Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Embellishing With Threads

For every one of my pattern designs, I always suggest that wool felt can be used instead of the 100% wool that is shown in my pictures.  I do this because 100% wool is very expensive whereas wool felt is a LOT less expensive.  Woolfelt might not give the exact appearance as 100% wool but for those who can't afford the real stuff, wool felt is the perfect alternative.

The real disadvantage with woolfelt is that textures, like tweeds and checks and plaids are not available.  Woolfelt is only available in plain, solid colors.
But, that shouldn't stop you from using wool felt in place of plaids or tweeds because it's easy to use threads to create that design on woolfelt.

Take for instance the plaid scarf on the "Let It Snow" design...
When I first introduced this design as a pattern, I recieved a rather nasty comment from an Ebayer which scolded me for suggesting that woolfelt could be used for this design. 

SIDENOTE:   I have to say that very RARELY do I ever get nasty remarks from anyone, but in all cases, I take the nasty comments as constructive criticism rather than insults.  I use those comments to help me improve my work.  Even the one person, who over the years chooses to subtly harrass me with anonymous emails, I learn from these type of comments ....and besides, "the customer is always right" is always my way of thinking.

Anyway, the Ebayer angrily insisted that the snowman's plaid wool scarf could not be dublicated with woolfelt since it's not available as a plaid.  While this is true, and since the customer is always right, I agreed with her, but I also let her know that embellishing plain colored wool felt with assorted colored threads to create the plaid affect would work very nicely. 
Another example, which exactly shows how I've used threads to create texture is my design, "A Crow's Day Off"...

I could have used a nice brown tweed for the sunflower centers for this but I used threads instead to create the textured grid pattern.  It's easy to do and it converts the plain colored camel wool into a texture. 


So, if you come across a design that you'd love to make but lack the exact color or textured wool to make it, give some thought to alternative options ... like embellishing with threads!

Happy Stitching and Happy Day!

.

8 comments:

Cathy said...

I love your idea of using threads. Sometimes I just don't think in that direction for some reason. I love mixing wool and wool felt and will use whichever one I have and I even love adding in velvet with them! So now I will try to think more about threads too. I love your designs!

Cathy ♥

Martina said...

Thanks so much for sharing! I always admire your patterns but never gave it a go as the woolfabric here is so expensive. But now I am really encouraged to work and try it out with wool felt. I love to experiment with diffrent ways of embellishing.
Greetings from Switzerland
Martina

Patty C. said...

Great idea - love the patterns!

Danice G said...

Your penny rigs are so gorgeous. Thank you also for the tutorials. I am attempting my first candle mat penny rug. Wish me luck, lol! I am now following your blog.

Donna said...

I love your patterns! I just ordered the "Let it Snow" and can't wait for it to get here so I can begin stitching. I am going to try the wool felt, but I know that 100% wool would be so much better. Maybe I will splurge on some after I practice a bit on the felt. Thanks for sharing your talent.

moollin said...

I do so love all your Penny Rugs. I would love to know where you get the white wool you use in a lot of your rugs .Do you sell it?
I've been trying to buy white for ages now, and all I can find is off white or cream.

crazzymom said...

Do you have patterns and instructions for Let it Snow"?

Cath's Pennies Designs said...

My Let it Snow candle mat pattern is available on my website: http://cathspenniesdesigns.com/catalog.php?keyword=let+it+snow&cond=advand&category=