Progress on the fleecy hats is slow. Hand-sewing the bands and brims is taking about half an hour per hat, and there’s a limit to how much I can do in one go before my hands start to complain.
I’d been thinking about making some felt brooches, so not being one to do things by halves, here are twenty-two little circles. I had planned to work blanket stitch around the cut edges, but I actually really like the way you can see all the layers of colour showing through.
They’re made from half a dozen rectangles of wonky, uneven felt that I made as practice pieces. They’d been sitting in a cupboard for about a year, gathering dust and moths, so I decided to chuck them in the washing machine and see what happened. After a quick whiz through a hot wash and a tumble dryer, they’d shrunk down from about A4 size to about A5, become nice and thick, and developed a lovely crinkly texture.
I have some little pieces of Harris Tweed that I’m hoping will needle felt nicely onto the top of the circles, perhaps with a little button each to finish them off. (And a pin on the back, of course.)
Much as I love the bright colours in these, I can also imagine them in nice muted, natural, sheepy shades. Maybe with some Wensleydale curls and semi-precious stones stitched on top. Something to think about after Christmas, definitely.