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Thursday, 13 November 2014

Blog Centenary

The last few weeks have seen quite a run of achievements for me, this blog reached its first birthday at the end of October, last weekend my City and Guilds certificates arrived, and today this blog has reached its 100th post.

It seems quite fitting that this post should be about another milestone; my first felted dress. Being a nuno felt dress the template was HUGE, 1 m wide by 2 m long, forcing me to work on the floor. Not something I like to do as I ache for days after spending all day crawling around on all fours.

The dress didn't quite go to plan, no matter how much I rolled and worked them the shoulder straps were still far too long so I resorted to cutting them down and sewing seams across the shoulders. Here it is drying on the mannequin.

The front
The back
Close up of the silk panel
Now I just need to pluck up the courage to wear it to work!

Here are a couple of other pieces I have been working on too. They are both winged pods but very different styles.

This first one reminds me of undersea creatures so I am thinking of dyeing it aqua blue / green colours.



The second one reminded me of a helter skelter so I dyed it red and yellow. Here it is before dyeing.

A helter skelter slide
And after dyeing



I will be attending the Rural Life Museum Christmas Fair this weekend in Tilford and would really love to see you there if you are in the area.

Linking up to nina-marie, off the wall Friday
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17 comments:

  1. Ruth Lane13 November 2014 at 21:39

    Congrats on your 100th post. The dress is gorgeous! I love the colors. I think doing a bit of sewing to ensure a proper fit is the best way to go. The "undersea creature" is really cool and I didn't know what a Helter Skelter was so I learned something new today :)

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    1. Teri Berry14 November 2014 at 19:03

      Thanks Ruth, I think the Helter Skelter must be a UK thing, you're the second person to say "helter what?", glad I could teach "grandma" something new ;)

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  2. Els13 November 2014 at 22:01

    Congratulations Teri !!!!
    That dress looks fantastic ! Great how the nuno works ;-)
    Love your different pot(d)s
    (Sorry : won't be able to visit .... though I would love to talk to you )

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    1. Teri Berry14 November 2014 at 19:05

      I would so love to meet you too - there are a handful of people who regularly follow this little blog and I feel like I know you all really well even though we have never met in person. One day....

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  3. Chrys Art Glass14 November 2014 at 01:43

    Love the dress, especially the hem.
    I'm sure you'll get many compliments when you wear it.

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    1. Teri Berry14 November 2014 at 19:06

      Thank you Chrys, all your lovely comments have given me the confidence to wear it in circles where "handmade" isn't all that cool.

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  4. Felicity14 November 2014 at 22:03

    Very impressed with your dress! Dying to see you wearing it!

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    1. Teri Berry15 November 2014 at 18:02

      Thank you Galina - will see if I can find someone to take a pic when I pluck up the courage to wear it to work...

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  5. Anonymous14 November 2014 at 22:16

    Dress is gorgeous! Wear it with pride.

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  6. Unknown14 November 2014 at 23:51

    The dress is beautiful! How long did it take you to make it?
    I can't wait to see your undersea creature after you dye it.

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    1. Teri Berry15 November 2014 at 18:04

      Thank you Marilyn. It took just over a week to make but a lot of that was 2 rounds of drying, it was probably 10 hours of actual hands on work plus an hour or so doing the calculations and cutting the template.

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  7. Unknown15 November 2014 at 13:40

    What a fabulous dress! Nothing wrong about grabbing a needle and thread when necessary! I did the same when making a tunic in Fiona Duthie’s felting class.
    That must have been tough, working on the floor.
    Cathy (Luvswool)
    P.S. I had never before heard of a helter skelter either, but the term was used as a book title to describe Charles Manson’s crimes in the late 60’s.

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    1. Teri Berry15 November 2014 at 18:07

      Thanks Cathy. Lucky you - taking a tunic class with Fiona, I love her dresses so am really envious!! Good to know even the experts recommend stitching when necessary. It's funny I expected Helter Skelter to be a transatlantic term but it clearly isn't. Will have to go look up the book - finding it hard to imagine how the term could be used to describe crimes unless it is related to the downward spiral....?

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    2. Unknown16 November 2014 at 01:54

      Here’s the link for the Helter Skelter reference:
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helter_Skelter_(song)
      Cathy (Luvswool)

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    3. Teri Berry16 November 2014 at 10:24

      Oh yes - I had long forgotten that Beatles song :) I like the alternative definition wiki provides too, "in disorderly haste or confusion". Pretty much sums up most work days for me hence I look for solace in felt making :)

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  8. FeltersJourney14 December 2014 at 20:34

    Gorgeous dress Teri! Very classy and I love the hemline! You should absolutely wear it to work.. you'll be taking orders! I hate working on the floor too, ache for days.. got to be worth it though for this beauty!
    xx

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