Wet Fulled Purse with a Needle Felted Flower
Wet Fulled Purse with a Needle Felted Flower
Elizabeth Payne of Erie, PN creates the most beautiful needle felted flowers! This one was entered into a Pennsylvania festival. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and talents with us Elizabeth!
“Last week, I completed a felt handbag with a wet and needle felted lily to enter into the Campbell Pottery Lily Festival Art show, in Cambridge Springs, PA. I was thrilled to be juried in on my first try! Campbell Pottery is a well known production art pottery and gallery in Northwest Pennsylvania. They carry their own line of beautiful porcelain pottery, as well as other artists, art glass, and jewelry. Each year, there is a Lily Festival Art show, held at the time when acres of lilies are in their prime blooming season. All the art submitted for the show is based on a Lily theme.
The bag is knitted and fulled, the lily is made of your New Zealand Corridale and Merino Top in Candy, Marigold, Honey and Cupcake, layered and pre wet felted, then needle felted into the petal shapes. The Lima Bean accents were needle felted after the petals were blocked. Swarovski Crystals and Japanese Delica beads were sewn on to the edges and tips, as well as the throat of the lily. The stamens and sepals were wired with 12KT GF wire and Swarovski Crystal. The bag is finished with a silk shantung lining with zippered pockets in a matching color. The leaves wrap around the bag to the back to a spray of lily buds. These are needle felted, and embellished with the same beading detail as the lily petals.
I am having a hard time deciding on what my next project will be. I think a pictorial. When I was working on my pre felts, and also felting my petals, I rolled up my mat that I purchased from you around a rolling pin. It made the fulling process so much easier. My pin was not quite long enough, and I don’t want to cut my mat. So, my next quest will be hunting around antique shops for a nice long rolling pin, the kind that has a rod running down the center with handles on each end. It sure takes a lot of pressure off of the shoulders when rolling the felt!
As I have written to you before, this new to me art has brought so much joy. I love playing with color, texture and fibers. There is something so magical about “touching” color, and seeing it come alive as the fibers are blended together.”
Elizabeth Payne ~ Erie, PN
