"I begin with an idea ... and then it becomes something else"
~ Picasso

Saturday 4 April 2009

felting it some more ...

here are the next stages of the felted piece for global warming.
I managed to get this wet-felted to take away with me to Tenerife recently
so that I was able to work on it while I was away
and think about how it was going ...
 
{picture missing}
 
the background is a piece of natural undyed merino wool
wet-felted with natural undyed silk tops added in

I layered orange wool fibres, orange metallic mesh netting,
more orange wool fibres and arranged my cut squares on top


I used a "quick felting" method which I picked up in an early issue of Cloth Paper Scissors.
 This is how: On my kitchen work top, I layered a really old tatty towel,
then a large piece of bubble wrap with the bubbles facing up, then my piece of work.
I drizzled the felt with washing up liquid and really hot water.
 Next, I added another layer of bubble wrap with the bubbles facing down on the felt.
 I prefer to use bubble wrap rather than a piece of netting or net curtain
as the felt doesn't stick to the bubble wrap


I used a rolling pin to roll over the bubble wrap. Then, I wrapped the bubble wrap
and towel around the rolling pin and rolled it like pastry on the work top

 
every now and then I unrolled it and turned it round so shrinkage was even on all sides.
 
here you can see the mesh and the fibres are beginning to wander
which is interesting and the fibres are felting together


squares and fibres felting together


when it's completely felted to your taste, unwrap it all and rinse it really well
in lots of cold water to be sure of removing every last trace of soap
 
adding a dash of white vinegar to the final rinse will help


this is my piece rinsed, dried and ready for stitching
I have completely finished it and will show you very soon

if you've never felted before and you fancy having a go
you will find some really easy to follow instructions
on this tutorial: wet felt making for beginners with rosiepink

4 comments:

murgelchen said...

Just in time I was on your blog, but I don´t have time. Tomorrow.
LG,
Helga

Julie said...

You are so right about using net for wet felting. It gets very frustrating when the fibres migrate through the net all the time.

Jeana Marie said...

i love those colours - i haven't wet felted in a while, but it is so great when i have a bit of extra aggression to consume ... very satisfying!

K J D said...

Hi... This sounds really interesting.... a friend called me yesterday to ask if I would be interested in a felting course... so glad I said YES! In the meantime I am going to check out the link you mentioned.

On my 4 x 4 that you so nicely left a comment on.... I used a technique with bubble wrap.

This is how it went! Greaseproof paper, folded in half and then opened.... lay on a piece of bubblewrap to the right hand side of the paper..... scrape (grate) different colours of wax crayon, add various fibres, sequins... etc then close up the greaseproof paper and then (warm) iron over the top of the paper, best perhaps to do this on an old cloth! It should all meld together. I liked doing this... angelina hot fix fibres work well

Karen