slippers – Angela Barrow Textiles

Something simple

January 12, 2016January 11, 2016

It’s a long time since I made such a plain simple piece of felt. My wool of choice was Icelandic as it felts very well and gives a lovely hardwearing felt.

It really is plain isn’t it? I have a pair of beloved wool slippers that have stretched and are now a little sloppy on me. They’re expensive to buy and as there’s lots of wear left in them I didn’t want to go the expense of a new pair.

A pair of Icelandic wool inserts is my answer. The piece of felt I made is large enough to provide a second pair of inserts so I’ve put that away somewhere safe (will I ever find it again?) for future use.

Not only are my slippers less sloppy, they’re super cosy too!

Slipper workshop

April 9, 2015February 15, 2019

This was a busy and very happy workshop which was photographed! Georgia requested an opportunity to photograph a craft in action and you can see the photo she’s chosen below (Sue, that’s you). It was a brief visit but it made the day even more interesting.

We were a mixed bunch with a few complete novices including our youngest participant, teenager Scoop. This is that awful moment when having spent ages laying out wool, rubbing and rolling you need to use the scissors.

Oh how I wish that when I was making my slippers I’d thought to do what I advised everyone else to do – use a vibrant shade of Merino inside to give it a hidden zing! See what I mean?

I snuck this photo in whilst these slippers were still being worked on!

The bright interiors are such a lovely addition. Below is a pair which were fashioned more mule style whilst most chose to have them higher up the foot.

Here are the finished articles. Enjoy!

Thanks for posing in your soggy slippers ladies, you made a good job of them. One of the nice things is that a few have been inspired to make more pairs, either for themselves or for family members – Good Luck.

Warm, comfy slippers

February 15, 2013February 13, 2013

I ran a slipper making workshop last week and forgot to take my camera along so these pictures come courtesy of Lesley.

lesley

India was accompanied by her daughters so help with the final shaping was very forthcoming.

We used a variety of wools that day including BFL, Shetland and Norwegian and the results are brilliant although I’m sorry to say we haven’t captured all of them. One day maybe I won’t forget things.

Slippers and chicken combs

March 8, 2012

I know I always seem to say this but I really do mean it, we had an absolutely fabulous day on Saturday. We were making slippers using Norwegian and English wool plus chicken combs.People worked really hard on these and some were complete beginners at felting. here’s a short selection of what was made.

From top left going clockwise, slippers are by Mich, Cheree, Alison and Liz. It amuses me to look round the room and half the people seem to be missing as they’re bent double trying them on!

As for the chicken combs, well that was Angela from Yorkshire Hurdles keen to incorporate felting into her willow weaving. A good job of it she made too. If you fancy going on a willow course, Angela is a good tutor, did you see my dragonfly

We has a significant birthday in the house too so the day was punctuated by a rendition of Happy Birthday (with yummy cake) followed by an incredible buffet lunch supplied by Angela, Claire and Gill (hope I’ve spelt those right). Thank you so much ladies, a thoroughly enjoyable day.

P.S. A heartfelt thank you for assistance with the great day end, putting away task

Slipper workshop

December 12, 2010December 13, 2010

I was privileged to teach a lovely group on Friday and we had great fun making slippers and using our own feet as the lasts. Until you’re sure you want to make lots of slippers it doesn’t make sense to buy polystyrene lasts as they’re not adjustable and you’d need a pair for each shoe size. So it’s obvious isn’t it? Just use your feet.

I love the contrast interiors on these slippers and the sparkly bows on the green pair are great. Once you have a basic pattern it can adjusted for many styles of slippers / boots. It’s also quite simple to create patterns and make slippers for other people’s feet in the same way. However, if you’re totally smitten you can buy lasts from Wingham Wool Work. It’s also possible to do some shaping by using an old trainer or a wellington boot. As usual with felting, there’s always more than one way to do things.

That’s the last of my workshops for a while so I hope to be showing you more of other crafty things I get up to and experiments with dyeing that I’ve been putting off for far too long.