Felted pebble pouffe

Last Sunday I attended a workshop to make a pebble pouffe from felted wool. I have done some felting, but this was a whole new adventure. And a lot of work!
I will show you the pictures I took from the subsequent steps in the process. I will also tell you what could be done better next time round :-)

In short:

• you felt a really large bag (felt it just enough to make the fabric feel a bit firmer, the fulling happens later in the process, when the pebbles are all in place!) 
• make an opening on one side (about 10cms/4")
• put in bricks made of foam rubber which are wrapped in a thin layer of wool; the wool being fixed lightly on the foam with a felting needle
• tie the bricks from the outside of the bag with rope or rubber band
• if you want, put some extra foam rubber in to make the pouffe a bit rounder in shape
• close the bag (I used the you-and-me stitch so you can hardly see where the bag was closed)
• throw the pouffe in the dryer for a period of time to really start the fulling process (mine was in for about 45 minutes)
• rinse to get the soap out and use vinegar with the last rinse to eliminate any soap residue
• squeeze out as much water as possible and leave the pouffe on a drying rack to drip out and dry up completely
• be proud of the result!

Any further comments I will put with the corresponding picture.

I didn't measure the size of the bag, but it was approx 100x150cms (40x60"). Here you see the start, with one side of the bag laid out.



This is the "finished" bag with some of the bricks, ready to be put in.



The first bricks have been tied in the bag. I later on found out I left too much space between the bricks so next time I will do my best to tie them as close together as possible.

This is where I stopped for the day and started heading home. I continued the next day.

Throwing the pouffe around to start the fulling process.
By now you can see how much space there is between the pebbles, so, at that point, I decided to pull out the extra stuffing, hoping the pebbles would come closer together during the fulling process in the dryer.

Which they did!

In this picture you can see the ropes used to tie the bricks into pebbles.
You remove them at this stage.

The result after a hard day's work (or two...)

  

I did not intend to write a complete tutorial, this is just a description of the steps it took to make this felted pebble pouffe. For real tutorials on, for instance, how to felt a bag, you can always search the internet.

Eclectic collection

You work in graphics and arts publishing, this is how you live.

Arch and Jane MacDonnell of the Auckland graphics studio Inhouse give a house tour through their farmstead in the back of Birkenhead (AU).
A big part of their collection of fine arts and books are souvenirs from record projects, collaborations and from friends.

                                                                                                                                                                 Source: Habitus

Thunderstorm

Today we had soms bad weather. I got a few pictures at the start this evening.

Hand over that chocolate...

Adoptionwalk

Yesterday Narnia and I went for a walk with Greyhounds Rescue Holland. We gathered at a small restaurant in Kootwijk, at the National Park the Veluwe.
The weather was working with us so we had a beautiful afternoon.

It was quite a large group of people with even more dogs. Because, as they say, one greyhound isn't a greyhound, most people arrived with 2 dogs or more.

The dogs with a coat were the adoptable ones.

Narnia having fun

What lies behind a façade

Behind the façade of this traditional Portuguese town house lies an interior full of suprises and contrasts. It is devided in modules with distinct purposes such as reading or sleeping.

Though initially falling in love with the traditional setting, over a period of two years, Guta Moura Guedes, co-founder of cultural design organisation Experimenta, built a private world for herself and her sons.

                                                                                                                                      Source: Elle Decoration UK

Hard work

Like I told you earlier, we are working in the garden. Expanding the patio, moving the pond, etc. And boy, is that hard work!