The Fantastically Brilliant Fun of Needle Felting!

I found my new favorite thing to do - needle felting! No pesky sewing maching or trying to thread a needle with an oh-so-small eye...  Needle felting is basically attaching fibers together using a special barbed needle tool. In my latest creation, "Hooty Hooty Night," I used a base of wool felt and attached more felt, silk roving, and various yarns by needle felting. I then made my little felt owl and hand-embellished the lot. Stay tuned for more needle felting by me, the Happy Dabbler - Brilliant!

Felted Bracelets

Pay no attention to the little girl in the picture above! Look at the BRACELET. Hmm, I shouldn't have picked such a cute model, huh? :) That's my four year-old Jamie wearing my latest creation, a needle-felted and hand-embellished bracelet.

I made one for my eight year-old daughter, Elise, and one for myself. They're so much fun to make and really great to wear. If I can keep from dabbling in something else, I plan to make a bunch to sell at this season's Christmas fairs. What great gifts for all the little girls in your life!

Pillow Talk

Last week I spent some time in California visiting my parents. While there, I came across this book about making pillows. I've always wanted to learn how to make pillows, so of course I had to buy it! It's called, appropriately enough, The Pillow Book, and was written by Shannon Okey.

The great thing about this book is that it has all the paper patterns tucked inside a folder in the book. How easy is that? Now all I need to do is learn how to use my sewing machine! (I wish I wasn't so mechanically challenged!) Someday I will dabble in pillow-making and this book sure will come in handy!