Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Lydia Pin Update

Hello, all of you wonderful people who have ordered Lydia Pins!  There has been a phenomenal response and more interest than I could have imagined!  I thought I would tell you a little bit about the process that goes into making your pin so special.


These are my supplies- a foam mat and two kinds of felting needles.  




I pull off a piece of purple wool.  The wool from our sheep is sent away to a place where they clean it, dye it, and make it into something called "roving."  From this state, it is perfect for feeding into a spinning wheel to spin, or in this case, for felting.   



I form the roving into a circle.  


It is put on the foam mat, and I poke it repeatedly with a 3-pronged needle until it becomes felt.


The special barbed needles poke and agitate the wool and make the fibers adhere together.  If you've ever accidentally thrown a wool sweater into a washing machine, you've done the same thing...I'm just doing it on purpose.  



I take the single needle and poke the wool in to form petals.  


Four petals.  I also poke the wool in the form of a cross to make an indent in the middle.  




I repeat once more to make a big and a little flower.  


Using the needle again, I poke the middles to make the two flowers stick together.


Time for beads!  


And the pin back.  






Voila!  Each Lydia Pin is just a little different.  


Sometimes Molly likes to try to help.


Luckily, I can finish a pin in about twenty minutes- just about as long as an episode of Special Agent Oso.  She's a big fan, as you can see.    


There have been orders for 64 pins so far, and I have filled 35!  I can usually get two or three done in a day if I time it just right between nap times. :o)  If you have ordered one, thank you so much for your patience in waiting for yours to come. Please know that I am working hard to get caught up.  If you would like to order one, you can still visit my esty site. (Although be warned, you may need to wait at least 3 weeks before you get it.)  

Want to learn more about the Lydia Pin?  Click on the button here:  

     



The Lydia Pin

Thank you again for your outpouring of love and support for this beautiful girl and her family.