Recent Things
I made some mixed white wool batts on my drum carder recently. I like to use different wool breeds together because they felt differently to each other so you get interesting results and it’s different every time. I made 3 batts altogether and used Lincoln, 23 mic Merino, 18 mic Merino, Norwegian, Texel, Cheviot, Devon, Teeswater and Shetland wool tops. I also added in some carded mixed lambswool and Falkland fleece for texture, and Border Leicester, Mohair curls, Bluefaced Leicester, Wensleydale, and Alpaca for crimp and curl. I also added some silk for extra shine.
I thought I’d use the batts as the inspiration to put together another wool and fibre pack, using white/natural as the theme. I added some cotton scrim and some of the ‘luxury’ embellishment fibres I have: Bamboo staple fibre, Egyptian cotton top, Ingeo, Banana, Ramie, Flax and Milk protein fibre. And also some silk fibres: silk threads and throwster’s waste, silk carrier rods (don’t they look so ugly before they’re soaked and separated?!) and one of my favourites, silk noil. I love the way it felts, but I also love the way it smells and sounds as it’s separated and stretched out 🙂
I went to Abakhan on Wednesday for some supplies (they were out of delrin clips!) and I couldn’t resist getting some gorgeous georgette fabric in a few designs. This is one of them:
I also couldn’t resist the braiding, so got 3 designs:
I hadn’t had chance to do much over the last few weeks so I decided to make time on Friday and laid out and felted a nuno felt piece with one of the new fabrics I bought. I knew I should have added some wool around the edges of the fabric, but I laid it out upside down, with the fabric on the bottom and knew I’d mess up if I tried to flip it 🙂
I picked colours from the fabric to make a muti coloured patchwork back:
17 thoughts on “Recent Things”
Oh Zed. That is so beautiful.
Aaw, thanks, Liz 🙂
I love the quilted texture on the back!
Thank you 🙂
Love, love love all the texture.
Thanks, Judy 🙂
The fiber pack is perfect for winter. I can’t believe how many different fibers you used. Looks great. I love the texture and colors of flower felt piece with the patchwork back. Isn’t it fun to find new things? I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next! Enjoy!
Thanks, Marilyn 🙂
The hard part is leaving fibres out and not buying all the fabric in the shop 🙂
I’d never normally go for something like that flowery fabric, but just thought it’d work.
I know what you mean about not buying everything in sight. So tempting. 🙂 I have to make another trip to the fiber store before it starts to snow and stock up for winter. I want to try some different fibers now that I have the carder.
I’ve found that the cheaper wools like ‘lambswool’ or any washed or scoured wools work brilliantly for adding texture.
Good to know, thanks.
I reckon you’ve got the hang of that drum carder! The white batt is beautiful and you’ve made a lovely new pack.
I would hate to live near to Abakhan – I’d be permanently broke. Shame about the lack of clips though.
What are you plans for the pretty new piece of nuno?
Thanks, Lyn 🙂
I am getting the hang of it, but it’s not quick like I thought it would be, though I am making more too. I do try to be good when I go to Abakhan but always kick myself for not getting more organza.
I’m not sure about the new nuno, I thought I’d make a book cover, but it’s actually quite big, big enough for a bag, so maybe it will stay like that for a while 🙂
The fiber pack looks scrumptious. The flower nuno is really nice too. What will you use the braiding for?
Thanks, Ruth 🙂
I thought the braiding would be nice for bag or book closures through the delrin clips. The middle one is too wide, but it was too nice!
Great white pack Zed. Looks like you are having fun with your carder. The felted piece looks lovely. Will you make it into a book cover? To get the wool to go round the edges without flipping you put your wool out past the edge and then lift the edge in sections and let the excess wool fall round the edge, or flip it after the first roll and fold them round. They will stick if you do it early in the felting process.
Thanks, Ann 🙂
I did think about adding wool just after wetting, I only wanted to add the smallest of wisps, but then I decided it’d be good to know how the edges felted, to help for future use.