NamePlate

When planning our Erasmus+ journey to Dublin the students wanted to make/wear something similar which would show to the other people that we are a group. I suggested us to create hand made nameplates. Because especially foreign names are the ones you always forget and find difficult.

Everyone designed their own nameplates and used the technique they wanted. I waited until I knew what they all were making so that I use some other technique none had chosen. That's how I ended up to make mine by tin thread embroidery that is a form of Sámi crafts.

First I designed the pattern, then I transferred it to the iron on backing fabric. Then I did the tin thread embroidery by the 0,25mm tin thread (the finest available) on a piece of wool that was left over from my Sámi costume and FourWindsHat. Then I needed some reindeer leather to finish the nameplate itself.

First I sew the inner edges. I needed Marilla for this and we worked just fine together. Even I don't have the leather presser feet for her.

After sewing together the leather and wool I was able to cut off the extra wool fabric to make it all to the right size.

I needed also something to hang/fasten the nameplate. I had an idea ready for it but it needed a lot of work. If possible, we wanted to show that we are from Finland. That´s why I made these tiny flags of wool: Sámi flag and Finland flag.

The next step was the challenging one. I needed to make it all succeed by one stitching round because the sewing makes holes into the leather. The flag part is very thick so I need to pay a lot of attention when sewing it. Notice that the background leather is bigger at this point that the front side leather.

After sewing it around the outer edges I cut off the extra leather of the background leather. There are two "jump stitches" but I decided to do nothing to them because they are symmetrically on the both sides of the flags. Fixing them would also cause visible signs so I decided not to. In this way you don't notice it if you don't know. 😊

After finishing the nameplate and renewing my passport I was ready for my Erasmus+ journey with my students. 

Very special and very beautiful like all the nameplates the students made.

Dublin 2025

I was again in Dublin. On June 2024 I was there at my Erasmus+ education after which FashionNOW was started. This time I brought 9 of my students to Dublin for Erasmus+ group mobility because of my work. 

We stayed at The Trinity City Hotel. There was me and one student with special diet needs. I must tell this hotel is an excellent place to get your safe special diet. Perhaps you need to wait sometimes for it but that is ok because they know what they are doing. They never turn us away. If I need to choose I will stay in this hotel instead the previous one which neither was bad.

Part of Erasmus+ program is that there is a host with whom you operate. Our host was fabulous Dublin South City Partnership who arranged us this memorable Aran cable knitting workshop. We will never forget them and hopefully we will see them soon again.

The other host was IrelandsEye Knitwear whose factory we were welcomed to visit and participate. It was amazing to be able to see the factory inside that pays a lot of attention on sustainability in clothing business! I do can say that if you need to buy an industrial made jumper IrelandsEye Knitwear is a very good choice. It does its best to follow all the corners of the sustainability in clothing business. They didn't give me or my students any voucher, free gifts or anything. You know me, I don't advert anything, not even for a money. They just allowed us to step in and see all the places and process because of our Erasmus+ education and learning activities. We did learn so many things and appreciate that they provided us this once in a lifetime possibility in learning things like this.

Our main host DSCP (Dublin South City Partnership) arranged learning activities in few places. When going around we saw many places we would have missed in a normal tourist weekend in Dublin. Somehow this reminds me about Copenhagen. 

We had interesting learning activities in non-formal environments like graveyard with DSCP. They are very creative with their learning facilities.

We had nature/environment workshop at a library! I was very exited about that because in Lapland you never think you could have a nature workshop indoors!

After the environment workshop at the library we needed to go hug the trees outside because it all was a bit overwhelming. 

Ireland really is a country of thousands of welcomes. Me and my students experienced it many times in every day! These cute chickens were knit by our Aran cable knitting workshop facilitator for the group as a welcome gift. Each had a chocolate egg inside.

When going home we were amused by the fact that instead of Rovaniemi our flight was going to the North Pole. We didn't know we live quite there.😁

Me and Ireland -we'll meet again, that's for sure. 

TheBooks2

This year I decided to challenge myself to show you what on earth I read. In this blog post I show you which books I've read in March 2025. 

In March 2025 I have read a very interesting book Muinaisjäännöksiä Suomen suvun asumus-aloilta. It is a facsimile edition of the original J.R. Aspelin's publications. The only change is that Aspelin published 5 books separate on 1877-1884 which all was published in 2014 in the same covers. In English the tile means something like "ancient relics from Finnic people's regions." It is my book and I read it in Finnish. It is translated to French in the same covers like the original books. The book included plenty drawings so it is more like a picture book. Very interesting and educative book with its A4 size 399 pages!!!

In March 2025 I've also read Kate Morton's The Lake House (in Finnish). It was published on 2016. It has over 600 pages but full of fascinating occasions. Fascinating story from Britain's countryside. I left my copy actually at The Trinity City Hotel in Dublin, Ireland where I was 22.-29.3.2025 and read this book as my journey story. I always carry a book with me when travelling.

SámiBelt

I designed and made a new Sámi belt for myself. In the belt the symbolism and expression is more free and personal than in the Sámi costume. With the belt you can carry also something that express the things that are important to you. 

These heart figures are common around Finland but also around the Forest Sámi region. But expressed in the way like this in my Sámi belt, it comes from the roots of Him. So, with this belt I tell I am Sámi and married to Him who has roots also in the Southern Ostrobothnian culture and region. This red part is from His belt "helavyö". 

I love the sound it all makes when I walk. That sound chases away off the evil, bad and demons. That sound let me walk safe and sound wherever I go. Also, the shine and bright has the same meaning. Both elements, the sound and shine, fool the evil and hide me behind the dazzle and tinkle. Also, both elements capture the attention of all the danger so that myself will still be safe behind it all. That's how this belt creates safety, sanctuary and protection over me when I am wearing it where ever I go.

For the button of my new Sámi belt I used the other one of those two moose antler buttons I received as a gift from my father-in-law for my birthday on 2022.

In this pic you can see better the running triangle figure the eyelets form out. A triangle or running triangle is an universal geometric design. You can find it also in Forest Sámi decoration and symbolism. In Forest Sámi connection it can stand for the fells, northern lights, "kota" (a traditional house) or a snake.

In this case of my belt the running triangle represents the snake. The snake has opposite meaning in the shamanism than in the Christianity. First, the snakes are welcomed to live under the houses because they eat mice and rats that can spread many diseases. The snakes also represent transformation or ability to transform. When the snake is presented with a point or a hole it express that with the help of a snake noidi (female shaman) or shaman can travel between the worlds where people, gods and dead ones live. 

You can see this is not just a beautiful studded belt. It is not just an object. It has a bigger and greater cultural meaning. To me, as a Forest Sámi, this belt has very powerful meaning to keep me safe no matter in which world I am. 

FeltedSoap3 -tutorial

Previously I blogged about felted soaps I made after receiving one as a gift and more to learn more. This time I made more to try out more but also to write you a tutorial about it. So, here we go.

1. First you need to get the soap. Marseille soap is always mentioned when talking about the wet felting. The 1st thing to know is that the soap doesn't necessarily need to be Marseille soap. The soap should be suitable for wool. Suitable for wool means a gentle soap, which means that it is the one you could use to anyone who has a sensitive skin. Old times the Marseille soap used to be the most gentle one which was available everywhere. That's why Marseille is still always mentioned, but notice it is not something you must have. The only thing with the soap you must have is the gentle soap. That's the point. Your soap should also be plain. And the plain soap in this case means a soap that has no crumbs or anything extra in it because all that is vain in the felted soap, because it all stays inside the felt cover. So, there is no need to waste a special body scrub soap made of herbs for this use.

2. Then you need to wrap the wool around the soap. Do it tight and firm. All around, which means: 

• from right to left and around
• up to down and around
• diagonal from a corner to another and over all around (both ways)
• around the side edges (all 4)
• then again up to down  and all around
• and right to left and all around

Notice: do not use scissors, pull the wool when you need to "cut" it.

Notice: avoid lumps so make the starting points always on a different point/place.

Notice: it all stays on, just press the wool fibers against each other and the soap.

You don't need to use wool yarn or anything else to tie it all up. Just make sure the soap is wrap up firm and tight. If you want to make a figure (a heart for example), design and shape it, and then press it against the soap's woolly surface.

3. Then you need to get it all into a stocking. For me the best way to get it all in with the figure I want, is to wear the stocking over the soap when the stocking is upside down in my hand. 

So, first I wear the stocking upside down over my hand (the toe part seam won't be inside against the soap). I use my free  hand to get the soap on its place on my palm covered by the stocking. I crab the soap with the palm and fingers. Now I have the back side of the soap facing the stocking on my palm. 

Then I use my free hand to stretch the stocking over the soap (the stocking doesn't touch the front side of the soap) to make sure everything stays on it's place. I kind of lift and stretch the stocking. I still don't loose the holding of the soap. When I get it all over, I tighten the stocking package first by my free hand by lifting and stretching. When I tighten, I make sure the stocking doesn't touch the front side of the soap. When it is tight enough, I let the stocking land on the front side of the soap. Then I gently loose the hand holding the soap but still make sure the stocking doesn't get loose over the soap. This is quite fast process so get ready. It is kind of sliding the soap in but more with the help of lifting and stretching the stocking than just dropping the soap in.

If I need to tighten more the stocking (it needs to be tight but not over-strained) I do it by 1st stretching the stocking sideways and then instead of just pulling the mouth of the stocking I kind of lift it tight. I do this all by putting my fingers inside the stocking. Like when you dress up the stockings to your legs. If you just pull it tighter it makes the felt layers move towards the upper part of the soap. That is not what we want. We want the wool stay even around the soap.

And for the last you need to hold it firm and make a knot you can easily open no matter it's wet. Easiest way is to make a knot but don't pull it all through so you get a loop with the knot. When you pull the end the loop runs through the knot and it opens up. If you are not good with the knots, you can use a plastic back closer clip.

Notice: if you have already used all your toe parts you can make the knots to the both ends.

Notice: you can re-use one stocking many times.

Notice: if you have no experience about the stockings you can buy as small size as possible with about 40-60 DEN (it lasts better than 20 DEN), if you are donated bigger sizes for this, you just need to tighten it more around the soap.

Notice: you can do this without a stocking, but then it turns out a bit more challenging because first the wool wants to escape.

4. Then you need warm/hot water and start to felt. There is no need to burn your skin. It just needs to feel warm in your hands, otherwise the felting process doesn't start. Warm water opens the fibers. It doesn't get felt if the fibers are not open. You can put warm water into a bowl and sink the soap in. Squeeze the soap gently until it has got wet. Keep on squeezing despite you now lift the soap up from the water. If you have made a figure, squeeze and tap the figure so that it stays on its place. This should not take more than couple of minutes if your water is warm enough and the soap is all wet. If you have not made a figure or your figure stays on its place you can start to rub the soap in its stocking. The soap foam begins to form out. If needed, change the water so that it will be warm/hot again. If the water is warm enough and you keep on rubbing the soap constantly, this should not take more than 10-12 minutes. 

Notice: you need to take the stocking away in the half way (after 5-6 min) and continue the rubbing without it (otherwise the stocking gets stuck into the soap and when you take it off it pulls the fibers out).

Notice: you are done with this phase when you can pinch/nip a bit the wool without it all comes out.

5. Finally you begin the felting process itself. It is kind of funny because you have been felting all the time already. I rather call this phase as "spooking". You rinse (and rub) the soap under as warm water as you feel comfortable for a moment to make the soap to feel very war. This makes sure the fibers open. Then you put the soap fast into a very cold water and rub it for a moment there. This makes sure the fibers close up. You repeat this all together for 3 times. You start with the hot and end with the cold. This makes the fibers to open and squeeze which makes them to crab and stuck to each others. And that is actually felting. This phase takes just 1-2 minutes with one soap. It is very fast process is a small project like this.

6. Squeeze the extra water gently out of the soap and place it to dry. If you notice it is not proper felted you can do it again: the rubbing and spooking. 

Felted soaps are lovely hand made gifts which you can make budget also. For about 5-10% of the soap fades away during the process but that amount will be replaced by the felt. I had 100 g soap bar and roughly estimated 5-10 g wool. After the felting process the weight is about the same as the soap's original weight. I used Marseille soaps and I calculated that one soap cost 1,50 € with the wool. My working time doesn't count here, but I made these 5 soaps in 1½ hours when I include all the work.

Notice my Sámi colors and their symbols: 

• yellow for the sun
• red for the fire and warmth
• green for the forest and earth
• blue for the water