Felted Spectacle Glasses Case

Wet felting the glasses Case Shape 1. First cut a template from strong template plastic making it 20% larger than you’d like your glasses case to be to allow for shrinkage. I used a rectangle measuring about 18 x 27cm (7 x101?2in) and slightly rounded the corners at the base. 2. Working from the inner layer out, lay out the peppermint wool overlapping the edges of the template. Cover with netting, wet, soap and rub for a few minutes. Turn the template over and fold in the edges. Repeat on the other side. 3. Now lay down the outer layer of salmon pink with the fibres facing in the opposite direction, and overlap the edges. Add some fine wisps of black wool for the main frame of the glasses in the centre. Keep the shape of the glasses fairly large within the space, but leave a little room around the edges. Try to keep the outline as neat and tidy as you can at this stage, although it can be added to later on when adding the needle felting details. 4. Cover, wet, soap and rub for about 10–20 minutes or until all the fibres are securely attached together. Turn over and fold in the edges. 5. Now you are working on the final side, so no overlap is required. Simply fill in the centre with some more salmon pink, although if you want to you can add a little black heart to decorate. Repeat the rubbing until everything feels attached together. 6. Briefly rinse in lukewarm water, then do a complete roll on both sides (see 3D Seamless Objects, step 9, page 127). Rinse in very hot water and briefly roll again. 7. Using small sharp scissors, cut the case open at one end and remove the template. Trim to neaten if necessary, and then soap, rub and felt the edges. 8. Remove all traces of soap with a hot rinse followed by a freezing cold rinse. Repeat the rolling on both sides until you are happy with the amount of shrinkage. Leave to dry.
Needle felting the fine details 1. Insert some protective foam into the opening of the glasses case. Following the photographs opposite and below, begin by needle felting a red border around the black glasses frame, and finish with a very fine black line on the outer edge. Now add a very fine white line on the inside to define the lenses. 2. Make the eyes by using small amounts of white wool; add black eyelids and blue/green irises, with a tiny black dot in the centre of each for the pupil.
Finishing the case 1. Add the stick-on gems at the top of each side of the glasses frame. Dab each gem with a dot of glue and use tweezers to position, then leave to dry. 2. To add a closure, sew in Velcro spots or a press stud on the inside, near the opening.