Thursday, October 6, 2011

The Bags are felted!

I was hoping to get to felting the bags yesterday, but it didn't happen, so I jumped right on it this morning. I usually do my felting in the washing machine, running a small, hot load, and flipping through the agitation cycle 3 or 4 times (without rinsing, saving the hot water) until things are felted to my satisfaction. The instructions for these bags suggested felting in the dryer. (?) I had never tried that, or even heard of it, but I'll try anything once.

It worked great! I ran the bags through one wash cycle, pulled them out dripping, and put them in the dryer for 10 (!) minutes. They came out like this:

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They were still dripping, but the smaller one was nicely felted. The larger one could probably have gone a little longer, but I think it is fine:

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I didn't get a picture of the green one in its unfelted floppiness. Even after felting it is pretty big. I tried to include enough information so you can see the difference in size. The blue/white one covers 2 boards, edging over into a 3rd board, the green one completely covers 3 boards, overflowing on to the fourth. I have to measure them now, so I can pick up the zippers, and I hope they are dry enough by Saturday to take to Michigan.

Do you like the color of the green one? I am pretty pleased by how the 4 different greens blended. I tried to do a gradation, and then I worried the colors were too different and wouldn't blend, but I think it is nice.

It was a race (again!) to finish before the yarn ran out. I skimped on a couple of the zipper facing rows, and ended up with a very small ball of the lightest green left, just enough to stitch down the facings and strap loops.

Today I hope to finish the cover for the bass. Wish me luck!

Monday, October 3, 2011

Doily

I love making doilies... but they do not fit into my lifestyle. DH will tell you that any horizontal surface is an invitation for clutter, so even if I had places to put doilies, they would get covered by stuff. So I was thrilled when I saw a floor doily on the internet some time ago. I immediately got out some of my old crochet books (The pattern I picked came from a magazine issued in 1991! I knew it would come in handy.).

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This went so fast it was almost scary, and it turned out too big for the place I was going to put it. The color was for my bathroom, but I do not have this much floor space in my bathroom.

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It will probably go on the floor in my bedroom, (on the old shag carpet) along with the braided rug vrom my grandma and a felted/embroidered rug I got from ebay from India.

I have to get going. I have a big project to do this week. DH bought an upright bass, and it needs a cover so we can store it at church. As "seamstress for the band" I accept this challenge!