Coffee pod experiment +
Hi, It’s me again, out of sync. We had a scheduling problem so I have jumped back in and Ruth will be me later.
A while ago I collected some used coffee pods to try doing some felting with. This was inspired by Judit Pócs. She is an incredible felter and has an amazing imagination. https://pocsjuditstudio.hu/home I believe she used them in a felted ring, free workshop for people that are members of the International Felt makers Association when they had their online conference. I am not a member. Anyway, there were all over Facebook and I wanted to try them out. This is the first attempt.
These are metal pods for a Nespresso machine. I got them by asking on my local buy/sell/give group on Facebook. People with these machines do not throw the pods out they collect them in a supplied bag and then send them back to the company postage paid for recycling. At least that seems less wasteful.
They are pretty and come in two sizes
I had to flatten the pods first. The large domes are much easier to flatten nicely.
I laid out a thickish base and then added to the 2 kinds of pods.
Then another double layer of wool on top.
I felted in the usual way and then cut holes over the disk. I cut the wrong side first, naturally
This is where it starts to go downhill. The texture of the disks makes it hard to rub and heal the cuts. I am not the most patient with this step normally so this was frustrating and didn’t work well.
As a first experiment, this was a good learning experience.
Next time I will mark the top and put a piece of underlay over the pods to make a smoother surface to work on after I cut the holes. That should make it easier to make a better edge. I also think I needed a thicker layer of wool over the pods to get a nicer deeper edge. Maybe just over the pods and not the whole piece. This piece is a good thickness for bag/pouch. Also, as usual, I need to slow down and be patient.
I also made a piece of felt to try out some stitching with the Solvy water-soluble stabilizer. It’s not very exciting to look at and I will probably iron it a little smoother and flatter. I think I will add some needle felting to part of it before using it so I have the 2 textures to try on.
I like figuring out how things are done. I enjoy making samples/experiments much more than I used to. I think it’s all the covid lockdowns and there being no shows. There is not much point in making 20 hats and scarves if you have nowhere to sell them. Have you successfully figured out how to do something you’ve seen online?
12 thoughts on “Coffee pod experiment +”
The discs make lovely inserts – they are reminiscent of indian mirrors in fabric – but healing the cuts can’t have easy on your fingers.
We learnt the hard way about marking the felt to show which side was up when we started making pods with designs on the inside.
Looking forward to seeing your Solvy experiment.
Thanks Lyn. Yes, they add interesting shine, colour and texture to the felt. I do know to mark the right or wrong side and for the same reason you do. I had thought I should do it, knowing that I would cut the wrong side first but I got working on it and forgot. We have one more market and then a break before the Christmas ones. I am hoping to get a few min to try out the Solvy.
Oh I’m with you on that one Ann…..I love working out how things are done. You’re right about the coffee capsules, a thick layer of fibre and a resist on top of the capsule will give a better result. I first saw this done at a workshop with Ricarda Assman and incorporate these in some of my pendants. It’s so easy to cut the wrong side so when using resists or inclusions I sometimes add a tiny pinch of another colour on one side of my work to ensure I know which is which and make the first cut on the correct side.
Have fun with the next experiment!
Thanks, Karen. it is fun to figure things out. do you have a link to Ricarda Assman? I googled and all I can find are mentions of her on other peoples sites and blogs who have no links back to her. I think I need to be googling in German perhaps from what I can find.
I haven’t been able to find a website for Ricarda but you can find her on Facebook. She creates wonderful textural pieces and she is a lovely tutor.
Thank you for telling us which coffee machine uses these pods. After I saw Judit Pócs’ videos on the IFA website, I thought I’d like to have a go and do some recycling at the same time. Of course it got put on the back burner, but a couple of months later a friend who has a coffee machine was saying that it seemed a terrible waste that he was not able to recycle his used pods. So I asked him to let me have some. I was very disappointed to see that they weren’t the right sort – they were all plastic and not useable.
I like your experiments and look forward to the next one.
Ann
You welcome Ann. it took me a while to figure out what machine used the metal pods. I am glad people collect them for recycling so that it was easy for me to get them. My husband uses reusable coffee pods. I bet you can find them on one your your local buy/sell/trade groups.
Nice experiment Ann! Thanks for filling in on this post too. You sound like me, just whizzing along and getting frustrated when something doesn’t work as planned. I always need to slow down and be more patient too. But I agree that the thicker wool over the felt and adding a layer of resist between will certainly help the process. It is fun to experiment and see if you can get the same results of something seen online. And even if you don’t, you learn something new.
Thanks. Yes, time is a rare commodity lately so I was trying to just get on with it and don’t think enough ahead of time. oh well it worked well enough to get better results nest time.
Love this experiment Ann. I watched Judit Pocs’ video with great interest as this technique has intrigued me since I first saw it in her work. Then with great enthusiasm I asked my lovely next door neighbour if she could hold onto the pods for me, She is not a great coffee drinker so it was about six months before she figured she had sufficient to give me. It turned out all but one were plastic and I had not the heart to tell her. So I very carefully felted that one pod. Like Karen mentioned, I used a resist on top of it. It was a success so I put a call out on the neighbourhood facebook page and some very generous folk came to my aid. Now I have sufficient to do me for life! The hydrangeas are looking good too, from all the coffee grains (and the smell is finally out from under my finger nails lol!!)
Thanks, wouldn’t it be great if the plastic ones could be reused. There seem to be so many of them around. I am going to ask for some of the colourful seasonal ones. The orange one is so pretty.