'Easy Stuff to Make with Fluff' : The Writing of... and Behind the Scenes

Specialising in Fluff isn't really normal is it? But it's pretty routine for me. In fact so much so that last week my husband bet me he could find a random piece of 'fluff' in our house at home. I wasn't convinced. But he was right, - he found some within 30 seconds. On the floor. In the kitchen. Not even anywhere near the tumble drier! There is literally FLUFF everywhere.

And then convincing my publisher that 'Fluff' wasn't just to be associated with belly buttons or trophy girlfriends, and was a viable and really very 'serious' word, was quite the feat too!

Another name for Wooltops - and of course part of my 'Fluff-a-torium' shop name, - once I had the name for my new book "Easy Stuff to Make with Fluff" there was no getting away from it. They weren't convinced. But in the end they had a moment of fluffy reflection, agreed/saw the soft light, and here it is!:-)

Wooltops (or "Fluff")is normally just associated with Wet Felting, Needle Felting or Spinning Yarn. But not any more :-) 
In my new book I set out to show everyone lots of other possibilities for using wooltops. The aim with this new book was to make crafting with wooltops and yarns accessible for everyone, regardless of their age, ability, or creative flair. Crafting with Fluff is great fun! My previous book "Felting Fabulous Flowers" was quite an advanced book - for serious felters! So I wanted to write something a little bit more straightforward.

There are lots of projects for everyone that are graded in difficulty and on how easy they are to complete. 
There are main chapters on:

• Decorating & General Crafty Stuff with Fluff
• Soaping Rubbing & Stabbing Fluff into Stuff (aka felting)
• Weaving Fluff in and out of Stuff
• Spinning Stuff with Fluff
• Knitting & Crocheting Stuff with Fluff

- plus also information all about fluffy wooltops and where to get it, and also how to dye wooltops and yarn.

 Upcycled Threaded Plastic Baskets - made using hand spun wooltops and yarns. 

One of the projects in  "Easy Stuff to Make with Fluff"

From simple up-cycling projects using wooltops and also projects for children to do that are easy and fast, right through to more intricate projects that take a little bit longer.

Needle Felted Vintage Teacup Pincushion & Toadstool.

From "Easy Stuff to Make with Fluff"

If you've seen Giant / Extreme Knitting or Crochet using Wooltops or Roving (there's been a lot online recently) and have dreamt about having a go, there are also projects showing you what to do!
By knitting on giant knitting needles or crocheting with a giant crochet hook, with lengths of wooltops, you can make some great accessories for your home...

The Extreme Knitting "Cushty Cushion" from "Easy Stuff to Make with Fluff"

There are also projects for crocheted rugs, a plant pot cover, and a lovely warm stole.

The "I Fluffy Heart You" Wall Hanging" from "Easy Stuff to Make with Fluff"

Weaving is great fun and very popular at the moment. The advantage to weaving with wooltops is that the weaving grows way way faster that with using conventional yarns and smaller fibres. This is a good thing - right!? There is a weaving project for children, and also a woven stool and a lampshade too! :-)

Here's some of the yarn I was spinning whilst writing the book - I explain how to use that thing in the left photo called a drop spindle and how to use up leftover bits of wooltops. In fact there's a lot of projects suitable for busting your yarn and wooltops 'stash'!

And obviously my dog Betty Bou was very helpful whilst I was writing "Easy Stuff to Make with Fluff". She lent a hand whenever she could. Here she is in my lounge at home, keeping a watchful eye, and even helping in the baking hot sunshine! :-) And then she managed to get in on the act in the actual book too. Yes - she's in it! Wearing a felted dog necklace project of course! Called "Precious Pooch Pendant".
 

The book is so jam packed with fluffy projects that we ran out of space for many pictures of the "Jaw Dropper Shopper" Felted Bag whilst being made. So I've included a couple of pics here of what it looked like before it was wet felted. The finished bag picture is in the book.
 

If you think there's a chance that you might really like fluff - "Easy Stuff to Make with Fluff" is a great place to start. With over 25 fluff-tacular projects, there really is something for everyone. And even if you'd felted before, or had a dabble, there are still lots of projects for you too!

I LOVE a deadline. Not because I love deadlines - but because deadlines MAKE me finish things. I had been messing about with ideas for this book for simply ages. Since 2015 in fact. So knowing that I had to finish things by August 2016 was really good! And of course I was still working on things the night before. That's just the way I roll! But then I always like to over achieve as well. That's so annoying - and so ridiculous! I ended up making too many projects for the book and then some got the chop.
Here's one that didn't quite make the final cut - poor thing...

Cute. But superfluous to fluffy requirements. I have however, been writing with my fluffy pens quite a lot! :-) Maybe I'll do it as a blog post project instead!?

Before I sign off - here are some more pics of when we were shooting the book, and behind the scenes in the wonderful places we shot in...

We shot some of the photography in this amazing apartment in London. The light was great and there were lots of fabulous props and interesting pieces of furniture.

 

Behind those doors was the most beautiful bathroom. You can see one of the projects hanging on the door handle as we set up the shot.

On the left here we are shooting the Giant Crochet Plant Pot called "Potted & Knotted" and on the right hand side, the door curtain called "Hang the Stash".

Then some of the shots were done here in The Gilliangladrag Fluff-a-torium studio. As you can see, Rachel had to set the camera up on the studio table to shoot the Weaving Tutorial step by step shots. It was literally the hottest day of the year and I'd rolled down my dress so that my white t-shirt would reflect the light! Oh - and yes, - I think we were in hysterics about something rude. Ooh la la!

Signed copies of "Easy Stuff to Make with Fluff" are now available from our website for just £8.99 (RRP £9.99) - and we ship worldwide! I really hope you like it! x

Free BRUSSEL SPROUT Felt Bunting Tutorial x

Let's face it - there's always the need for some bunting - whatever the occasion. And Christmas is no exception! So, - on with this easy brussel sprout bunting to help decorate your house in a fluffy Christmas way :-)

 

All you'll need are some simple bits and pieces: a large rectangle of red felt, a 38g felting needle and foam to work onto, some green ric-rac trimming, and some wool tops in mid olive, dark olive, and peppermint.

You can use some red ready made felt, (or you can make your own felt with our red merino wool tops and a mini bamboo mat felting kit) and of course you can use any colour you fancy  - not just red! A large rectangle will make you about 1 metre of small bunting, or use more felt and more ric-rac for a longer length.

Start by cutting the felt rectangle in half lengthways, and then cutting the long triangles as above. Doing it this way makes sure there's no wastage and you get as many pennants as possible...

Now for the needle felted brussels! Start by taking a small amount of mid olive wool tops and needle it gently into a circle about the size of a 2p piece in the top part of each pennant.

Next, needle a small stem to each brussel sprout, using the peppermint wool tops. You'll only need tiny amounts!



And finally add some tiny lines of dark olive wool tops, to make each brussel sprout look more realistic.

 

Once you've finished needle felting all your brussels, pin each pennant to the green ric rac and then sew - either by hand or on a machine if you have one, using some matching green thread.

 And that's all there is to it! Enjoy! 

If you liked this tutorial and you'd like to buy a felt bunting kit as a pressie - take a look at our great value "Scandi Bunting" COMPLETE felting kit (as seen on Channel 4 last week), which includes everything you need including a mat and net inside the packet :-)and costs just £15.95!

Happy Christmas Fluff-a-tiers! xxx

Free Pompom Christmas Wreath Tutorial for FLUFFY Friday!

Hello all! Let me show you how to make this really simple hanging Christmas Wreath for black FLUFFY Friday! It's brimming over with pompoms and general woolly goodness and is really simple to make :-)

First you're going to need a circular wreath of some sort. I nipped down to the florists and bought this one for £3 (approx 30cm in diameter) - but you could improvise and even make one out of wire if need be...or recycle an old one?

Next, you can really speed things up by using a couple of metres of our giant pompom trimming here (£3.50 a metre).  Each pompom measures a whopping 4cm! I used a metre of red giant pompom trim and a metre of cerise giant pompom trim and then wound them around the wreath, securing and tying them in place with some yarn here and there.

Then you're going to have some fun making some pompoms! You can use any method you like - but it's super duper easy with our pompom maker set (4 sizes for £6.50) here and our new heart shaped pompom maker too!

You can use any yarn in any colour - I used a mixture of reds and pinks. A good yarn to use is something like our Stylecraft Special DK yarn - which is cheap and cheerful at £1.95!

  

You'll probably need to make between 10-12 different sized pompoms in different colours and shades if you can. But anything goes!

Pompom making is simple with these fabulous contraptions! They are so clever and make it really easy!

Tie or thread each pompom into place on the wreath, - using matching yarn or string.

Next I added a handmade felt rose - you can make one too from our "Plum Pudding Rose Corsage" kit - or you can just cut out your own felt flowers from some of our ready made felt perhaps instead?

 

I also cut some simple holly leaves from green felt I'd made  - again you could use the ready made felt. Sew the rose and leaves around the wreath to hold in place.

Make sure everything is tied together securely by adding yarn around the wreath here and there. I also added a few felt balls too, to fill in the gaps. I sewed them around the wreath to keep them in place. (Some of the felt balls were needle felted too! I know I know... :-)

You can make your own felt balls REALLY EASILY from wool tops (like our Christmas Cracker wooltops inspiration pack) or you can buy the ready made ones instead!

If you fancy needle felting onto the felt balls, you can do that with our needle felting kit too!

And then you're done! Just add another loop of yarn or matching pompom trim at the top to hang, and admire your work :-)

Easy Peasy! x Happy Christmas Pompom Wreath making everyone! x