A twiggy lampshade

I found an old children's lamp on a fleamarket in France a while ago, and after removing the original embroidered cotton shade, was left with a simple box shaped frame. I decided to make 4 panels of felt to cover it, rather than a long piece to wrap round, as I was concerned about keeping it straight. 

The panels are made of just two fairly thin layers of natural cream merino, to keep it translucent. Between the 2 layers I sandwiched some thin birch twigs from the garden. I added a few natural wool curly locks as a final decoration. I felted this gently, with just a little fulling, until the panels were firm and strong enough. 

After drying, I stitched the panels onto the frame using invisible nylon thread. Much the worst part - I hate sewing with this stuff as it constantly slips out of the needle! 

I like the delicate natural, translucent quality of the shade, and it looks particularly good when lit up. 

Sometimes I think that the best felt is in natural colours, with natural found objects incorporated. A memory perhaps of when it was on the back of a sheep, with twigs caught in it! 

Bird Box card

 I like making my own cards, and find simple naif designs with scraps of fabric and free motion stitching quite satisfying to make. My daugter has just moved into a new flat, and this is what I've made. 

I used some blackout curtain lining fabric as the background as it is solid enough to stitch on without a hoop. I'm not very good at controlling the stitching, but I say that the imperfections just add to the charm! 

I use a Pilot Frixion pen to draw on the designs, then just use a warm iron to remove the marks. I know there is some debate about whether the marks really disappear, but it is quick and fine for a project like this.