Project by Gage Evans from Arvada, Colo.
Gage loves to bake bread--in fact, she has been doing it since she was a little girl. When she discovered the art of felting, she identified the craft with the art of baking bread, and a match was made. Gage has been making crafts with fiber for a while, and felting has turned out to be her great love. She uses the technique to make a variety of different items, like dolls, hats, scarves, even jewelry! In this project, she makes a "bead buddy" charm with hand-felted wool beads combined with a variety of glass, ceramic and polymer clay beads.
Materials:
dyed sheep's wool
low-rimmed pan (such as a cookie sheet)
hot soapy water
various beads
wire
awl
scissors
sink
wire pliers for jewelry
Steps:
1. Take long pieces of wool roving and lay them down about three layers in one direction. Roll up as if making a jelly roll.
2. Wet hands with hot soapy water and roll fiber until it has a "skin". Cut about 1 inch off the end and roll the cut off piece gently into a ball. Keep hands damp.
3. Rinse and let dry.
4. Use an awl to poke hole into the felt bead for the bead.
5. Feed wire into the hole and then string wire with "face" bead.
6. Feed exposed wire through a tiny bead and loop wire to go back through the head bead to secure into place.
7. For arms and legs, use awl to poke holes in side of felt bead in an "X" pattern.
8. String beads onto one arm/leg wire. Again use a tiny bead to help secure wire into place.
Website: www.fiberfriends.com
E-mail: billbailey@idcomm.com
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