Ruth's book

I can now post pictures of a recent present as the recipient has had it already! I've been wanting to experiment with limp binding techniques for ages because at some point I'd like to try my hand at making felt covers for books and selling them on my Etsy shop - but not quite yet!





















I used a lovely golden felt I made ages ago. Technically it's probably not felted enough so it is a very soft cover for this book. I thought that perhaps an expanse of plain felt would look a bit boring as the colour and texture of this piece of felt is very uniform, so I embroidered swirls and curls in running stitch on the front side of the felt, making sure that I didn't sew all the way through to the back. The result was just what I wanted: added interest, but in a subtle way.











I used complicated instructions from Keith Smith's book on "Bookbinding without paste and glue" (I think!) but didn't get it completely right. To make long stitch binding work properly I'll need to figure out how to pull the long threads tighter. It's not as easy as it looks as you have to leave a loop of thread at the end of sewing the first section and work a kettle stitch into it at the end of the next section... basically I didn't do it very competently and although functional it's possibly just as well that the recipient isn't a bookbinder!
















I used etching paper for the pages and natural coloured linen thread for sewing the sections. Then I attached a deep red flower shape cut from a felted jumper, using a disc of felt behind and a button covered in matching silk at the front to make a fastening for the felted cord used to wrap the book shut.
















I like the end result, though I say so myself. The intention was to make something beautiful that would be functional and could rattle round in a bag without the pages being damaged - and I think it succeeded. I need more practice before I can sell them, but the idea is OK.

Basket case - the sequel

I managed to finish this in time for Christmas... just.





















The inner tray was glued, dried, covered in two layers of newspaper and wallpaper paste, two layers of acrylic gesso then two coats of white paint followed by two coats of colour! This time a pale apple green made (from memory) by adding phthalo blue and a spot of emeral green to a lot of white paint and then mixing hard. Once it had dried I painted on little chintzy flowers all over - trying to get a patterned effect without any consistent pattern!





















Finally the whole thing was filled with haberdashery, tied up with a matching ribbon and wrapped. And I'm pleased to report that darling daughter loves it and is now debating what she can make with her new treasures.

Basket Case

I picked up an absolute bargain at a monthly fair in Wagga Wagga a couple of weekends ago: I've been looking for something I can use for a sewing box for darling daughter but didn't want to spend big money on it. This was a huge $4!




















































































































This tray insert, designed to be big enough for things like scissors, tape, pins etc., is made simply from cardboard and glue and will be covered with papier mache and then painted. Pictures in due course...

Doesn't look like much, does it?! This is in fact a Christmas present for someone who shall remain nameless because although I suspect they don't read my blogs, I don't know for certain... Anyway, since we're in cheap and cheerful mode for Christmas this year darling daughter and I decided to knit and then felt a bag or two, using patterns from "Stitch and Bitch Nation" which we unearthed when unpacking boxes a month or so ago.


















I've never knitted something and then felted it before so it was something of a relief when the big floppy thing I ended up with miraculously shrank down into a bowling bag shape, with nice firm fabric! Of course I'd made my task doubly difficult by choosing a bobbly wool/nylon mix - enough wool to felt (I hoped!) but an interesting texture. In these pictures the wet just-out-of-the-washing-machine bag has been stuffed with plastic bags to get an approximate shape while it dries; it will then be blocked and ironed into place.

First sale on Etsy!

I came back to my email just now and found a strange message which, once I realised, turned out to be a notification that I have sold my first book on Etsy; I am so happy! Clearly it doesn't instantly give me independent wealth but it is wonderful to find that someone likes what I am doing...
so thank you very much indeed to my first purchaser!

Felt

Christmas is perilously near and I am only just beginning to think about it... or perhaps I should say that I've been thinking about it a lot but have only just started doing anything! One of the things I shall be doing a lot of this year is making felt. It's easy, cheap and fairly fast, and doesn't make any mess! What more can you ask for?





















My daughter attends a Steiner primary school and one of the first 'crafty' things they learn is to make felt, which they then use to make water bottle covers (wool is a great insulator so the bottles stay nice and cool), pencil cases and gifts. As a mother keen to get involved I, too, learned to make felt although the first techniques I learned seemed to involve lots of grunting and throwing scrunched up pieces of felt around!

Last year I paid a wonderful woman in Bellingen for lessons in felt making: Eileen has spent 40 years making felt and I was left with the distinct impression that what she didn't know about felting really wasn't worth knowing... She taught me how to make straight edges and how to make boots, slippers, hats and purses: "three dimensional" felt items made without sewing or cutting, using a resist to create pockets etc.






















Recently another wonderful felt maker gave a workshop at our school and as I was unable to go I've been picking the brains of other attendees for hints!

Some of it is just a question of style, but some of it is also personal technique. This person was demonstrating how to make felt with an absolute minimum of water, washing up liquid and a jam jar! I hope I've picked up some of her tips. And a big difference: she used scissors part-way through the felting process to make different shapes.

Well last week I had a chance to do some more felting with friends and made the 2-pocket case you can see in the photos, using pre-felted off-cuts for the edging. If I can sort a couple of things out (sewing in some pocket dividers, for example, and adding the closure I forgot to felt in...) I hope it will make a lovely Christmas present for my daughter. It was a lot of fun! More felt photos coming soon...

It's finally here!

Yes, Rhubarb & Ella the shop is finally open for business. You can find me on Etsy, with four sketchbooks to start off with, although if I'd had the foresight to note down a few measurements this afternoon I'd have been able to put up a few more sketchbooks too... You'll have to forgive me: I'm new to this game and have only just worked out how the Etsy system hangs together. Give me a bit more time and I'll be a bit more fluent about gathering the necessary information!












































































Initially I tried fancy photos with props: trays of coloured pencils, fountain pens, ink and bookmarks, augmented with potted orchids on an antique writing table... but sadly the results weren't good and so I resorted this afternoon to the tried and tested ingredients of white paper and sunlight! I think the photos are much better... what do you think?