FELTED ROSE PILLOWS

Packed and ready to ship to Hillary in California . . . a set of felted rose pillows!  These pillows were so much fun to make.  I have a prototype pillow in my Etsy shop, Gillyflower Cottage.  

Hillary chose a set of pillows to be made according to her own color scheme with one pillow having a nest, and the other, a bird.  I have a post on the making of the original pillow and my inspiration for that pillow here.

The pillows are made from wool felt, wool roving, and upcycled wool sweater fabric.  The wool fabrics are then felted through the process of washing in hot water and drying in a hot dryer.  Eggs are handmade and felted with wool roving.  The eggs on this pillow were made with heather blue wool roving and a touch of gray roving for a slight variation and more realistic egg.

Pillows will be made according to your personal color choices and the
number of eggs customized to fit YOUR family nest!

Sharing this post on
Homemaker on a Dime (Creative Bloggers Party)
and
Freckled Laundry (Air Your Laundry Friday)

Make more soap-in-a-coat for gifting

So, I decided to make some "coated soaps" for the Book Group girls.  

Every year we exchange a small gift at our Christmas party - so this will be mine.

                 To make it you need a good size pile of wool roving . . .

 . . . and soap

                  I made my own soap using a goat's milk base.  Goat's milk base is 

unscented - so I decided to use it for my soaps since scent 

is a very individual thing.  After melting the base,  I washed out a 

large can and poured it in - then into the fridge to harden.  

After removing it, I cut it into the 6 disks you see here.

Next, you wrap it loosely in the wool roving.  Put on your rubber 

gloves, dunk it in hot water, and start gently rubbing the soap.  

It will lather up!   Once it's starting to stick together you can rub 

more vigorously - that's what causes it to "felt"!  When it becomes 

felted "fabric" and no longer roving,  rinse out the soap, squeeze

the water out,  and set it on a clean towel to dry.

Wrap it up with string and a label . . . 

and you're done!

MAKE A FELTED ROSE AND NEST TOPPED PILLOW

The work of Ronel Jordaan, a textile designer from South Africa,

is so unique and beautiful.

But her pillows are soooo expensive (almost $200)!

So, I set out with my best friend and crafting companion, to

try to design our own "Ronel Jordaan style" pillow! We had as much fun

rounding up the supplies (off to Goodwill for 100% wool sweaters that we brought

home to wash and "felt") as we did making the pillow tops.

Just look for 100% wool in the colors you love, wash them in

hot water, and throw them in the dryer. Then cut them up as needed.

Then choose your colors of wool roving, purchase your felting needle tool (Joann Fabrics),

and you're ready to begin!

               

Using a felting tool, punch in a winding vine of wool roving onto a rectangle of felted wool.  Cut out some leaves from another color of felted wool.  We washed and dried some old wool sweaters to use for the roses and nest on the pillow.  Just cut out a circle from the wool, then cut it into a spiral.  Starting on the outside of the spiral, roll your felt around and around making a beautiful, textured rose.
We LOVE our finished products - our own version of a

textured, felted wool pillow top!

SAVINGS - $175
Frugal at its best!


I linked up with Saturday Soiree at A Little Lovely, Freckled Laundry, and Frugal Friday over at The Shabby Nest, for this one!