hands were always nice and soft from the Lanolin, my house stank like a barn....I moved onto cleaned and carded wool.

Last night I took some of my finished pieces and some sample pieces of linen and velvet and decided to finally after 3 years to make some felt pillows. I may be slow to get around to it because sewing is my least favorite thing to do.  I actually found the felt quite easy to sew and it is thick and sturdy and doesn't move around......

And so I made 2 handmade wool felt pillows.  A black and white Zebra and a black and lime Spotty print....

Because the felting process is organic, you lose control of the shapes somewhat.. The shapes don't stay true and they morph a little.  Hence the spots are not perfectly round. Perfectly imperfect.

Now that my 3 year pillow project is complete, I am pleased with the way they turned out and once again inspired to dip back into making felt all over again.  Below is a photo from Dreamspin Fibres showing what roving looks like.

I am linking to Wow us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style and Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm
and White Wednesday at Faded Charm Cottage