Thursday, February 23, 2012

mushrooms and flower brooches from felted stones


Since I shared my tutorial for making felted wool stones the other day, I thought I'd also share some ideas for using those stones that don't turn out exactly as you like.  Maybe the color isn't what you like or it it didn't turn out quite as smooth as you'd hoped, there's still lots of opportunity in that wool.


For this first one I've liberated the stone by making a cross cut through the bottom of the wool.


I needled the flaps down until I have a little cap.

I had a piece of felted "rope" on hand already so I cut off a piece, tucked it into the cap, and grabbed some roving.


I used the handle of my felting needle to tuck in a good layer between the stem and the cap, then needled it in place, being careful not to poke all the way to the outside of the cap.  That would make the white wool show on the outside of the cap and it wouldn't look very nice.


I needled on a few white spots and just like that I have a cute toadstool.


Another idea is to use the wool in a flower brooch.  You can see I've cut open the bottoms of the smaller stones but cut the wool off the long rock into two somewhat equal pieces.


I flattened the green piece and sewn through it to act as a leaf.  I've left the open end alone for now but once it's sewn to the other pieces, the open end will be sewn shut on the underside of the flower.


I took the two blue pieces, cut a few slits for the petals of the flowers, and turned the pieces inside out which causes it to flare out a bit.  I rounded the petals a little then sewed over them with a blanket stitch.


I cut the smallest piece with a fringe.


After stacking all of the flower pieces onto the leaf, I tucked a wool bead in the middle and sewed them all together down through the center of the flower.  I took a few extra stitches through the open end of the leaf and attached it securely to the underside of the flower. 

Stitch on a pinback and you have yourself a brooch, or sew it to a headband, or you could tie it to a present...


The best part is that you still have those rocks to work with again.


I keep a set of stones on hand just for this purpose.  You can make cute little pouches this way, or finger puppets, or the projects I've just covered...so much possibility!  So the next time your rocks don't turn out as you wanted, don't think of them as mistakes.  Rock your mistakes instead!  (I know, I'm such a nerd)

Have fun, everyone!

17 comments:

Sonia / COZY MEMORIES said...

ah, you smart, fun & ressourceful girl !
love you to bits !
you rock the flows for sure !
xoxo

Sally said...

YOU rock!
xo

Amy said...

These pieces are super cute! Love that you let nothing go to waste. I think it gets really hard to part with our experiments that might not go as planned. You made lemonade!

k said...

love the felted toadstool!! How clever to felt over a rock!!

Lora said...

Okay. I wasn't going to try the felted rocks, but now I think I must. I just want the mistakes to make flowers!

lynn bowes said...

I love you so much.

Maybe it's the acai berry drink talking but I am fascinated with your productivity and creativity.

Scrapiana said...

What brilliant ideas! Love they way you've rescued your so-called mistakes, Lisa.

As luck would have it, I just spotted this on the front page of Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/listing/80494674/hanging-nest-playful-unique-storage-pod?ref=fp_treasury_10

Thought of you, Lisa, as I know you like to take your work outside. I don't see why you couldn't hang one in a sheltered spot and see if a little bird might call it home. :)

pam ehlers stec said...

What great ideas, Lisa! I love that little mushroom. After I read your post I liberated my felt rejects from the rock pile outside so I could use them in another project. I discovered that even though the outer felt was kind of lumpy, once I cut them open the inside felt surface next to the stone was quite nice. So glad I didn't throw them away!

Laura said...

Thankyou so much for sharing these projects with us! I love all of them... especially since you've covered how to make use of your mistakes!

kristin said...

i love your vision. your ability to play is infectious...thank you for inspiring. xx

Annie said...

Ah, but such a generous nerd to share all these tips and delights with us :D

Seriously, thank you x

nini said...

Thank you so much for sharing your ideas and knowledge. I love reading your tutorials.

I have one question, do you use "ordinary" straight needles to do the needle work on stones or those curved ones?

Thank you in advance.
Sunny greetings from Slovenia!

Lisa at lil fish studios said...

Eirlys - love that pod! Now you've got my wheels turning...

pam - so glad you rescued them!

Thanks so much, everyone!

nini - I use a straight needle, not a curved one, simply because that's what I'm comfortable with. I have a set of antique needles that I just love and will use until they break. :)

antArtiste said...

Very interesting tutorials and ispiring too.. Thank you so much..
Dox..

Amanda Pedro said...

these are just gorgeous. As I always say in crafting, "there are no mistakes, just opportunities for embellishment!"

thanks for sharing. Now I'm getting the bug to wet felt again.

Zdolność-tworzenia said...

Widzę, ze kamienie to Twoja miłość. Piękne inspiracje.

Kittie Wren said...

Thank you for such lovely inspiration! you are very talanted and so genorous to share! i think it might have been said above already but "you rock!" ;) x

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