Spoil yourself, or gift someone you love, with one of these unique, Aussie flora & fauna inspired tea cosies.
Who doesn’t love a cuppa? And, what better way to enjoy it than serving it with a fabulous tea cosy.
The tea cosy bodies are Crocheted in chunky, double thread, 100% hand spun wool in a berry/bobble pattern to ensure good heat retention & fit average size tea pots. All 3 have openings for spout & handle & the button/loop closure enables easy access.
Embellishments are a mix of hand-felted & crochet Aussie flora: wattle, Flannel flowers, Waratahs, Gum leaves & Gumnuts to name a few.
Due to being rather time poor, I don’t usually take on custom orders, mainly to avoid disappoint when expectations can’t be met.
But then, I met a lovely lady at Knitfest. She was very enthusiastic about my work & asked if I’d create an Aussie Floral Tea Cosy for her. I decided to take on the challenge & I’m very happy with the result.
The Tea Cosy body crocheted with double thread hand spun yarn & embellished with wet felted & crocheted flowers & leaves.
Hi everyone, it’s been quite a while since my last post… time is just flying…
So, it’s that time of year again… The Alice Springs Beanie Festival… & all the excitement that it generates across Australia… I did find the theme ‘Opposites Attract’ a bit challenging this year but, as it so often happens, in a quiet moment the ideas slowly emerged… These are my 2 entries that I know have safely arrived in Alice Springs, thanks to Aussie Post’s tracking system…
I’d like to wish all contestants much success &, all those lucky enough to be at the festival, a fabulous time…
1) Fire & Flood ~ Wet Felted & beaded Beanie.
2) From Coral Reefs…to Tropical Beaches…to Forest Hinterlands ~ Hand-spun beanie, embellished with freeform crochet & wet felted motifs.
I’ve had this tutorial in my mind for a very long time, but knowing how much time & work was involved putting it together: taking photos & editing, writing step by step instructions & keeping them clear & precise…
Like many of us, I procrastinated, allowing other things to occupy my time… even though that little voice in my head kept reminding me of what I had intended to.
So, a few weeks ago, I decided I couldn’t put it off any longer (that little voice was beginning to chatter & become annoying) – I got my act together…
Writing the tutorial was as I thought – time consuming – but I had forgotten just how much fun making these felt flowers is & how satisfying it is completing & reaching another goal…
Anyone can make these flowers, no felting experience necessary as the tutorial takes you through the steps &, apart from the wool roving, which can be purchased at any good craft suppliers, most of the requirements are items you’ll already have in your home.
The tutorial covers 2 wet felted flower methods ~ (1) using polystyrene moulds ~ (2) free formed & it also covers making leaves, centre balls & stamen/pistils
Have fun with these wet felted flowers… experiment with colour combos, textures & sizes… turn them into brooch pins or jazz up an old hat, they even look great in a vase… they’re such a joyful gift for family & friends… enjoy!
Requirements:
coloured wool rovings (available from any good craft suppliers)
polystyrene balls, egg shapes, golf balls,
very sharp pointed scissors
rubber gloves if you don’t like harsh soap on your hands
old towels
bamboo sushi mats – bubble wrap
pure soap
hot water
old sheeting – chux wipes
craft glue
sewing machine
sewing cotton
The tutorial includes:
requirements (page 2)
making flowers using the polystyrene method (page 3-6)
making centre balls (page 7)
making pistils/stamens – page 7-8
making leaves (page 9-11)
making freeform flowers (page 12-15)
The Wet Felt Flower Pattern Tutorial is available for sale in my Etsy Shop & Zibbet shop
Hello everyone, this is my new collection of crochet felt cloche hats with flowers that I finished a couple of months ago with only the photos needing to be taken before I could post about them & list them in my shops. There were 10 in all originally, but 3 have sold before I even had time to photographed them, so thought I better get a move on, otherwise, I’ll have no record that I ever made them at all.
I’m so pleased that his crochet felt cloche design is proving to be so popular. They were created in the usual way as I’ve written about in previous posts… using 100% pure wool I crocheted the crowns, which are then felted in the washing machine. I crochet the band directly to the felted crown. The flowers are first crocheted, again with 100% pure wool, & then embellished with crochet, embroidery & beads before being attached to the hat. For this collection I also came up with a plaited crochet braid that I’ve attached to each cloche between the band & crown… I think it adds a nice touch…
It always amazes me… I use the same technique… crochet, felt, embellish… yet, no 2 are ever the same…
Over the coming days, I’ll be listing these cloche hats in my Etsy shop