my first piece of garment

[halay]

I was asking questions here on how to deal with locks so as not to disturb the lovely curls and promised to post a photo.  Well, used locks in my first piece of garment, a small vest. I didn't make any sample (too impatient) and just drew a pattern on a resist for size No 46 . I had no idea what will come out.  Now it seems that I ended up with size No36. It doesn't matter,  hopefully it will find a user.  here is my first vest where I used the locks  I wrapped the ends of locks in a small piece of cling film and let the upper end felt in with other wool. And this is the back side  I was quite pleased with the result but then I realised that the vest is very tight and cannot be pulled over. So I put a zipper on the side and solved the problem. The other thing is that the opening on the neck was too small.  I will need to make a slit at the back or find someone with a small   head.
With this experience I proceeded to my second vest. This time the neck opening was OK, and I am quite pleased with another experiment I did here for the first time, i.e. there are small flowers which have been felted in (I'm not sure you can see them well in the picture  I found this idea on the Internet: used two silk handkerchiefs and placed one layer of wool in between, slightly felted the piece, placed some flat buttons underneath and tied them with a string. I placed this embellishment on my work and felted on. In the end I just made a cut and took the buttons out and formed a flower with my fingers.  
This was my first experience  with a garment. If I wanted to make something for my size, I would need a large table (which I haven't). To lay wool on the floor - no, that is not for me, too old to do something on my knees. Are there any other tricks? How do you deal with large pieces?

[MTRuth]

These are great Halay. The little button flowers are great and I love your colors and embellishments.

I have made large garments on a small table but it is hard to do. You have to layout a portion, wet down and then roll up that section, then layout the next portion wet down and roll up again. Then you keep rolling up like a parchment until it's all done. It is hard to do especially if you are trying to do a seamless garment. I think it is much easier and the clothing actually fits better if you make the felt flat and then sew the pieces together. Obviously it's not the same as making a seamless garment but you really need a large space to do that without "killing yourself". If you make pieces of felt large enough for your pattern pieces and then sew them together it works for small spaces.

It's amazing how much these shrink, isn't it?

[Pandagirl]

Halay, both the vests are gorgeous. The first one reminds me of the ocean and the second one of the desert. The locks and flowers turned out great. I'm like you, I am usually too impatient to get started to do samples. But I think you were very creative in addressing the problems you encountered with too much shrinkage and a small neck hole! I'm sure you'll find good homes for them both.

[luvswool and dyestuff]

Both of your vests are stunning! I think I am particularly drawn to the second one, perhaps because the coloring is so subtle. The flowers are very sweet! I second Ruth's suggestion of using pattern pieces for the vest, and then sewing them together by machine. I know there is a lot of buzz out there about making seamless garments, but I think seamed garments are just fine! Nice work, Halay!

[Frances]

Both are so pretty - what material did you use for your resist.

[halay]

Thank you girls for your comments and for advice, Ruth. I also started thinking that perhaps it would be better to sew pieces together. Frances, I used a 2mm thick plastic sheet which is used for insulation in flooring. It's very soft and I could roll the whole piece.

[zed]

They are both very nice, I like the way you blend colours
For years I have been stuck with my kitchen draining board and a little piece of the kitchen counter next to it.
I made a scarf down on the floor once, that really did hurt!
I bought a second hand fold-down table last year, so it's easier for larger pieces now.

I spent ages looking for decent long tables which can fold away (decorators types), they are either long or strong.

[carole aka craftywoman]

The first one reminds me of the sea, the locks and longer pieces of blue feel like water and foam, the second one is so beautiful too, those little flowers are look so delicate and blend in well with the rest of the vest top, it must be a nightmare to get a correct sizing, the zip is a clever idea. Have you made other wearable felt?

[halay]

Thank you Zed and Carole. It's interesting how certain patterns and colours remind people of different things. Do I make wearable felt? Yes, I do, exclusively, if you consider gloves, scarves and slippers as wearables. Zed, I am thinking of getting a large fold-down table too, the floor is not for me either.

[luvswool and dyestuff]

Halay, I've seen those sturdy long tables all over the place…they have strong tubular aluminum or steel braces on the bottom and should hold up for a long time. People sometimes use them for work/computer desks as well. I'm fortunate to have a very long granite counter in the kitchen/dining area, where I can lay out wool up to 80 inches long!

Interesting to hear you work exclusively with wearable felt! Do you mind my asking how you sell your goods? Do you have an on-line shop? Your work is not only beautiful, but ambitious and looks to be very well-constructed.

[Shepherdess]

They both turned out great. I like what you did with the locks. you really do need huge templates for seamless garments. 50% bigger if there is 30% shrinkage and 100% bigger if there is 50% shrinkage. Then I find they are very hard to shape properly. Tubes only look good on stick people.

I have the plastic toped folding tables that I take to craft shows. they go on sale for about $25-45 here. depending on how heavy. My hubby made me a table it has folding legs but I have never folded it. It is 4x8 and I love it. If you use a folding table get yourself some of the black plastic pipe to slide over the legs to bring your table up to the right height or you will kill you r back. the table should be a few inches below you elbow.

[halay]

Shepperdess, thank you for your advice the things one needs to keep in mind when buying a folding table as well as on templates. I don't understand though why a template should be 50% larger if there is shrinkage of 30%? Can you explain because I am planning to make a coat. Of course, I will make a test sample first to see how much the whole thing will shrink.

[Teri Berry]

Hi Halay, this one had me stumped to begin with too. I think the best way to explain is with an example:

If you start with piece that is 150 cm long and have a 33% shrinkage rate it will be 100 cm once fulled (i.e. it will be 2/3 the length you started with). Thinking about it the other way around, if you want a piece that is 100 cm long when finished, you need to start with 150 cm laid out wool (50% more than your finished length).

Hope this helps? seems completely counter-intuitive doesn't it?

[Shepherdess]

yes the finished piece is 2/3 of the starting piece. If you are having trouble picturing it try it. Mark a sheet of paper into thirds. Cut 1/3 off. Now you have 2/3s left with a mark down the middle or 1/2 way. 50% on each side of the line. If you lost the piece you cut off and wanted to know how big it was to start, you would make a piece the is 50% of what you had left and add it to the existing piece. Its hard to explain without visual aids.