01 (click for larger photos)
I am a roving junkie! I love blends and colour. I have a lot of hand dyed roving in my stash - perfect for this project...
I am a roving junkie! I love blends and colour. I have a lot of hand dyed roving in my stash - perfect for this project...
In search of the perfect hat form... this is a small wire mesh waste basket... I thought it would work... initially!
Gathering tools and selecting rovings... I used carders to blend the brilliant roving colours (right lower) into something more integrated ...
A big woolie cap... I was delighted with the colours - I found them to have a "Monet" feeling, and this is when the "Garden Party" idea begun to form...
Original hat idea. This first design was quite lovely. I had shaped a flower up the side... but the silk "vein" going up the side was too much like "Frankenstein" ... and I could not get the hat off the bowl. Back to the drawing board... what do you do with a soaking wet mass of fibre? Chuck it on the deck to dry a bit, watch a movie (Johnny Depp works wonders) and let it stew...
... and voila! This is the same hat. After I reworked it. I dried it out (actually squeezed it out) a bit, pulled it over some plain white roving, and began a wet to dry needle felting technique... I only had one lousy felting needle! (Note to self: buy more needles). When I finished the hat was immense - the brim hanging almost to my shoulders - I pulled out the scissors (yes sometimes you just have to be courageous) and cut the hat in half! I loved the brim... and wanted to save it - so I turned it on it's end and felted it on... a few beads and some handspun silk for embellishment. All done. Lesson learned - there is no such word as failure in Fibre Art...
I love my hat!
And of course - you must have the right occasion! The Princess Michelle Tiara Parade! (Alright, Mr De Mille - I'm ready for my closeup...)
