Even crafters get the blues, and this week’s project disasters have had us running the spectrum from aquamarine to indigo.
We planned to do our “Five Ornaments in an Evening” extravaganza for today’s column, but decided to switch gears when three of our five attempts fell, shall we say, somewhere short of perfection.
Experienced crafters know that this happens from time to time; novices, consider yourselves warned.
That said, we’ve decided to offer one of the two ornaments that didn’t end on a sour note for this column, and it may be better as a single project in the long run, as it’s a bit more time consuming than anticipated.
If you tried needle felting when we presented it back in the early months of this year, here’s your chance to dig out the leftover fiber, needles and get a little more practice.
You can make ornaments using fiber leftover from previous felting projects that are both simple and different.
As you can see by taking a look at our samples, the colors may not be the traditional hues of the season, but they can add interest to an eclectic tree or serve as ornamentation on wreaths or gift packages.
To make the ornaments, you’ll need the fiber, something to form a core ball, felting needles (we’ve found them locally at Ben Franklin in Monroe and Pacific Fabrics &Crafts in Everett; they are also available online) and a piece of thick foam rubber.
You have several options for making the core ball of your ornament: inexpensive white batting, extra fiber in a color you aren’t wild about and want to use up, a piece of wadded up pantyhose, or a foam ball.
If you use the white batting or ugly fiber, simply form it into a ball by repeatedly punching it with the felting needle until it holds its shape.
Be very careful when using felting needles, as they are very sharp and have barbs on the sides to catch the fibers barbs that can also catch the skin on your fingers if you punch too zealously without paying attention.
It’s best to do your punching on top of a thick piece of foam rubber so the needles will stick the foam and not your hands or lap.
When the fiber has been formed into a firm ball, add small pieces of leftover fiber to the surface of the ball by gently punching them into place. After the pieces are arranged as you desire, continue punching until the top layer is smooth and securely in place.
You may want to consider using multiple needles to make the punching go faster. If so, you’ll need a needle holder, which can be ordered online. We used both a double- and a six-needle holder to complete our samples.
Another option if you are using fiber for the core is to mix the colors together into one big ball before punching. This will give the ornament a marbled look, like our red and white sample in the top left-hand corner of the photo.
To make the ornaments using the pantyhose or foam ball, lay the fiber over the top of either and punch into place following the same procedure as above.
If you use foam, you may want to use old needles and keep them separate from your “good” felting needles for use in future projects where foam is used for a core. We’ve done several projects using foam and the needles we used have gotten a bit dull, which makes felting on pure fiber go less smoothly than desired.
When the ornaments are formed, use a very long sewing needle to run a length of gold thread or ribbon through the ball to form a hanger. We ran the thread through the ball once, added a bell on one side, then ran the thread back through the ball and tied it off to form a loop.
For foam balls, you may have to run the needle through a bit off-center if it isn’t long enough to go through. You can get by with just the tiniest tip of the needle protruding by using a pair of pliers to grab it and pull it through.
You can always glue seasonal embellishments to the ornament if you wish, but we chose to leave them unadorned so that the pattern of the fiber shows.
We tied a bow at the base of the hanger using sparkly ribbon, with tiny Christmas tree light ornaments added to the bow.
By the way, of these sample ornaments the cores of the two top ones are fiber (left) and foam. The two bottom ones also are fiber (left) and foam.
As for our “Five Ornaments in an Evening” column, we’re still planning to run it – maybe next week. We may call it “Four Ornaments in an Evening” and count this week’s felted decorations as a sneak preview.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
