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 Crafts
& Hobbies @ amazon.com
Kids'
Crafts @ Amazon.com This week's Craft of the Week is brought to us by Janelle
Hardy a homeschooling mom from Australia. She has shared with us
her technique to make felt- that wonderfully versatile and easy to use material.
This is perfect for Christmas and holiday ornaments and gifts.
Making felt or felting, as it is called, is a great group activity. This can be done
in the classroom or in your neighborhood. The kids will love it!!
Here's a little more about Janelle:
I have been home educating my five children for a long time
now. We are Aussie's and live on a 6000 acre farm in NSW. The children love raising
poultry and making loads of noise outside. My husband and oldest son work from home,
designing web pages and web tools software.
We enjoy getting together with the other home educating families in our area which
is where we learned to felt. We aren't experts but have done it a few times now. The best
thing about it is that it is simple and can be done by all age groups. We've had mums, as
well as youths down to 3 year olds trying it out. We've made all sorts of things
from tea pot stands and floor rugs, to hats.
Felting: How to do it
You need clean, carded, combed fleece with which to felt.
Merino is best. It can't have been treated to be machine washable or it won't work. 1kg
would give at least 10 children a good turn at it.
What you need:
- matchstick blind (curtain)
- nylon curtaining (kitchen or shower curtaining.
- string
- dishwashing liquid
- water
- squeezy drink bottle or water sprayer
- somewhere to spill lots of water like a concrete floor or
grassy yard.
What you do:
- Unroll the blind onto a table. Layer the fleece onto the
blind using 3 thin layers placed in alternate directions. For example: across, then
up and down, then across again.
- Cover the wool with the nylon curtain and wet thoroughly
with the water in the squeezy bottle, while gently flattening the wool with your
other hand. Give a good squirt of the liquid soap across the felt in a bit of a zig
zag. Smooth it in with your hands.
- Roll up the blind and tie the roll firmly with string at
both ends.
- Roll backwards and forwards for 10 - 30 minutes depending on
the felting qualities of the wool. (I don't think we've had to do it for more than 15
minutes.) The kids love taking turns at this or doing in pairs.
- Unroll and test the felt by pulling gently to determine if
the felt is strong. There should be a crimped "seersucker" look.
- Take the nylon off and bunch up your felt ready to throw it.
(a NOISY job) Throwing it shrinks it further and gets out the rest of the
water. Rinse and repeat throwing (the automatic washing machine is good here too).
- If your piece of felt is too big to throw, walk or jump on
it with clean feet.
Hints:
- If more than one child is putting his felt in the same
blind, make sure they aren't touching at all because they will felt together.
- I wouldn't be too ambitious to begin. (hats in one piece
etc.) The felt shrinks a lot during the process so starting with a flat piece is the
best idea. Later on this flat piece can be made into table mats, glasses case,
purse, pencil case etc.
- Have you tried wool embroidery? Get a book from the library
because felt looks great embroidered.
Children's Christmas Stockings
This craft is for all ages and can be
personalized even further with a little imagination. You can draw a simple stocking on
paper that can function as a pattern. You can use felt in any color you desire. Just check
your fabric store for the most complete selection of felt. It's never too early for
Christmas!
Felt Cut-out Christmas Tree Decorations
 Felt is a wonderful and versatile
fabric to work with. It is so simple to use in many craft projects. I love the fact that
the edges of felt are always finished and don't require hemming. Pinking shears make nice
scalloped edges. These felt ornaments make beautiful holiday gifts and can be
personalized.
Cat Favors
 This
week's Craft of the Week is brought to us from the popular activity book by Willie Ripple
author of Halloween School Parties. Willie's book not only has hundreds of Halloween
crafts but also includes ideas for foods, games, and other activities to celebrate
Halloween. Cat Favors can easily be made by children who are 4 and older. They make
terrific bookmarks and are a great activity for the kids.
Felt Book Marks
The kids loved making them because there are so many ways to create your own
mark.The felt is terrific because it doesn't run- so no sewing needed here. Have a super
time! |
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The Art of Feltmaking:
Basic Techniques for Making Jewelry, Miniatures, Dolls,
Buttons, Wearables, Puppets, Masks and Fine Art Pieces
by Anne Einset Vickrey
 
The essential materials of feltmaking are basic--wool, hot soapy water, a pair of
scissors, and your hands--yet the results are anything but simple. This attractive book
explains how to get started in the craft, then thoroughly explores making ropes, beads,
and flat pieces of felt (the three basic feltmaking techniques). From there, the felt you
create can become sculpted figures, flowers, butterflies, masks, vessels, puppets, buttons
and other clothing embellishments, various wearables, and even a miniature scene with
manipulatable figures. All of the techniques and projects are carefully explained in
step-by-step detail and supported by clear color photos. Most of the items have a lovely
folk-art quality, with vivid colors and handmade charm.
Easy to Make Felt
Ornaments for Christmas and Other Occasions
by Betty Deems
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