Bless the Japanese

As a crafter, I am in awe of the crafty things produced by the Japanese – the fabric, the notions, the magazines and books, the fabric (did I say that one already?). All of these things provide me with endless ideas about how I can make my world a bit more beautiful with things made by my own hand. I’m not ashamed to say that – more often than not – the things made by my own hand only bear a passing resemblance to the original inspiration. I usually enjoy the creating as much as the creation, so it all works out. Usually.

One of the areas that I have been very reluctant to venture is to wool felting. I absolutely love the look of things appliqued with felted wool accents. At first I told myself my hesitation was because it is quite difficult to find wool felt around here. While that is still true, I have put together a list of online resources, so I can’t use that excuse anymore. When it really comes down to it, I think it’s because my artistic skills are seriously lacking. When it comes to drawing for embroidery or embellishment or whatever, if there’s a pattern, I’m all over it. If I have to do something free-hand, forget it. It will likely be completely unrecognizable. The good people at Clover, though, must know some other people like me.

That is a felting template, I think. I don’t read Japanese, but that’s what it looks like based on the photos. It will allow you felt that adorable hedgehog and the mushrooms, too, using the Clover felting tool and mat, along with the template thing.  Here’s one of the projects they suggest – just too cute!

The people at Clover are also very generous with their project ideas and patterns. Check out this page, which is continually updated with great stuff. Each of the Lessons has at least two projects, so it’s not just whatever they happen to have in the photo. My seasonal favorite is Lesson 42, which has an awesome wall tree and decorations. They are all in Japanese, of course, but the diagrams and illustrations make it all very easy to figure out.

Enjoy!  I’m going to try to find that template somewhere that ships to the US…

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