beetlegrass

"NO" Pillow

Another needle-felted family saying to show. Want to classify some of these into "NO" pillows, instead of "THROW" pillows. (See what I did there?)

This saying came about when one of my nieces (then aged 5 or 6?) was learning to swim, and was asking family members if they wanted to watch her doggy-paddle. She was met with agreeable, enthusiastic responses from the adults, but THEN she asked her 2-years-younger brother. 

He said, "Sure." Then, with the deadpan, droll delivery that only a 3-year-old can muster, he followed with, "Sure means no."

Now when one gives a less-than-joyous "sure" to a request, this saying rears its head.

 

I used roving to needlefelt this time, instead of using thick/thin yarn. It took longer to build up the letterforms, but, eh, so what? The wet-felted side balls have been couched. 

Craft items, concepts & images are © Megan E. Jeffery. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Clock, Lobsters

Yesterday's flea market "haul". (If you get 2 things, can it be considered a haul?}

Nifty clock, $2. It doesn't work, but no clocks/watches in my house do. Join the club. I'm also in the market for one of those little chalets that lets you know what the weather's gonna be like. With the little guy who comes to the fore with an umbrella when rain's predicted, and the little gal who shows her face for sunny times. Love these types of things. Probably cuz they were on the what-not shelves growing up.

The reef cost me all of 50¢, and it gives The Lobster Theodore and Rocky another place to hide while trying to escape "Der CRAW".

The name, concept & design of these puppets and their stories are the property of Megan E. Jeffery. These images are © Megan E. Jeffery. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Fingerless Gloves, Orange & Purple

Here are a couple pairs of fingerless gloves, made from felted wool sweaters. The arms of the sweaters were used, the cuff now being oriented the other way. 

I cut a slit for the thumb hole, and blanket stitched around this. Using thick/thin yarn for this makes for a naturally-occuring scallop. Did this technique for the edges of the gloves, doing 2 - 3 layers' worth. Make sure you match up the thin part of the yarn to the thin part of the yarn for the next go 'round, as this accentuates this scallop. Not doing so just looks flat & bleh. 

I made the orange gloves first, and the purple pair second, and "discovered" that a sweater that has felted up more tightly -- but not so tightly that it's hard to work with -- works better for gloves. See how the purple pair fits better? Keep in mind, too, that the gloves will loosen up a bit with wearing, so a snug fit should still work. If your gloves turn out a bit loose, you can always wear a pair of fingered gloves underneath, OR stuff wads of newspaper in the gaps.

The embellishments use metal key rings as an infrastructure, an idea that I got from Second-Time Cool: The Art of Chopping Up a Sweater. GREAT book, one worth owning.

* While I did NOT hire a hand model for this shoot, please note that I DID at least change my shirt. * 

Designs & images are © Megan E. Jeffery. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

SweaterScarf: Rust/Brown

 

It's always fun photographing the stuff you make outdoors. Beyond not wanting to look like a Bozo in front of the neighbors, there's the How-Do-I-Do-This-Without-Hammering-a-Nail-into-a-Perfectly-Good-Tree factor that must be considered. For this shot, I wound a loop of English ivy around the branch, and hung the coat hanger from that. All those years makin' stuff outta weeds as a kid is payin' off BIG TIME.

The ribbing on a brown sweater, upper left, is just one more way to get pattern & texture into a scarf.

Designs & images are © Megan E. Jeffery. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

SweaterScarf: Sky Blue/Gray

Another project from last year that just needed a few finishing touches to officially be declared "DONE". This scarf is comprised of 6" squares of felted wool sweaters, sewn together and embellished with stitching.

I've never considered myself to be a "blue" person, but am so pleased with the way this scarf came out that I'm keeping it for myself. So there. I sometimes pin this together with a Sheriff's badge. People ask me if I'm the Sheriff. And they're serious. I tell them, yes, I am, and that there's been a big uniform shake-up in the Sheriff's Department. Kevlar? Pah! WOOL.

 

I try to showcase "fancy" sweater squares, like these Fair Isle ones, in areas that will be seen the most -- at the throat, and at the ends. It's like they say, "If ya got 'em, flaunt 'em."

Designs & images are © Megan E. Jeffery. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Sheepish

A little embarrassed that I finished these puppets maybe a year ago (?) and never showed them -- decided it was high time I photographed them & slapped them up here.

The 2 sheep above are sporting doll sweaters, knit by my sister. Some adjustments to the length of the sweaters' arms had to be made, as finger puppet arms are much shorter than yer average doll arm. Tucking & stitching seemed to do the trick. I added some duplicate stitching to the sweater fronts to give a Fair Isle look. 

The sweaters on these 2 sheep were made from felted sweaters -- cut, folded, glued, stitched, etc. Will resort to any & all means of man-handling to make things work the way they're supposed-ta!

BTW, Linsey-woolsey is a strong, coarse fabric with a linen or cotton warp and a woolen weft. Origin late 15th cent.: from linsey, originally denoting a coarse linen fabric (probably from Lindsey, a village in Suffolk, England, where the material was first made) + WOOL + -sey as a rhyming suffix.

 

Above are the close-ups of the extra detail on 2 of the sweater fronts. The black stitching on the right was done with 1 strand of embroidery floss ... and a really sharp, thin needle.

The names, concepts & designs of these puppets & their stories are the property of Megan E. Jeffery. These images are © Megan E. Jeffery. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Vermont

Spent 4 days in Vermont, cramming in all sorts of autumn-y goodness. First on the agenda was the Vermont Sheep & Wool Festival @ the Tunbridge Fairgrounds. A rainy rainy day, but what does that matter when there are woolen things to look at and a lamburger to consume? This is why umbrellas, hoods, and absorbent paper toweling were invented.

'F' is for fiber, fall, fog, and filling up your flip-flop with mud. (Poor shoe choice; my error.)

Border collie demos... in the distance is a sign that reads, "Danger Poison Ivy"... hmmm... eradicate the scourge, or make a sign? Easier to make a sign.

Spent $10.50 on my "habit" -- the hand-dyed wool (blue, red, yellow) will be fun to use as puppet hair, and am eager to try needlefelting with it.

It should really come as no surprise that the MEN are housed in the BEEF barn.

Went to Quechee Gorge the next day... maybe they should rename it "Quechee Gorge-OUS?"     

Oh, come on. You would have said it too.

   

Everywhere you look, there's tactile, textile inspiration.

Next went to the Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS) to look @ owls, hawks, etc. (Oh, joy! Oh, raptors!) Went to their talk/demo on "Falconry, the Sport of Kings". A grossness occurred when the lecturer, with hawk on arm, reached into her fanny pack to retrieve a dead mouse for him to eat. Ewww!!! How can ANYONE still be wearing a fanny pack???

We then went hiking @ Deer Leap, up the observation lookout trail. Here's a view from where we parked. The top of the white crag is where we ended up.

And here is the view from the crag, overlooking the Green Mountains and of course the road. Only butt-surfed once on the way down the hill. Am only a novice. Hope for a longer ride next time.

Tried to fit apple-picking in on the same day, but that's like shoving 10 pounds of autumn into a 5-lb. bag.

These images are © Megan E. Jeffery. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

WIP: Head with Hair

Since the last time you saw this hand puppet head, I've added hair, eyebrows, freckles, and a bit more color to the lips.

To remind you of her origins:

1st step

2nd step

I started the hair off by fabric gluing on rust-colored roving, then needle-felting that into the overall shape. I thought that was going to be the complete 'look' after a night's worth of work. But the next morning, the hair just looked like a hat. You know how when some people dye their own hair, and it's just ONE shade, with light unable to bounce off of it, and it looks like a bad Halloween wig? Well, that's kinda how this looked, so I knew I had to add other colors to emulate real hair.

I did this by unraveling and pulling apart some variegated yarn, and needle-felting those pieces in. Took lots of time, because I was kinda making it up as I went along, but like the results of a Victorian/Edwardian hairdo with pink in the mix.

Above: same yarn! Now everything I make can live in harmony.

The back of her head looks like a baked good.

These designs & images are © Megan E. Jeffery.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

July 14th

François the French Bulldog would like to wish you a very...

He actually said that in French; I translated for you.

The name, concept & design of this puppet and his stories are the property of Megan E. Jeffery.
These images are © Megan E. Jeffery.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

The name, concept & design of this puppet and his stories are the property of Megan E. Jeffery.
These images are © Megan E. Jeffery.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

WIP: Heads, Hands, & a Hook

Got the first round of painting done on the hand puppet parts this past weekend.

I say "first round" because more details will need to be added later on. 

Since the last time I showed these works-in-progress, I gessoed them, then painted on a layer of watered-down Burnt Umber acrylic (to give shadows, etc.). Then added the flesh colors with a combo of acrylics & gouache. "Dr. I've got a gouache in my side!"

Looking forward to figuring out the rest of these characters.

These designs & images are © Megan E. Jeffery.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.