The First of Three New Pouches

Here the first completed pouch of the felted pieces I wrote about earlier. I have so much fun with these! This one is made from merino wool and cotton (lining) with machine quilting, beads and Stewart Gill Alchemy paint. The detail photo is from the front - it shows the multi bead closure. I also had fun using my Kumihimo disk to make the the handle -something a bit different from my usual simple felted braid.

I had wanted to play with the Kumihomo discs some more anyway - and these short handles are perfect for trying yarn combinations. I had gotten the discs (both the square and plate versions) last year at Houston Quilt Festival. Helen Deighan had them in her booth - and it looked like something I might enjoy trying. Helen's books are always pretty straight forward (at least to me) and I generally am able to get what I need in order to play "my way" from them quickly. I wish I had bought more fibers to play with - but at the time I had no idea what, or indeed, if I would find a use for this technique. Now that I have found a use - I think Joggles will be the perfect place to get fibers from - what a great selection they have ! I think Joggles offers one of the most complete selections of textile arts supplies on the web. They do a great job ! By the way, Joggles has what looks like a great option to using the Kumihimo plate - it's called the Diva Custom Cord Maker. If I could afford to get it - I would...looks like it would work very well. I always really have to restrain myself when I go to the Joggles website !

Just found out that Sue Bleiweiss will be teaching a new felting class through Joggles this Fall. I'm looking forward to because I have been wanting to explore Nuno felting - and that's one of the things she plans to cover.