The story of a Teeny Tiny Textile Art picture.

I thought it might be fun to show you all a story in pictures showing how I go about making one of my pictures.
 First, here is my work space.

 Next, I choose a piece of felt for my background. Sometimes I know what I want, other times I just look until I get an idea. Today, I knew what I wanted.

 Then I get out the resources I think I might need.

Wool

Embroidery thread

Beads

 

 

 

 

 And the tools I use.

I decided to make a picture of a rock pool. So I began by making the rocks by needle felting two colours of rough carded wool.

The two colours of wool on my foam felting pad.

The needle is extremely sharp and barbed, as it is pushed in and pulled out the barbs catch in the fleece tangling the fibres.

The wool becoming matted by the movement of the needle

This is the 'wrong side' of the felted wool showing how the needle drags the fibres through.

Here I have added extra colour.

Now I have made my 'rock' I can start creating my picture.

Natural raw fleece is used for 'sand '.

The fleece is felted into the background.

The elements start being drawn together. The rocks are felted in place and I've used some brown fleece to represent seaweed.

Although I never try to make nature accurate pictures I sometime look in a book to check I have the right sort of colours. Here I checked in a Collins book of the Seashore.

With this guidance I added these to my picture.

Starfish and anemone.

Then I added some further embellishments. Can you spot them?

I added a tiny shell with a pearl. Several clear beads as air bubbles, a striped bead as a sea snail. There are highlights of green fleece and metallic thread too.
 I hope you have enjoyed this insight to my work.
This piece, and the others I have made can be seen and purchased at Teeny Tiny Textile Art