free craft project – Dutch Hollow Acres

July 21, 2009January 13, 2010

How To Felt Beads with Alpaca

This year I bought with me bags of colorful alpaca fiber on our vacation to the Adirondacks after my sister-in-law inquired about making felted beads. Our adventures in making alpaca felted jewelry turned out to be quite entertaining especially after a few beers or glasses of wine.

Supplies:
– Dawn Original Dish Soap
– Bottle of hot tap water
– Shoe tray
– Towels
– Carded Fiber

Method:
To make beads is very simple. Pinch off some raw fiber, pour some warm soapy water on it and start gently rubbing in the palm of your hand to form a ball. (NOTE: learning to felt with wool is easier than alpaca for beginners)

As I had mentioned my sister-in-law makes beaded jewelry and here are some photos of the “Trix” necklace my mom had fun making.

Don’t forget to check out Alpaca Farm Girl’s Fiber Art Fridays

June 30, 2009January 13, 2010

How To Dye Alpaca Fiber with Kool-Aid

Probably the easiest, cheapest and least harmful way to dye alpaca fiber is with Kool-aid. Where else can you get a rainbow of colors for $0.25 a pack!

Solid Color Dye:

1. Heat a pan of water so that you see steam rising but not so hot it’s boiling

2. Add your Kool-aid and stir

a. The more packets you add the darker the color. Mix and match kool-aid packet colors and make your own!

3. Put in your fiber and push down with tongs until fiber is fully submerged

4. Let simmer for 30 minutes or until water is clear.

5. Pour your fiber and water into a colander to drain out the water. Use your tongs to press out extra water but be sure not to agitate the fiber or it will felt. (Note the water that I’m pouring out in the photo is clear)

6. I dry my fiber on cookie racks next to my dehumidifier in the basement. You can also use sweater racks or set it out to dry in the sun on a lawn chair or towels

Kool-Aid Dye Color Chart!
Click on color chart for larger image. Props out to http://www.thepiper.com/ for this great color chart!

June 22, 2009January 13, 2010

How To Warp A Mini Loom

Card weaving is really fun, easy and portable. Depending on the design you are doing the work can move very quickly. The hardest part about card weaving is warping your loom. Here is a short video I’ve made on how to warp the Palmer Loom I use for many of my projects.

In this video I’m using all one color because the end product is for the show halter I’m working on. In future series I will be using multiple colors to show you how you can make designs and patters in your weave.

Special Charity Fiber Arts Friday. Please Visit Alpaca Farm Girl

Palmer Looms

May 5, 2009January 13, 2010

Alpaca Fiber Feeder

With spring comes the shearing of our alpacas and a whole lot of fiber. We carefully handle the prime blanket fleece and collect the 2^nd and 3^rd cuts off into their separate bags. However there are always leftovers, little bits that are too short or too coarse and aren’t worth collecting to be processed. Fiber is your livelihood, you hate to just throw it away. There has to be something or someone who could use all those scraps.

The answer: The Fiber Feeder! Mother Nature really wants your scraps. This time of year all of our beautiful song birds are coming back and diligently making their nests. What better way to help out our feathered friends than to collect your scraps and make fiber feeders.

You can either fill up an empty suet feeder with your scraps or make one out of chicken wire like I did. I sewed up the sides with bailing twine. If you use chicken wire be sure to turn all the ends in so you A) don’t stab yourself with wire and B) poke the poor birds who come to pick out fiber from the feeder.

If you’d like fiber to fill a suet feeder of your own I’ll be happy to mail you some for $5 which just covers my costs of packaging and shipping charges. Email me for a PayPal invoice. Requests are mailed out next day by 9am. I believe in fast shipping!