For many of us, our first tangible creations were made in grade school using felt and Elmer’s glue. What a mess that was! (And don’t get me started on those bleeping safety-scissors – ARGH!) By second grade, my grandmother had more “pot holders” than she had pots – each one more bizarre than the next. But, I had fun making them, and she loved anything I made for her. Now you can rediscover (or discover for the first time) the joy of working with felt to make beautiful, sophisticated home accessories and gifts with Lynne Farris’ new book, A Touch of Felt. Learn all the different ways to work with wool felt—hand or machine needle felting, wet felting, sewing with felt fabric, even felting with silk. Lynne includes 22 color-rich felt projects that you’ll be proud to display in your home, or give as gifts.
If you’d like to win a copy of A Touch of Felt by Lynne Farris, simply channel your inner-child and post a comment telling us about your favorite childhood creation (the goofier the better – hee!). On Monday morning, February 23, we’ll pick one comment at random and post the winner later that day.
*Note: Comments will be closed on Monday, February 23, at 9am PST.
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A friend has been doing some felting…gotten me interested so this book would be FABULOUS!!!
I made some really lame things when I was a kid…worst was a space station out of an empty toilet paper tube….
MY KIDS wackiest was some numchuks out of playtex tampons and giving them to all the little boys in the neighborhood to play with ;)
http://martasmeanderings.blogspot.com
Oops forgot about my creation – a tissue paper layered Barbie wedding dress.
I wish I had taken photos way back then…..
Dale Ann, I had forgotten about the joys of making EVERYTHING out of Kleenex! We used them (like you) to make dresses, stuff mattresses and pillows, etc. And we used our shoes for Barbie cars. Trade one shoe with your friend, and Barbie gets TWO cars! My students think I’m nuts when I tell them that, but it seemed to work OK at the time!
I made TONS of potholders on that loom using loops as a kid. MY girlfriend and I went door to door selling them. We overheard one mean old lady say we were selling rags….I loved making all the arts and crafts things as a kid and my mother fueled it well. I kept two shoe boxes full of craft ‘starters’. Empty toilet paper rolls, pipecleaners, colored papers, etc….don’t remember what I crafted, but I was in those boxes all the time! ANd mom would keep adding bits of foil, yarn, fabric….even spindle cores to paper rolls Dad had at the newspaper office….I did make candle holders out of those all covered with pinecones for Christmas one year…ahhh….memories.
i remember having many felt shapes to choose from and making pictures by glueing them to paper. like paper piecing, so i guess it was felt piecing! but that really all i remember with using felt as a child. half the time i ended up with more dried glue than felt on the picture.
I used to love making doll houses out of cardboard :) I also loved making greeting cards :D
When I was younger I actually made my dad some hair he was bald and I thought his head would be cold so I made him a felt hair piece of course it was never saved how sad is that and not pictures because we did have a camera but it was a masterpiece that is for sure.
I’ve recently becomme interested in all things felt, this book would be great! I just bought 2 wool sweaters at Goodwill this week, with plans for felting them, wish me luck!
My most memorable childhood craft was a 3 foot tall Christmas tree made out of yarn (hard to explain). I probably remember it so well because my Mother still gets it out every year, she’s replaced the lights on it several times!
I remember one of the first school projects- making lion and lambs for the March jingle- “In like a lion, out like a lamb”. I was told that the ears were wrong side-up; however, I did them my way, because I thought that they looked better! That’s when it first dawned on me that I could change things, including not coloring in the lines!
The felt projects in the book are cute!
love that felt book..every Christmas my parents used to buy me the latest craft kit so I was very lucky. One year I was really into plasticraft (resin type kit) and put my tooth in it complete with some plastic ferns and shells!! I am sure my mum and dad treasured it!! My gran used to save all the foil tops off the milk bottles and every Christmas I used to make garlands with them..happy days!
I remember my very first foray into sewing on my own. My grandma had made me a doll-size quilt and I decided the back was bring and therefore needed to be stitched on. I wove little bits of mis-matched yarns and threads through her stitches…VERY haphazardly. I was quite proud of my talents!
My favorite childhood creation is the barbie comforter that I made for my dolls. It was one of the first things that I did when I became old enough to pick up a needle and thread without poking out my eye.
The little comforter was made out of some scrap rabbit fur (don’t remember how I got it) and some stretchy pink material that my grandma gave me. I really wish I would have kept it or at least had a picture. I was very proud of what I’d made…
Thanks for the giveaway! I’ve also recently begun working with felt. This book would mean more inspiration for me.
I grew up crafting with my mom. She did everything! My favorite memory is sitting on her lap sewing together a raggedy ann doll to put in a christmas box to send overseas. She had her hands over mine and helped me guide the fabric as she controlled the speed of the machine.
I think my first creative item was a quilted pillow. It was a kit I received at Christmas one year. I wonder what happen to that thing! lol
I remember making a papier mache Christmas angel. I got to use gold spray paint which I thought was so cool!
I have 2 favorites – I used to sew clothes for my Barbies with my Mom’s fabric and ribbon scraps. Also, I used to make yarn pom-poms, then glue paper feet and eyes on them. Then I made them a little “house” from a shoe box decorated with scrap carpet and wallpaper!
I used to melt crayons, and make sculptural “art” with them. My other favorite thing to do was take my mom and grandmother’s old clothes, sew new outfits for myself, and have fashion shows.
One of my favorite creations from childhood were the 1st needlepoint projects I did.They werre fill in the background,but I can still remember siting with my mother and grandmother stitiching. I also have Huck Towells we made when I was younger too.
My girlfriend, Sharon, and I used to spend countless days making sprawling “Troll Doll” homes and cities out of shoe boxes. Of course, the dolls all had fabulous wardrobes which consisted of a rectangle of fabric with 2 holes cut out for the trolls’ arms and a safety pin closure! There was no such thing as velcro in those days!
I remember making a string art project . I can’t remember how many times I hit my fingers with the hammer but I am sure I was glad to be done.
childhood creations: we made paper doll clothes my the boxfulls. one wedding gown had strips of paper gathered to create a tiered full skirt with layers and layers of ruffles glued on. it actually stood up on its own! fun fun fun to remember these!
childhood creations: we made paper doll clothes my the boxfulls. one wedding gown had strips of paper gathered to create a tiered full skirt with layers and layers of ruffles glued on. it actually stood up on its own! fun fun fun to remember these!
I made a doll out of a sock as a child. You just made me remember how much I loved that doll. Thank you.
As a child in the ’50′s, a friend and I made our version of artificial flowers. The petal forms were made of thin wire and covered with dyed pieces of old nylon hose. We then put several “petals” together, and bound the wire stem with green nylon
Childhood creation…well when mom wouldn’t buy me a backpack, at 11 years old I was just learning to sew, but that didn’t stop me from attempting to make one. And it turned out quite nicely too. It made me realize that I can make anything I want to even with no pattern and very little experience. The backpack is still used today by my brother for his books at home though it’s more of a plaything nowadays than anything else.
Oh so cool! I love felt!! I’ve been buying sheets of it every time I see it and love using it on cards.
My favorite childhood creation was learning about May Day and I weaved a little heart basket from construction paper and stuffed it with lilacs from our yard and my brother and I rode our bikes to our only neighbor’s house (we lived in the rural country) and left the flower basket on their door. When we knocked and ran, I remember my heart racing a mile a minute, but they had plenty of time to figure out who it was! duh…the only 2 kids riding their bikes down the gravel road.
AS a child I made lots of matchbox dolls! My little dollies were fashioned out of yarn bits and ends, beads and coloured paper!
I remember making a Christmas tree by folding in at an angle all he pages of a Reader’s Digest magazine – then spray painting it. Hmm – wonder why mom didn’t keep it? I know I wasn’t the only one to make these…….
Karen
In Jr.high, I took home ec. we all did. cooking, wood shop and sewing.
I remember making a pillow in sewing, it was the shape of a surf board, green and black with big felt feet on it. I wish I had a photo of it because I, for the life of have no clue as to what happened to it!
I really liked that pillow too!
Like many little girls in the 5 to 9 age bracket, I was consumed with a love of horses as a child. For Christmas one year, I received a bag of plastic cowboys, Indians, horses, and fence. It may well have been my favorite toy of all times. With a cardboard box made into a stable, I would quite literally sit for hours and hours cutting teeny, tiny strips of yellow construction paper into straw! I can still remember how satisfying all the cutting was for me.
I would always ask my grandmother for her scrap fabric, the small pieces and used them to make Barbie clothes that I sewed by hand. My sewing got better the more clothes I made. It was so much fun!
After my grandmother taught me to crochet, I decided my cat needed a sweater and some accessories. I only knew how to make doilies, but my mom had a lot of colorful yarn leftovers, so I improvised. My cat did not appreciate it!
I made my poor, long-suffering childhood doggie, Pepper, the most atrocious dog coat! It was made of bits of bright cloth, and I attempted to knit a turtleneck & tacked that on. Nothing like a badly-made dog coat in the summer in Virginia! And it was a challenge to put it on her, since my 9-year old brain wasn’t thinking that a dog’s legs work differently than ours do! But she was such a great friend, she gamely wore it a time or two. Sure wish I had a picture! Thanks, Pepper, for all the fun! Kathy
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