Another Take on Using a Book Resist by Frances T.
This is a guest post by forum member Frances T. whose blog is here. Frances has a wonderful way of combining her passions of flower gardening and felting. She used a book resist for the first time in response to the First Quarter Challenge to make a rose pod and because she cuts the resist open differently, she gets a totally different result. There is a link to a PDF at the end if you would like to download the tutorial in PDF format.
1. Cut two (2) circles of the same size out of a pliable plastic. For this demonstration a 10 1/2-inch dinner plate was used as a guide.
2. Place the circles one on top of the other and sew a seam down the middle. This makes the book.
3. On side 1 place roving overlapping the right edge slightly and very thinly.
4. On side 2, place roving overlapping the left edge slightly and very thinly.
5. Cover the roving on side 1 with mesh to hold it in place and wet with warm soapy water and rub gently.
6. Repeat step 5 on side 2.
7. Place roving on side 3 overlapping slightly and very thinly on the edges.
8. Cover the roving on side 3 with mesh to hold it in place and wet with warm soapy water and rub gently.
9. Turn the piece over – side 4 – and gently pull the roving that was left overhanging onto the resist which will cover the edges of the circle. Then place roving on side 4.
10. Cover the roving on side 4 with mesh to hold it in place and wet with warm soapy water and rub gently.
11. Turn back over to side 3 and pull any stray roving around the edges up over side 3; smoothing towards the center to avoid thicker roving at the edges that will create a “seam” line.
12. Cover with bubble wrap and rub vigorously with a felting tool. Flip and rub the other side and continue flipping and rubbing until felt is holding together well.
13. Place felt on a bamboo mat and roll. Unroll and place felt in the opposite direction and roll. Roll 10 to 15 times in one direction and then change to keep the round shape. Felt shrinks in the direction it is rolled. Do this about 10 to 20 times.
14. Cut a small slit off the edge and remove the resist.
16. The rose bud can now be shaped and hardened the way any other vessel is completed. One method is using a balloon.
Using a Balloon to Shape and Finish a Vessel
1. Place a balloon in your vessel and then inflate it until the vessel fits slightly loose around (about ¼ inch space between the balloon and vessel). Place the vessel with balloon inside of it into a mesh bag and run under hot water and then put in the dryer on heat setting for about 15 minutes or until the vessel has shrunk to the size of the balloon. Use plastic inserted between layers to hold petals
2. Remove from dryer deflate the balloon. Repeat step one until the desired shape and firmness are achieved.
3. Finish by air drying.
A white one was made first and the difference in how the two came out when shaping is obvious. It is difficult to make exact duplicate vessels.
Thanks Frances for showing us your take on using a book resist. Not all of Frances photos are shown in the tutorial above so click on the link of the PDF to see extra photos with the explanation.
Book resist tutorial by Frances
17 thoughts on “Another Take on Using a Book Resist by Frances T.”
Nice clear instructions here Frances and a pretty tulip-like flower head this time 🙂
Thank you – it is rewarding to write instructions that others can understand.
That’s fascinating – to me, it appears not to be the cutting open that makes this such a different use of a book resist, but more that Frances has covered only 1 half of the side pieces, hence making flaps. The other way is to cover every page, left & right, so each page results in a hollow form. Thanks Frances for the versatility
You are welcome Jill – love seeing the different ways we all use resists.
Thank you for putting this tutorial together Frances, i was struggling to see how the outer petals were made but as Jill says, it’s all down laying wool on just one side of the resist, I will have to give this a try. By the way, I could not get the link at the bottom of the post to work.
Thanks for letting me know Teri. I fixed the link.
Teri not nearly as complex as yours but does give a nice result. I am going to give your resist a try,
Lovely clear tutorial Frances. You are so right that duplicating anything in felt is nigh on impossible! But I like the pink one as much as I like the white one.
I was like Teri, then was still unsure, expecting something 3D/hollow because the two pieces were joined, but now it makes sense, like Jill says, using it like an unjoined one for flaps. I don’t think I’ll ever get my head round using a dryer for felting though 🙂
The dryer is a bit of a shortcut but works well for me when my back and arms ache.
Thanks Frances for this tutorial. I was glad you numbered the sides, it made it much easier to understand. I will definitely give it a try.
Thank you – would like to see what you make.
Well done tutorial, Frances! I was most surprised that the balloon does not deflate while banging around inside the dryer.
Thank you – the balloon holds up quite well.
Great tutorial Frances. I think I will need to do it as I read to get it in my head properly.
Yes, I think it is easier to follow if you are actually making it.