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Cost: $ $ $ $ $

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Time: 1h00

3d felting project with the washingmachine and some smart tricks;-D all about being just smart.LOL
I found in the crogery shop those little cake clowns, and i loved them too much to leave them behind.
At home i thought why not use them for fleting a top piece for my bag i want to make.
I'm trying a lot of things out of this great awesome felting book of Irene van der Wolf, she is an awesome dutch artist , she has written two books about felting, the seccond one is about upwolfing.
A 3dimentional way of felting on felt fabric by using the washingmachine and a smart way of plastic and foam.
Link:http://www.kunstwolf.nl/tweetalig/KunstWolf.html
Her book : Image in sight II. ISBN 9789078071815
It's very inspirational and with great tutes and pictures, written in dutch and english.
Please take a look on her awesome site, you will see all eye candy .LOL
But some of her idea's are too expensive for me, so i have found this much cheaper solution.
I make my own version of needle felt by felting a piece of wool fibres into a piece of fabric but not totally ready.
i only felt the fibres on both sides so that it's only a rough piece.
You can use allready felted wool as well but then you must brush it with a steelbrush a little bit.
I only had to make tiny pieces myself for by needle felting the fibres for the collars of the clowns,
and to make the yarn fixed at the fabric , and the grass with some wool fibresas well.
the rest is just a smart way by using the washing machine and a the trick of needle felting and using plastic with pins, so it costed me only less then an hour to make this adorable 3d piece;-D
I hope you love this methode like i did and i hope you will try this methode as well.
I'm a big fan of felting but because my arms and hands becoming less strong i must search for other solutions and using the washing machine is one of them.
The smartest thing of these methode is that Wolf is using the highly felting character of felt.
So the parts that doesn't connect each other she uses plastic.
Thats nothing news but using sewing pins and masking tape , it is.
She had made great beautiful things and experiments, Her book is in english and dutch so...
it's a big recommendation to buy if you like felting and 3d felting on just a surface of felt.

Note:
The time is without the washing machine time and drying time and of course without the embroidering as well.
but i love to embroider those felting pieces tooooo much.LOL
the yarn doensn't need to be of wool it can be acryl as well.
But for the tying down you must need cotton.!!!

If you have still some questions please feel free to ask me them, and thank you for stopping by;-D

Posted by Jet H. from Haarlem, North Holland, The Netherlands • Published 11th May 2011 • See Jet H.'s 107 projects »

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Steve J. favorited Plastic Cake Clownsheads Felted Alonge 12 Jan 06:12

Step 1
Gather all your suplies together.
Step 2
Lay three of the clowns of more in a nice design on your felted piece of fabric.
This piece isn't well through felted!!!
When it is tooo tied up make it loser with a iron brush. But does do it a little bit, because it's only to connect some small things on it, and you will make the connection as well with the needle felting;-D
With you scissors cut for the clowns just a straight line, don't make it tooooo with or to big, just so nearly that it cost you some problems to put the collors of the clown heads throught the cuts.;-D
Step 3
Make your choice whitch colour wool fibre you will take for the collars.
make with your needle tools circles for the collars.
Don't make them to small.!!! (woollen fibres will by felting them become 1/3 part smaller!!!)
Step 4
cut in the collars a cut as well with your scissors, like you d id in the underground allready.
put the clowns through the cut so that you will have the plastic collar on beneath your fabric and the head above.
Watch the picture.
Step 5
In between if you like you can add some yarn on the underground. Lay it nicely drapped around the clowns and with your needle pen you must needlefelting the yarn on the underground.
the yarn must be shown throught the underground on the leftside like the same vage line as your design on the right side.
i didn't fixed the yarn really well so i had a big problem later on.;-D
So please be smarter then i was;-D
i'm sure you will.LOL
Step 6
i liked it to add some grass on the fabric as well.
so if you want take some of the pieces of the fake meadow off your piece.
Step 7
Deside where you want to add the grasspieces of you.
and make on those places with your awl a hole.
Step 8
Pull in the middle of the grass hole some fibres and push them through the hole of the underground as well.
use some more fibres and with the needle pen and the needle mat , needle felting it fixed on the underground.
So it is all ready well fixed like you did with the yarn.
it's a easy quick job.;-D
Step 9
cut out of some plastic bags squares that are bigger then the felted collars you've made.
cut out in the middle a big hole.
So you will become something like this.
Step 10
Add the plastic behind the felted collars and push the whole clown plastic collar down your hole in the underground.
Watch the picture.
Needle felting the felted collar on the fabric around. not throught the plastic.!!!!
(the plastic is just to let your felt free of each other during the felting process in the washing machine)
Step 11
so the backside or leftside will look this way;-D
Step 12
okay take an other piece of plastic it's smart when it 's transparant , that will works the easiest way.;-D
Pin the clowns collars with sewing pins all around on the fabric.
Watch the picture.
Where the pins are pinned down the fibres will felted together. that's why you don't need a well felted tightly fabric but some needle felting will help a lot.
The autor of the book didn't do that, but she had choosen for needle fabric.
but okay this was for me cheaper;-D
Step 13
Be sure the pins are showned up on the left side as well.
Step 14
be sure that all the added parts are pinned down and does this too with the plastic, One side must be totally covered up with the plastic because we will wind up with the plastic inside.
Step 15
Wind your piece up with the plastic inside.
Be sure that it will be stiking out of the both ends.
Wrap the the roll of yours tightly with cotton yarn.
Step 16
Pick up your pillowcase and put the roll inside. We use the pillowcase to be sure that the sewing pins can't be lost and will damaging your washing machine.!!!!
it's working great!!!!;-D
Step 17
To be sure that the sewing pins can't be fallen out of the pillowcase wrap the top d with some cotton tightly as well.
Lay your piece in the washing machine on the outside of your laundry,
The washing machine must filled up with all your laundry , that will works the best.
Set your machine on normal cotton and let it do his job.;-D
Step 18
when the washing machine is ready with his job take your piece out of the pillow case and strech it in shape and just let it dry.
i always let it dry some hours just by air with all the plastic still on it.
when it's dryer it's easier to take the pins out of the felt.
then just let it dry by air.
i think you like your result;-D

just have fun and be creative, i have planned with this piece to use it for the top of a baggy;-D
Step 19
his is just an option
I love to embroidering so i have done some on this piece as well.
It took some time but embroidering in front of the tele is working for m e great.LOL
So... you don't have to, but mayby you like it as well.;-D

Feel free to ask my your questions and enjoy this project.
Thank you for stopping by, hope to see you next time again;-D