When I first started teaching, weaving was in our curriculum and I was scared outta my mind. The only knowledge I had of weaving came in the form of the fiber arts class I took in college...where I got a C due to my crappy weaving project. I remember warping one of those giant floor looms for what felt like hours (prob only took 15 minutes but it was dreadfully dull) and skipping a warp strand. "Eh," I thought, "what's one warp strand, the professor will never know." Well, that one strand created a huge runner throughout my weaving and dropped my GPA down...along with the C I also acquired in Karate. Turns out Indiana University takes weaving and martial arts super seriously.
Fast forward to the present and weaving, sewing and all things fiber-artsy is one of my favorite things to teach...and the kid's fave thing to learn! Since I'll be joining in on Trixi Symond's Sew a Softie in July, I thought I'd share this video I created for the Art of Education's online conference. This video is from several conferences ago...but I still use the ideas and methods in my art room.
Are y'all signed up for this summer's conference? I'll be leading a hands-on clay and printmaking session and I'm so excited!
My students love fiber arts...and it's a skill that just isn't taught as much any more. All the more reason it is so fascinating to them. You can find a list of my very favorite fiber art projects here. I mentioned a ton of lessons and videos in that clip...you can find them all in that link! You are ALWAYS welcome to use my videos in your art room. I just appreciate a shout out when projects are shared via social media.
If you've been hanging around this here blog for a bit, then you know I've been hosting a weekly craft night right here with the focus being on felting. In order to lead the craft nights the best that I can, I've been pushing myself to explore the one area of felting that I'm not super comfortable with: wet felting. Y'all know I'm all about the needle felting...but this wet felting stuff is a bit of a learning curve. So far, I've wet felted a beaded necklace, a clutch and now this matroyshka doll. Here's how:
One thing that you have to commit yourself to when it comes to wet felting is that it is time consuming and requires patience. This is not something you can rush. The felting process takes time...in fact, it took me probably 45 minutes to an hour from start to finish to complete the wet felting process. After drying out over night, I was able to start needle felting.
This also proved to be pretty time consuming...but I do love needle felting. That being said, I had originally planned to make another doll to fit inside this one...but I don't know if I'm ready to make that kind of time commitment!
Like I said in the video, when I started needle felting, I didn't go into it with much of a plan. I really wanted to focus on the patterns on the clothing: dots, stripes, flowers.
The beauty of needle felting is that it really helped to form, shape and stabilize the doll. I was concerned that when I removed the wooden form, the entire doll would collapse but it remained relatively solid...but the needle felting really proved to make it solid.
Now, getting the diameter of the opening of both the top and bottom of the doll did prove to be a little tricky. To make them the same, I did have to do a lot of needle felting around the rim of both to get them to be the same width.
Creating the flowers and patterns was really my favorite part.
I thought the doll should be wearing an apron which is why there is a blue tie in the back.
After felting the doll, I realized that I could felt around any number of objects floating around...so when I spotted Easer eggs at the grocery, I decided to give them a go! I know y'all probably have a ton around your house too. This is a much quicker wet felting project then the doll, that's for sure. Here's a quick video on how I did it:
I've got a lot of felting videos currently up on my YouTube channel that you might want to check out. I've also been posting one minute felting videos on my Instagram if you are interested.
I totally had intentions of needle felting the other egg as well...but that went out the window with the second matroyshka doll. On to the next best thing!
Looking forward to seeing you all this Wednesday at 8pm CST for our next craft night right here!
During our Intro to Wet Felting session, we learned how to do a little ziplock baggie felting. This one was created by artteacher. Once the wet felted piece dried, she cut it into a heart. I love her colors!
In case you missed the wet felting fun last Wednesday night over here, it is archived both on my Facebook page and on my YouTube channel. We had a whole lotta wet and sudsy fun all the while creating a wet felted piece, felted beads, a felted container and buttons! We managed to pack in a lot...an hour just isn't long enough. But I do love that those participating keep on creating long after we say goodnight. In case you missed it, here is our Wednesday night session:
Of course, it's never too late to join the fun. Sue told me that orders for felting kits are still rolling in which has me so happy! Here's a link to where you can purchase, if you are interested. Again, all previous craft nights are archived both here (subscribe!) and here (follow!).
And don't forget that we'll be continuing this crafting fun in May with Clay!
Supplies for that workshop can be picked up here. You can still join the fun without the supplies, of course.
Now, on to everyone's fiber creations!
Don't you love this needle felted Friday by the_doodle_birds? It would make a great pin or even an image on the back of a sweater! LOVE the flowers.
Look how productive echopaitsel was that night? Love the beads. I think everyone's take-away that night was that wet felting is pretty labor intensive!
How sweet is this colorful needle felted number by mrsdow_artroom?
Can you even believe this? It's so beautiful, I think it needs framing. You should be proud, parkesphoto!
So, um, I just might have to track down mmmelllodyyy, raid her closet and steal this sweater. I am IN LOVE!
Last week, visualpraisestudio covered a hat in needle felted birds...and this week, she's covered even more. I love the talent in our craft night group!
There is a definite learning curve when it comes to wet felting. Work to fast, and the fibers felt at different speeds and might result in something unexpected (read: not what you'd hoped for). Working slowly is the best bet. That being said, never ever just throw away your felted creations. They can always be recreated into something far more interesting than you'd ever imagined. I love these earrings by alison.m.klein!
I love that the fam is getting in on the felting action! Check out this sweet cat being needle felted by kmmckinney's daughter.
Artroomblog has taken to needle felting...and entire coat! I know how taxing that is, kudos to you, Lee!
Jtheen is a week ahead of us, she's already started creating needle felted sculptures! How fun is this sweet and colorful bird?
Me being a sucker for bright colors, y'all know I love this dog by mrsdow_artroom! I see an art project based on this one, don't you?
This Bob Ross by the_doodle_birds made me so happy when I saw it. Adorable!
This masterpiece looks like it should be in a gallery. I can see mommaplouff creating a whole series of these beauties, don't you?
Another stunner by parkesphoto. I love the three dimensional look of this piece.
Check out these artist-inspired pieces created by Jan Marie...can you guess the inspo behind each one?
If you didn't believe that we got a lotta work done on Wednesday, Ashley Bruce has done a bang up job breaking it down for you!
Gemma has something so beautiful here. I love the organic nature of her piece.
When jtheen shared this needle felted cat, I was super stoked since it looks so much like my cat Asha. In other news, there is a book called Crafting with Cat Hair that my mama picked up for me. My cat leaves behind a lotta hair...but I don't know how I feel creating with it!
I want this on the back of a super hero cape! Love this, the_doodle_birds!
Everything about these needle felted numbers by mommaplouff make me so happy. All done with a single needle too!
Amandakaiser211 needle felted this adorable French bulldog. I am loving the color choices.
Tell me this isn't the baddest thing you've ever seen? Meganhallenbwck this is the best!
My buddy Earl Delong snapped step by step photos of his street-art inspired design. I know his students are gonna love this!
Check out this busy bee! Sarah Shumaker, you are killin it!
And this by Ms. Schmidt cracked me up! I mean, what else do you do with a wet felted piece besides make it into a crazy hair day portrait? I think students would LOVE this idea!
As you can see, we are having a whole lot of fun on this felting adventure of ours. Thank you so much to all of you who have been joining the fun! Remember, you can still join in anytime. If you'd like me to share your work here, just remember to use #creatingwithcassie. Have fun stabbing stuff!
Well, after a whole lotta water, soap, roving, blood (only one stabbing, I promise!), sweat and tears (which proved helpful with the wet felting), the felted clutch is complete! Granted, I only started it last weekend, but this was definitely time-consuming and a step outta my comfort zone. The only other item I've ever successfully wet felted was the necklace I shared last week. So I'm on the proud side of DIY-town with this one. I've been sharing one minute tutorials nearly every day over here. I put those short clips all together to create this one which, hopefully, will help you understand how this felted clutch was created:
Y'all know I love needle-felting so that portion of the clutch was enjoyable. I just hit play on whatever show I'm watching on Netflix (fellow Art Scout Laura got me hooked on Breaking Bad) and go to work. The wet felting, being something new for me, def had a bit of a learning curve. I found myself asking, "am I done yet?" over and over. I ultimately threw the thing in the washer to speed up the felting process.
Something I also discovered is that wet felting requires a LOT of roving where as needle felting only takes a small amount. I do have a lot of roving on hand thanks to my mom-in-law who is always hooking me up. A visit to an alpaca farm a couple moons ago also made it so I have a big stash.
Since I was using this as kind of a demo for my free online felting class, which, if you've not seen what folks created that night, check here and also search Insta with the hashtag #creatingwithcassie, I decided to keep the motif simple. Well, that was the plan, anyway. But I'm kind of a more is more is more person, so this is the result. By the way, if you missed Wednesday night's session, here you go:
It was so fun...even if my LIVE creations were lackluster!
I wanted a bright color on the inside so I opted for yellow roving when wet felting.
Nice and bright for me to find my stuffs.
While at an estate sale the other day, I picked up a vintage clutch with a strap like this across the back. I decided to add something similar to mine. I'm so tempted to make another clutch with a vertical strap and wear it fanny pack style. Please give me permission to do this!
My grannie hands fit, hurray!
I had to teach myself how to do the blanket stitch to finish the edge...I'd never done a blanket stitch before. Isn't that nutz?
I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. I truly love the look of all things felted!
Until next Wednesday night at 8pm CST right here, have fun felting!
Labels: elementary art, vintage clothing
art blog,
art teacher blog,
cassie stephens,
felting,
felting projects for kids,
fiber arts,
fiber projects,
needle felting,
sewing,
sewing projects for kids,
weaving projects for kids,
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