Saturday, October 25, 2008

How I wish this guy was on the ballot!


Minus the antlers. I saw this creation at Maker Faire last weekend. Hope from Austin's Hot Pink Pistol made this dress, one of several "dead presidents" dresses, she said. When I asked, she said her favorite president was Abe Lincoln, in case you were wondering.

Now, my kids run from the room when I get started telling them (again) what a great man George Washington was, so I'd better not start preaching here, but these days we would be wise to learn something from his life -- the difficult days he had, and his strong leadership. Read the book by David McCoullough, 1776. It is the book that got me interested in US history for the first time. Better late than never!

Austin Fiber Artists' Felting Table at MakerFaire '08


A very successful weekend at Maker Faire in Austin last weekend! Our table had long lines all day -- so many people, young and old, were interested in the felting process. It was a great experience and we all had a lot of fun. These events remind me why I love Austin!

The Austin Fiber Artists, along with the Deborah Sharp from Texas Fiber Mill, sponsored a table to show folks how to felt fibers. There were bags and bags of beautiful neutral fibers from sheep, goats, and even dogs, for people to choose from for a felt base. Mary (above) teaches this young woman how to lay out the fibers into a pile, with the fibers in a criss-cross pattern so that they would create a nice dense piece of felt. Then the participant chose some pretty colored bieces and some "bling" (gold threads, pretty yards, nibby bits of loose fibers in all sorts of colors) to top off the creation and make a pretty design.

Sliding the Fibers into the Bag

Mary helps the felter put her finished layered fibers into a bag, carefully laying it out with the pretty stuff on top. The bag will allow for a flattened felted piece. The next step is to wet the fibers with the pre-mixed mixture of shredded dove soap and water -- a gooey, but clean, binder. So what happens next? The water and soap release all the tiney barbs in the natural fibers and cause them to migrate around and re connect with other fibers in a new matted form -- that's felting, in a nutshell (or a baggie), the way I understand it.

Ready to Agitate

All done -- well, almost. The only thing left to do is agitate the fibers inside the bag. Mary McCauly, our felting guru, came up with this ingenious make-and-take idea. After a few minutes of play at our booth table, the newbie felter can walk away with her bag of fibers, all soaked down and soapy and ready to agitate. So we recommended everyone who left our table to walk around Maker Faire and squeeze, knead, roll, twist, slap, or pound her baggie of squishiness until her new piece of felt came together. All that was left to do when she got home was to rinse it and let it air dry. Viola -- Felt!

At the end of the weekend, the AFA table won the Editor's Choice Award! Mary noted, "The project created a lot of excitement: People saw others walking around massaging their bags and wanted one. It became infectious that way. Out of every bag came something wondrous."