Embellishing With Threads

For every one of my pattern designs, I always suggest that wool felt can be used instead of the 100% wool that is shown in my pictures.  I do this because 100% wool is very expensive whereas wool felt is a LOT less expensive.  Woolfelt might not give the exact appearance as 100% wool but for those who can't afford the real stuff, wool felt is the perfect alternative.

The real disadvantage with woolfelt is that textures, like tweeds and checks and plaids are not available.  Woolfelt is only available in plain, solid colors.
But, that shouldn't stop you from using wool felt in place of plaids or tweeds because it's easy to use threads to create that design on woolfelt.

Take for instance the plaid scarf on the "Let It Snow" design...

When I first introduced this design as a pattern, I recieved a rather nasty comment from an Ebayer which scolded me for suggesting that woolfelt could be used for this design. 

SIDENOTE:   I have to say that very RARELY do I ever get nasty remarks from anyone, but in all cases, I take the nasty comments as constructive criticism rather than insults.  I use those comments to help me improve my work.  Even the one person, who over the years chooses to subtly harrass me with anonymous emails, I learn from these type of comments ....and besides, "the customer is always right" is always my way of thinking.

Anyway, the Ebayer angrily insisted that the snowman's plaid wool scarf could not be dublicated with woolfelt since it's not available as a plaid.  While this is true, and since the customer is always right, I agreed with her, but I also let her know that embellishing plain colored wool felt with assorted colored threads to create the plaid affect would work very nicely. 
Another example, which exactly shows how I've used threads to create texture is my design, "A Crow's Day Off"...

I could have used a nice brown tweed for the sunflower centers for this but I used threads instead to create the textured grid pattern.  It's easy to do and it converts the plain colored camel wool into a texture. 

So, if you come across a design that you'd love to make but lack the exact color or textured wool to make it, give some thought to alternative options ... like embellishing with threads!

Happy Stitching and Happy Day!

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