What's New at Precious Purl?

 

A wonderful array of new goodies to share with you!

Hand Dyed Silk Ribbon and Embellishing packs from Colour Streams, 

luscious hand dyed wool top from Treetops Colour Harmonies range, 

Sari Silk loom ends and Sari Ribbon in gorgeous colours, 

beautifully soft 100% wool felt, 

some unique Felted Wraps and Hats,

hand dyed Tissue and Paj silk lengths, 

hand dyed silk top and mohair curls,

many beautiful yarns from near and far,

  more vintage buttons

together with the lovely range of fabric bits from India that I mentioned in the last post.

WOW! the shop is even more colourful than usual!

Come and see for yourself!

Visual Feast!

A visual feast on my kitchen table, just arrived from Rajasthan in India!

Gorgeous Fat Quarters hand printed with hand carved wood blocks.

Beautiful Silk Fat Quarters in packs of 4 in luscious colours.

 

Hand stitched squares, just perfect for cushions!

 

Silk and Sparkle Packs filled with treasures and perfect for those little projects such as card making.

Thank you so much Fiona, you and your Stitching Ladies are doing a wonderful job.

Come on in and see for yourself, these gorgeous packs will get the creative juices going!

Being Seen!!

It is really important to us that our lovely customers can find us easily!
Here we are on Brunswick Street, one of Melbourne's busiest shopping precincts and people are still saying
"I didn't know you were here," or "I wish I had known you were here," two and a half years after opening!

Yes, we are tucked up stairs above Calico House, but here is our solution! I decided on 4 letter words in bright colours to catch your eye! We still get all the light from all those windows and our Landlord is happy.

 

So next time you are in Brunswick Street, waiting at the tram stop outside Fitzroy Nursery, riding the tram, visiting Nobody Jeans, or just cruising along enjoying the vibe, LOOK UP and see 

WOOL, FELT, YARN which is really only a small part of the treasures you will find inside!

If you visit Precious Purl on Thursday or Friday of this week and mention the BIG WORDS, or this post, I will have a little gift for you.

Victorian Feltmakers Exhibition

I was lucky enough to have the time on Friday to take in the "FELTernative" exhibition featuring works by the Victorian Feltmakers Inc. This is being held at the Hawthorn Town Hall Gallery from 3rd to 27th August, open Wednesday to Saturday 12 - 5pm.

Butterfly Cape by Jean Braund

 Country Garden Tea Cosy by Lyn Gibson

Blooms for Stacey by Carolyn Rogers

     



Martien van Zuilen's Fiery Sunset
featuring her "jigsaw weave and felt techniques"

I really loved these Silk Organza pieces by Jan Everett, a regular at Precious Purl. The pic on the right shows the beautiful detail of the wrap featured above.

A Visual Feast and well worth visiting if you are at all interested in Felting, as many different techniques are featured.

Cobweb Felting

The  Cobweb Felting classes at Precious Purl have proven to be so popular, that Pam has agreed to run another on 15th October and maybe we can twist her arm to do one in November too!
Some pics of our last class may wet your appetite! Pam only takes 2 participants at a time, so lots of space and individual tuition.

Helen and Lori are laying out the Hand Dyed Merino/Silk Lap ready to laminate it to Tissue Silk. The Lap is amazingly stretchy and felts beautifully by itself. Adding it to Silk just gives a different effect!

Both girls were delighted with the results as you can see.
If you want a sneak preview of this class, the 3rd one this year, is running on Saturday between 10.15 and 4.15. Pop in and see what it's all about.
If you would like more details, see us at Precious Purl or email me. (see my profile)

Brisbane Textile Art Festival and Workshops!

A month ago I was lucky enough to have a Winter break in Brisbane, although it was barely warmer than frosty Melbourne!
While I was there, a friend and I enrolled in one of Wendy Bailye's Felting classes at the Textile Art Festival. Wendy is a very relaxed Tutor with a wealth of Felting knowledge to share. Some made black silk scarves with 3D Flowers, while I made a Table Runner on prefelt.

Another fuzzy Pic! Less rush - take time, needs to be my motto!

Wendy is adjusting some of the 3D flowers

I was really pleased with my Table Runner now proudly displayed at the shop!

It is always inspiring taking classes, you always learn something new, as every Tutor has their own way of approaching things.

Looking forward to the Dry Felting class we have at Precious Purl tomorrow. 5 gals are in for a treat with experienced teacher, Moira Watkins.

We still have places in the Flowers and Fascinators wet Felting on Saturday 3rd September. A 3 hour class that promises to be lots of fun.

Also places available in Knitting Basics/Pattern Reading with Vicki, Saturday 17th September.

If you are interested in either of these classes just email me for more details.

Back from the Wool & Sheep Show!

Another successful show for us, great weather on 2 of the 3 days, lots of happy customers, time to take a breath and back to the shop this week!

If you missed the Bendigo Wool & Sheep Show this year, mark it in your diary for 2012 as it just keeps getting bigger and better.
So many "fibrey" things in one place has an amazing effect on some people! We were told by a couple of happy customers that it was the "best day of the year" for them!

 

Our stand looked great and wonderfully colourful as always, though a little fuzzy in this pic! Blame the long days and much talking and standing in the cold!

Lots of happy shoppers.

  

Doug was an added attraction to our stand this year. He is a Mohair grower, dyer, spinner and crochets!
Many men/boys stopped to admire and talk, along with the many interested ladies.
Doug's hand spun and dyed mohair yarn is for sale at Precious Purl.