Norwegian, Devon, Cotton and Bamboo
I was going to do a post about Yak fibre and Bluefaced Leicester today, but I messed up the photos, so I’ll do that next time. This first piece is grey Norwegian wool tops with Egyptian Cotton. For the top two thirds, I used Egyptian cotton tops. The staple length is very short, so I started pulling off short wispy bits from the end as you would wool tops, and laid those on the right hand side. I also pulled off a longer length, then carefully teased it out and laid parts of it down the left. The bottom is Egyptian cotton fibre, it comes as thicker, shorter lengths. I teased some out, fluffed some up a little, then laid them on the wool.
This is a close up of some of the wispy parts:
This is an area of denser wispy cotton:
This is a close up of the longer lengths of cotton:
I’ve probably mentioned more than once or twice how much I love curly wools 🙂 For this next piece I used Devon Wool tops and Black Bamboo tops. The top part has the bamboo laid on the surface, the bottom is a blend of Devon and Bamboo.
The black bamboo is more of a matte charcoal grey than black, and seems to be ‘fluffier’ than white bamboo tops:
It looks a lot paler when blended with the wool tops:
It doesn’t completely disappear when blended in, though:
22 thoughts on “Norwegian, Devon, Cotton and Bamboo”
I always enjoy hearing about your curly wool samples and look forward to seeing what you’ve done with the yak!
Thanks, Cathy 🙂
I’ve just retaken the photos, so hopefully I won’t mess them up again!
I always enjoy seeing the sample of different fibers many I have never used before.
Thanks, Judy 🙂
These are great Zed. I was just thinking how these fibers would make a lovely landscape in neutrals.
Thanks, Ruth 🙂
That sounds like it’d be really nice, I wish I was artistic enough to be able to do that, maybe you’ll inspire someone to try, or maybe you will? 🙂
As usual Zed, your experiments with the breeds and your combinations are awesome. I love the curly textures. How big are they and do you have a plan to use them?
Thanks, Marilyn 🙂
I think I might have made these a little bit bigger because of the wools’ long staple length. I think the Devon is about 8 x 8 inches and the Norwegian about 7.5 x 7.5″. I still haven’t decided, I liked the way Nada used hers for cushion covers http://www.ipernity.com/doc/724735
Maybe I’ll make a huge table cloth or wall hanging one day!
Cool! Go for it Zed, you have a great sense of design and organization.
I’ll probably start a pile and keep stealing them to make cards or put in frames like I did for the fair 🙂
Hi there – I love your posts – where do you tend to source your fibres from? You have an amazing selection! Thanks
Thanks, Margaret 🙂
I get almost all my wools and fibres from World of Wool http://www.worldofwool.co.uk/
They are incredibly cheap, have a massive range and sell in good sized quantities so you don’t have to waste money on delivery prices re-ordering.
Thanks !! I will look them up!!
You’re welcome 🙂
great samples Zed, always great to see.
Thanks, Ann 🙂
Great samples, Zed! I like the way you approach studying and documenting different fibres. These pieces are so levely, you need to incorporate them in a larger project.
Thanks, Nada 🙂
I will use them in something big, I think, but they are really useful as they are right now, for reference, so I’ll wait until I have a larger collection 🙂
I would like to know whether we can use normal cotton fibers as I wont be able to find Egyptian Cotton in sri lanka. and also can we use only cotton fibers on silk fabric to do the felting.
Hi, I’m sure any cotton fibres will work, the result might be different if the cotton fibres are less processed or less smooth. Cotton fibres won’t felt on their own without wool, they can be made into batting, but it doesn’t hold together. Only animal fibres will felt. I hope that helps?
Thanx a lot zed 🙂 im planing to do it as my final project. hope you’ll help me 🙂
Yeah, sure 🙂
If you’d like help from more people, we have a forum: http://feltandfiberstudio.proboards.com/
Lots of felters can give lots of advice 🙂