Shibori Felt Sample
I have made a couple of pieces of shibori felt before but not for a while. I wanted to try it with two layers of color and cut back the top felt.
This is the shibori felt I made in the past. For the sample I am made today I used some wool that I got as a gift. I’m not sure what breed it is but it felt a little coarser than merino but it felted easily.
This is the wool I used. I think it’s German packaging.
So I laid out a circle of red wool with a fairly thick layer.
Then I added a layer of green wool.
I wet it down and rubbed for a bit on each side. I then rubbed it gently on rubber stair tread.
Here is the felt at pre-felt stage on the back side.
And here is the green side. It’s already starting to shrink a little bit as you can see by the wrinkles.
I then used straight pins to figure out where I wanted to put the folds in the felt.
I stitched it together using a running stitch and button thread. I pulled the thread tight as I went. I then fulled the felt keeping the folds tight together as I fulled.
Here is the piece after fulling. I removed some of the thread but it still has some in there as I couldn’t find a lot of it.
Here’s the back side after fulling.
And then I took a pair of scissors and cut off the top of the ridges revealing the red wool underneath.
I love the textures and the contrasting colors.
Here’s a little closer view. I’m not sure what I’ll do with this piece but I do like the way it turned out. Have you tried this technique? I’d love to see what you’ve made, come on over to the forum and show us!
32 thoughts on “Shibori Felt Sample”
Looks good Ruth, I like the Shibori technique for textural and dyeing features. The coloured version is pretty and makes me think of rocks, molten lava, yet also lichens. Though I have to say, I love the almost scary, piece at the top, a cross between a ‘green man’ and ‘The Scream’ by Munch! 🙂
I’ve prepared some sheets of prefelt – about 26″ square, thinking I’d do some cut work, perhaps I might incorporate some shibori too.
Thanks Judith. I look forward to seeing what you create with your prefelt.
wow, what a fabulous effect 🙂
Thanks! I like the way it turned out.
It turned out great! I’ve seen a similar technique somewhere on the net and bookmarked the page but I haven’t tried it yet. It definitely gives a very interesting texture.
I’ve seen this wool in our local shop and it’s quite expensive: 7EUR per 50 gr.
Thanks Nada – that sounds really expensive for the wool. The person who gave it to me got it from someone else but didn’t think she’d use it, so she passed it on to me.
That turned out great, Ruth! I like to use stitching to get sculptural effects. I like the back too 🙂
Thanks Zed – yes, the back is quite interesting in it’s own right.
Love this effect!
Thanks Julie!
Love – love – love this!!! Brilliant!
I’d love to try and make mini sized and put on hats or even mutton edges!
I’d live to see what becomes of this piece. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks Lori – it would make a nice embellishment for a hat. Not sure what I’ll do with it yet.
Looks beautiful, Ruth! I wish I were any good at wet felting 🙂
Thanks Leonor – it just takes a little practice with wet felting just like learning any other skill.
I was a natural with the needles but still terrible with the wet technique… Oh well 🙂
I am amazed by the heavily wrinkled effect you achieved prior to stitching. I’ve used both the shibori stitching technique and the carvings and find the possibilities intriguing.
Thanks Cathy – the wrinkles before stitching are due to the wool layout. It was all laid out radiating from the center.
I just posted my shibori and carvings samples on the Forum under Surface Design, Mixed Media.
Take a look and please add your own!
Thanks Cathy – I will go and check them out.
Gorgeous – reminds me of the lip of a giant clam! Thank you for sharing – this has already been added to my list of things to try!
Thanks Kim – it’s a fun technique. I look forward to seeing your creations with this technique.
I really love the textural effect. We learned that shibori technique in Fionas class and I used it in my final project which I’ll be posting one of these days. But I like what you did with the circular effect. I used the shaving technique in the last Stephenson challenge, but with the circular texture it really enhances the texture and color even with only one contrasting color. Very nice. I don’t know how big it is but it would probably make a nice hot pad or even wall hanging.
Thanks Marilyn – I love the texture of it too. I look forward to seeing your final project. It’s about the size of a hot pad and it would work for that but I’m not sure what it’s final application will be.
Hello Ruth, I absolutely LOVE your felt sample. Very creative and unique.beautiful. Hugs judy
Thanks Judy!
It’s very cool, it makes me think of intestines for some reason.
Thanks Ann – my husband thought it looked like brains.
I love the effect, its so dramatic.
Thanks!
Kind from you to share this information. Thank 🌺
You’re welcome, hope it’s helpful for you.