What You Will Need
~*Artfelt® merino wool roving (comes in 50 gram hanks of solid
and multi-colored, and kits)
~*Artfelt® merino wool pencil roving (shown at right)
~*Artfelt® Paper (which is the key to this process)
~*Artfelt® Tacking Needles (barbed-not for kids!)
~*Artfelt® 1" thick Tacking Board (work mat)
~**Polyform Products Premo! Sculpey polymer clay (in colors to
match or mix together to match your chosen roving packs)
and some scrap clay
~**Polyform Products Translucent Liquid Sculpey (TLS)
~**Sculpey Clay Gun Extruer (optional: and a calking gun which makes life easier!)
~Purse magnet clasp set (clay button will conceal
hardware) available through CreateForLess.com
~Bamboo "U" purse handle with drilled holes (at CreateForLess.com)
~Metal Purse Frame Silver 5.5"x 3.75" (CreateForLess.com)
~Lacis Purse Handle Clips Horseshoe Silver Plate (CreateForLess.com)
~1-1 1/2" bar pinbacks for felted flowers
~French barrette clips (any desired length)
~Aleene's 7800, or Goop or E-6000 all-purpose adhesive in tube
~Sewing machine or needle and coordinating project thread
or embroidery floss and large floss needle
~Stiff 1/2" stencil brush or an old clay-dedicated toothbrush
~Small size phillips screw driver for horseshoe hardware
*You can find felting products, projects and instructions at the
Felting Basics (Fashion Cuffs)
1. Cut a rectangle of Artfelt Paper that is 3" wide x your
wrist/upper hand measurment plus 2" in length.
2. Holding your hands about 6" apart on a half of the width of the
roving, pull a piece off that's the length of the paper. Place
the paper on the tacking board. Lay the roving out flat on
the paper lengthwise (horizontally) as shown on the right.
This layer will only slightly show on the finished cuff,
so color placement isn't too important. Once covered, pull
some blended areas of roving off the large strand and line them
up vertically (shown at left).
3. Lay the pieces vertically onto the first layer of roving in a
pleasing pattern. This second layer is "cross-hatched", going in
another direction than the first layer. Using the tacking needle,
punch down through the roving and the mat, just enough so
that you can pick up and shape the project and the roving
will not fall off. Do NOT "needle felt" the entire piece.
Gently pull the entire project form the board to check
if it is tacked down.
4. Place the project back on the tacking board. Pull off some long
strands of pencil roving and lay them in a please squiggle pattern
on the project. Tack the roving down.
5. Pull the project off of the board. This photo shows the under
side (back) of the piece. You should see the roving poking out
the backside. If there is a section of white paper with no areas of roving,
place it back on the board and tack down the area with the needle.
6. Place the piece onto a folded bath towel and soak the project
with room temperature water (not hot!) using a squeeze type bottle
or a spray bottle. The project must be completely saturated with
water. Push the water into the wool as it will try to resist
the water. When the roving is dark and no longer fluffy, place it
on the provided plastic.
7. Fold the plastic over to the top of the piece and press down.
All of the roving should stick to the plastic, if not, set back on
the towel and soak it in water until it sticks.
8. Fold the plastic so it covers the piece and both ends as well.
Press the plastic, compressing the roving and smooth it out. Turn
on your clothes dryer at medium heat so it will be pre-heated
for the next step.
9. Begin to boil water in a kettle or pan with a pour spout for
the next step. Loosly roll the plastic into a jelly roll and place
it into a piece of nylons or thin nylon type knee high or
trouser sock. Tie a second knot or place a twist tie on opened end,
close to the project. Place in the dryer with a couple dry
towels for 10 minutes. Unwrap and check the piece. If it is not
felted enough, place it back in the dryer for 5 minute intervals,
until it is to the desired felted thickness. The longer it stays
in the smaller and thicker the felt will get. The paper will
not shrink but will wrinkle. Larger projects will take longer,
some up to 45 min. to felt properly.
10. Unwrap the felt and set it in your kithen sink, paper side up.
Pour boiling water over the piece and immediately the paper will
disolve. Rinse the project in hot water to catch any paper residue
on the peice. Place the wet felt between layers of a dry towel
and press to remove excess water. Lay the cuff flat to dry, or
iron it on both sides to speed the process and make it smoother.
If making a sculpted or curved project,
shape and stretch it over a prop to dry.
11. Place a lightweight kitchen towel over the felt and iron it
to smooth it out and to dry it flat. Clip any stray fibers.
Sometimes these make a piece interesting so this is your
choice. Your felt fabric is ready to use and finish at this
point. At the right I have shown a variation cuff with
a different pattern added with pencil roving.
POLYMER CLAY BASICS
1. Polymer clay needs a little conditioning to soften and prepare
it for use. Cut pieces from the cube, warm them in your hand making
a fist and then begin to roll it. You can also run it through
a clay-dedicated pasta/clay machine to speed this process.
2. To create a matching clay button, make a mold of an interesting
textured plastic or metal shank style button. Form a ball of
conditioned scrap clay and press onto a ceramic tile. Spritz the
button and the clay with water, then press the button into the
clay until to top edges are even. Pull the button shank to remove
the button. Bake the mold at 275o for 30 minutes ( or according to
your clay brand instructions) in a pre-heated oven. Remove the
mold and allow to cool completely.
3. Attach the two-part magnetic clasps to the ends of the cuff near
the top corner, by pushing the prongs throught the felt, sliding
on the disk and bending the flaps inward till flat with pliers.
Place one on the outside of the cuff and one on the inside so
they touch. Roll a ball of clay smaller then the mold diameter.
This can be a solid color or you can marble more then one color
together with clay colors to match your roving. Spritz the clay
mold and the clay ball with water and press the clay into the mold.
Use a craft blade to cut away the excess clay above the top of the
mold cavity.
4. Form another clay ball using scrap clay and pinch the top half
to use as a handle. Press this clay down onto the molded button
and pull up with one quick motion. Separate the handle, place the
button on a tile and bake as directed. When cool, you may choose to
antique the button so the details show up even more. I apply
'metal paint' and wipe off the excess paint quickly with a lint-free
paper towel. The photo on the right also shows how the handle
was attached tothelargest felted purse in the show samples photo
at the top of the page.
You can create endless projects with your felt and clay accents!
Here are some more ideas to try.
For the black and gray purse:
I cut out a pattern that had two extended tabs that lined
up with my clay covered bamboo handle. I felted 2 layers of
black roving then I added gray pencil roving curved lines and
wood grain shapes in between.
Enlarge the first diagram below (on left) which is the purse pattern,
200% larger, in a photo program (or scan at 200%). This way it
will print out almost filling an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of paper.
You will then fold the Artfelt paper and place the pattern dotted
line on the fold. Refer to the second diagram (right) for what
the finished paper shape will be when unfolded. Clip where indicated.
Add your roving to the paper and felt as descibed above.
NOTE: Felted fabric will not fray so edges do not need hemming. When
dry, turn the felted fabric right sides together (so backside
is facing out) and sew the purse side edges just up to the bottom
of the tabs, then stop so the tabs remain loose. Sew the fornt
purse tabs to the back of the purse tabs, then turn the purse
right side out. There will be a gap (hole) at the base of the tabs.
Insert the "U" shape hardware into the holes. Add the magnetic clasps by
pushing the prongs of the "outie" half, through
the purse flap fabric, adding the disk, and line it up with the
front of the purse (add "innie" part) under the flap. Glue a no-hole clay button
to the purse flap to conceal the clasp with E6000 and dry flat.
To cover the bamboo handles with clay, you must first seal them by
applying a thin layer of TLS to the surface and baking it for
15 min. at 275o. This will take away the shine and add a layer
that the clay can stick to. Roll a rope of silver clay and flatten
it to 1/16" thick. Cover the handle and re-poke the holes for the
hardware. Because my handle was still to narrow for the hardware,
I added a rectangle shaped strip around the bottom 1/2" of
the ends. Using a toothpick or needle, impress vertical and
horizontal lines to create the same bamboo texture that
was originally on the handle (see finished purse with flower in
the previous step photo above). Add the hardware and bake as
directed. Allow to cool. The horseshoe hardware should be slipped
into the sideofthe tabs, then pushed onto the clay handle and the
metal bars inserted into the horseshoe. Tightent he bar screw end
with a small phillips screwdriver to secure. That's it!
Flower Pins to Wear or Add to Purses
For the flower pins, I cut out simple flower shapes, felted them
then hand stitched them together so they were layered. I felt
1-2 green 'petals' that become leaves on the bottom layer usually.
Evening Purse with Clay Covered Metal Handle
The purse above uses a metal purse handle that is actually made
to string beads on.
Remove the silver square caps by unscewing them. Extrude a
long rope of navy clay and wrap it around the metal wire area,
leaving a space in the center for a solid mauve color clay and
the threaded ends uncovered. The wrapped area really looks
like several tiny beads. Then texture the mauve with a stencil
brush for a matte effect. I made a cabochon button from the mauve
clay and wrapped one strand of navy rope around the base to match.
This barrette was made from a felted scrap that I cut off of another
project. It is simply glued onto a barrette clip with 7800 adhesive.
This photo shows the phone or glasses holder that is made from a
felted sheet with an angled top edge. It is folded twice lengthwise
so after I stitched it closed, there were actually two sections
inside. The finished project with a rock shaped matching
clay button covering the magnet clasp, is pictured in the show
samples photo at the top of the page.
