This year I challenged myself to learn more about needle-felting realistic faces, through books and experiments.  I started with the male hockey player, completing the head first and working towards the feet.  The result was issues with proportion as well as a static body.  

​The large Santa, approximately 9 inches tall, also has a wire armature.  His face, and look has a bit of ‘old world’ charm.  He is dressed in wet felted clothing and carries a fully jointed mini bear. 

Buttons have been around for thousands of years and have been unearthed in many parts of Asia and all the way to Scotland and the Roman Empire. In Germany, where I learned the old craft of making Posamentenbuttons, they became popular as fasteners for clothing during the 13th century.  Did you know that button maker was even a proper profession about 250 years ago?
I enjoy the craft, whenever I don’t feel like felting or working on other projects. My teacher in Germany, Helene Weinold, created the perfect instruction sheets for me to follow and branch out from the type of buttons I learned to make during her workshop a couple of years ago. 
​Check out her brand new website
 http://www.knopfwerkstatt.de/beta/.
Depending on the style of button, cotton, silk and even a thin wool yarn are perfect materials to use. For the tree buttons, hand dyed silk yarns with slight color variations are best. Recently, my friend and Guild member Denise passed on some lovely silk thread, remnants from one of Kirsti’s weaving projects.  Some strands were too short, but others were perfect for making a large star button. Thank you Denise and Kirsti.

Alice Pallett