Patches for Strangefolk

I'm getting ready to travel to St. Louis this coming weekend for the Strangefolk Festival!  I am taking many new creations.  Hat and Mitten sets are some of my favorites.  As you will see, the colors and textures and patterns on the wool sweaters I find to recycle are so inspiring.  But, this past weekend, I had fun creating a group of patches.  I dredged the idea from the back of my brain.  Several years ago, my husband needed me to cover up an area on a shirt he loved to wear. I searched the internet and did eventually find something  that would work as a patch, expensive though!......but now, I have some IDEAS for making unique, original patches, even custom designed patched if requested!

This elephant is one of a series of patches.  The elephants were originally part of a piece of fabric made in India.  The garment made of the fabric was no longer serviceable.  I stitched the elephants onto pieces of heavy, woven wool from a blanket.  The Patch can be sewn onto a garment, messenger bag or used as a decoration on a pillow or.....use your imagination.  It can sewn on by hand using contrasting or matching yarn and a blanket stitch or sewn on by machine.

The piece of wool used in this hat and mitten set has lots of texture especially in the raised dots.

The heathery green wool used for this hat and mitten set is very unusual.  It is very Limey!

If you are near St. Louis, Saturday or Sunday, you culd come see the 150 vendors of indie art, the great food booths and the super  bands.  Check it out on their website:   Strangefolk 

Wool Felted Brooches

I have not perfected them by any means, but my first attempts were enjoyable. I have had lots of interest in brooches, so I will keep experimenting til I arrive at somewhere that makes me smile.
If I do birds, someone asks for flowers, if I do flowers someone asks for birds, so I do what the wool says.

These brooches can have a pin back or a velcro back or can be thread tacked to a purse, hat, sweater, scarf, almost anything. Check out the purple purse on Etsy. It has a brooch attached. The brooch is made of cottons mostly, but is certainly funky.

This style has been the most popular so far.

The birds are migrating....

...so spring is soon to arrive. I've perfected my birds. I definitely had an aha moment. I've been using a single needle as I needlefelt. I have poked in from the sides to provide a cleaner line, and to add lots of depth that wasn't there before! It's hard to show in a picture, but the actual bird looks so much better. Some even have a wing that is only partly attached, so it is 3-dimensional.

I am going to rework a lot of my needlefelted birds that I plan to take to the upcoming shows.