I FELT FOR YOU

3-D FELT CONSTRUCTIONS

BEGINNING 3-D ART

wool batting, colored wool rovings, perle cottons, wool handspun yarns, needles for dry felting,

hot plates & pans, and a washing machine

Teachers Beware!

This is an especially messy, soapy adventure but well worth the prep, effort and cleanup.

Also involved is the use of your home washing machine,

and lots of counter space both in your classroom and at your home.

I use the floor under the classroom cabinets,

 as well as on top of them for the various stages of storage.

This year will be really tough in that I have more students doing this at one time then ever,

45!

There are many YouTube videos showing how to make felt on a 2-D surface,

which is how we begin this project,

 and even more on Needle Felting.

When the felt is shrunk and dried,

 the kids are required to use their critical thinking skills to cut out pieces

 and reassemble them into a 3-D piece.

No glue is allowed,

only Needle Felting or stitching or both to assemble them.

The results are quite remarkable.

We start with 8th grader Annie Nguyen.

The color movement going thru her design is so lovely.

She figured out how to put in her own zipper using You Tube

 (I haven't put in a zipper since the 7th grade).

She also brought in a bit of embroidery as well.

And her mom allowed her to use her sewing machine to put in the diagonal quilting lines

which I feel add so much interest to the overall piece..

Next up is 8th grader Shivani Kedila.

She transformed her flat piece of felt into this intricate box with a woven top.

I was speechless when I saw her finished product.

These kids are really incredible!

You can see how her sides are hand stitched up

plus she added a bit of embroidery as well.

Check out the top below.

I loved that she brought weaving into this piece!

This amazing pillow was the work of senior Inna Sikar.

Occasionally the kids work their flat flt a bit too aggressively when they begin the felting process 

and end up with a few holes or see thru patches.

Inna had both.

So she critically thought out to inlay a bit of fabric under those openings

for a very cool effect.

And we all were so impressed with her embroidered toucan!

She invested a ton of hours in this piece  as you can see.

We all loved the flowers that 8th grader Sophia Oporto needle felted on top of her purse form

along with her embroidered areas.

The colors flow so well together!

We totally didn't expect this clever solution.

Junior Rachel Tibayan knocked this assignment out of the park with her unique idea,

a complete outfit for her bear.

I just adore it all!

So well fitted and embellished.

Bravo young woman!!

And sweet 8th grader Yusuf Karan

 made this adorable kitty face pillow using his own handspun yarn for the whiskers.

Wonderful job Yusuf!

But it was senior Sophie Yang

 who really blew us out of the water with this elegant crafted pillow form.

Her 2-d felt piece was gorgeous from the get go,

then she cut it and inlaid the white wool felt.

The embroidery finished it off so beautifully.

And we loved how she alternated the design on each side.

Another brilliant piece to share with all.