Making Felt Butterfly Brooches

I thought you might be interested in getting a bit of an idea of how I make my felt butterflys.

First have to make the felt. I begin with unspun, dyed merino wool and lay it out with the colors and patterns I want. And then I go through the laborious task of making that into felt.

Here's one I made earlier...

Or if you want more info on felt making, have a look at this earlier blog post for how that happens http://beljaysfeltnart.blogspot.com/2010/02/chooks-tail-or-how-to-make-felt.html

I cut the pieces out of the felt. One sheet will give me a few sets of wings.

I might want to use different colors for upper and lower wings so I cut them all out first.

Now I'm ready to play around a bit, finding the right mix of color and texture. Then I sew them together, matching the wings with buttons or silk paper and beads. And...viola! A butterfly!

Beautiful Felt Beret

I've been a bit busy trying new things today. Some have worked and some have not. And some I'm just not sure about.

The first new thing I tried is a new series of small textile artworks. I am happy with the results I'm getting and am now plotting to have an online exhibition on my Beljays Felt site. But that's a little further down the track.

I also started a business page on facebook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Beljays-Felt/114781401961865

I'm not quite sure what I am doing with it yet but if you have any encouraging thoughts, please let me know.

And, in an effort to catch-up on all things connected, I have also started a twitter account
http://twitter.com/#!/BeljaysFelt
Still getting that sorted too.

And finally, a new item listed on etsy. A beret with a long tail.