I’m still using my holly bowl as a fruit bowl on my sideboard, but with spring colours appearing in the garden and the days getting brighter it looks a bit out of place.
So I set to and made a new bowl for the spring. I laid out a three layer circle of sky-blue merino wool fibres, 50cm diameter (20”), then a fourth colourful layer topped with a few random sprinkles of silk fibres. The silk fibres dried darker than I thought they would but never mind, on with the stitching!
After a lot of stitching (and a bit of unpicking and swear-jar filling) here it is.
Annie has made a second Winter Trees Table Centre. It was a friend’s 80th birthday and she had said how much she liked the original, so it was a nice idea to make one for her as a present, and she was thrilled with it! As an added bonus Annie has photographed the process to make a new tutorial which will be available as soon as she can glue her bum to the chair for long enough to finish it!
She also decided a spring project would be nice to do and had enjoyed making the autumn beads last year, so decided to try some beads in spring colours. This is a work in progress and most likely will be made into a decorative home item, perhaps in a vase again, not sure yet!
Lastly, you may remember this ball of fluff and fibres and odds n ends…. where Annie pulled apart a picture that was not working and had screwed it up into a ball for later consideration.
On the spur of the moment last week she decided to grab it as it was and try to spin from the blob of bits! She says she probably should have made a batt but nonetheless some interesting yarn happened, and it will be great in wet felting or possibly in weaving. Probably not so much good for knitting! It is deliberately under spun, over spun, and messy. She finds the spinning wheel she has very frustrating since it is a traditional old Ashford and is probably designed for making fine even yarns – it only has a small orifice so not very conducive to chunky bits! and also has lots of hooks on the flyer that catch on all the sticky out bits and it gets in a tangle. A more suitable spinning wheel is definitely on the very long “Want” list! She wraps it on mount board, rather than making a skein or a ball so that she can pick out colours that she likes and cut a short length for felting, it is quite a challenge since it springs about (this one is not plied and has a lot of tension!) but is tamed with cuts on the side of the card that the ends of the yarn can be secured in to.
Do the spring colours that are popping up inspire you to make something new?
I’m always buying second hand fabric to use in felt-making. Mostly scarves but occasionally garments or just pieces of fabric, almost always from charity shops. Much of the time, I have a good idea of how the fabric will felt. But sometimes I really don’t know, either because it’s unusual in some way or because I’m not sure what it’s made of.
This week I tried out (or ‘auditioned’) four such fabrics, so here’s what I found.
Firstly, this soft rather loose-weave fabric I found in the British Red Cross shop in Canterbury.
Large soft scarf laid outClose up of fabric
The ‘prickle test’: I touched it lightly to my neck and it prickled so I concluded it contained at least some wool. I have an annoyingly sensitive skin that can’t wear even the softest wool so this prickle is a good sign. It’s a big scarf and I really like the pattern so I bought it, even though it was a bit more than I’d normally pay. I could imagine using it in a tree picture like this one I talked out in a previous blog.
I cut off a very miserly small strip then decided to make it even smaller – a 5 x 5 cm square (2 x 2 inches) – I just wanted to see if it felted without wasting any. I had a tiny amount of miscellaneous white carded batt loitering on the side of my felting table so I used that to felt it.
As you see, it felted really well so I set up a bigger strip to make some cards.
Then I decided not to get ahead of myself so put that on one side to pick up later and got on to fabric number two.
This flowery mesh fabric was from a scarf I bought a while ago. I think I bought it in Faversham Hospices of Hope.
I’ve used fabric similar to this to make barnacles on felt shells before, though it had a smaller woven pattern. I’ve no idea what either fabric is made from.
Barnacles added to a felted oyster shell using a similar fabric
This time I decided to make a slightly larger sample I could use to make cards, assuming it felted OK. Sometimes I just throw caution to the wind!
I laid it on a piece of the merino & silk prefelt I use for my printed felt cards and felted it.
Ready to felt (left) and felted (right)
It felted nicely. The mesh didn’t bed into the wool as much as I’d expected, so it’s more textured between the flowers, which was interesting. I will cut this into four strips and print something on the plain half to make cards like the ones I’ve shown in the next section.
I decided I liked the idea of a larger sample for cards rather than the tiny sample I can’t use.
So, here is fabric three.
I bought this a couple of weeks ago in Yorkshire Cancer Research in Ilkley. It feels like it might be a very sheer silk but there’s no label and I’m not sure. Hand rolled hems are often an indication of silk but this has machined hems. I love the pattern and it didn’t cost too much so I decided to take a chance.
Irritatingly, I cut the silk a bit too small for the prefelt rectangle offcut I was using so I popped a second small strip on the end hoping it would make that end useable.
It felted really easily and well, so I’m pretty sure it is indeed a sheer silk. I can see lots of uses for this as it has such a ‘coastal’ pattern. Also, I think the join worked OK.
It’s similar to another scarf I’ve used recently for pictures and cards, so I’m very happy. One of the drawbacks of using second hand scarves is that you can’t go and buy more of the same if you decide you really like it.
A similar scarf I’ve used in previous pictures and cards
And finally, a large, fairly open weave, 100% wool scarf I bought in a Pilgrim’s Hospice shop in Whitstable. No need for the prickle test (though it would undoubtedly have passed) as it still has its label.
I dithered over this one even though it wasn’t expensive. I just wasn’t sure I’d use that much brown. It’s also quite bulky and I’m short of storage space. However, I decided I could use the brown for beach pebbles on pictures and the animal print sections won me over. I love a bit of animal print.
Wool fabric laid out on prefelt (left) and after felting (right). It doesn’t look much different here though, felted, it’s shrunk by about 30%
Actually, I really like the result, more than I expected for some reason. I find that wool fabric felts really evenly – not surprisingly, I suppose. The fabric shrinks with the prefelt rather than rouching like silk does. I will use this sample piece for cards but I’m not sure what I’ll use the rest of the scarf for. It definitely reminds me of an animal’s fur but I’m not sure quite what animal.
Well, all four fabrics passed the auditions with flying colours. They all felted well. I can immediately see how I’ll use the first (wool mix?) one and the sheer silk. I’ll mentally ‘file’ the other two for use at some point in the future.
I love looking out for second-hand fabrics. You never know what you’ll find and what you might be able to do with them. A delicious pre-loved scarf always feels to me like some kind of exciting unearthed treasure.
I am so sorry, I have been rather derailed since surgery. Last week I had the post-surgery oncology doctor visit. All reports have come back good so maybe I will stop stressing and shaking. I did get to work on my moose bag landscape while waiting for the appointment to start. Glenn, who was my driver, just had a nap. I am pretty sure, even so stressed before the appointment, I had more fun felting than he did napping. Today is the end of week 5(?) so at least 3 or more weeks to go, just in time for spring?
1)Picture of bag in progress (there is still more to do but it’s looking like a landscape now!)
To cheer myself up, I ordered a new needle felting book I had spotted online and a clover tool, since I could not find where I put mine. I found it after I ordered a new one, it was at the bottom of the moose bag…. What was it doing hiding there?
What I had spotted: Create Beautiful Needle Felted Landscapes, everything you need to know to create stunning needle felted pictures, by Helen Winter. The cover looked good, but I know you are not to judge a book by its cover. The reviews looked good too, so maybe the cover is correct? I ordered the paperback edition and went back to bed. It arrived Feb 22 before my appointment. Let’s have a look. Although this book focuses on 2D pictures, its introduction also mentions needle felting 3-D as well.
2) Cover of new book
To give you an idea of the scope of the book, let’s look at the index
The Index:
Page 1 Introduction
Page 3 About This Book
Page 5 To Get You Started
Why Needle Felting?
Get Comfortable To Needle Felt
Page 7 Understanding the Needle Felting Process
What Is It?
Page 9 Tools And Equipment
Types Of Felting Needles
Identifying Needle Felting Needles
Other Needle Felting Equipment That Will Help You
Page 12 Different Types Of Wool
Choosing The Right Type Of Wool For Needle Felting
Page 15 Colour Theory And Composition
Understanding Colour Theory
Colour Wheel (Needle Felted Wool)
The Role Of Light And Shadow
Composition Techniques
Practical Application In Needle Felting
Page 19 Tips And Techniques
Needle Felting Action
Page 22 Projects
Warm Up – Blue Surf
Sunset Over Sulby
Ballaugh Curraghs
Port Erin Bay, Isle Of Man
Smaefell From Agneash
The Headlands, Peel
Page 115 Embroidery Stitches
Straight Stitch
Back Stitch
French Knot
Chain Stitch
Page 118 Mounting Suggestions
Embroidery Hoop
Pieces Of Driftwood
Wooden Frame Without Glass
Wooden Box Frame
Professional Mounting And Framing
Page 122 Frequently Asked Questions
Page 124 Resources
UK Suppliers
USA Suppliers
Page 125 Next Steps
Page 126 Acknowledgements
As you can see, she has an overview of needles and other tools, wool options, and a quick overview of colour.
For Needles:
She has a quick overview of the most common shapes that are presently available. A bit more info on gauges and when to use which needle would be helpful if included at this point. It’s a good start on needle information, and later in the book she does list what needles she uses as she explains the projects.
Fiber and Fiber prep:
3) diagram of fiber
Looking at one of her photos, again there is an odd interpretation of what is “Roving” which seems to be confused with combed top. She is a very good felter, she may not be a spinner who has used combs for fiber preparation. The problem of inconsistent vocabulary goes back to those who are selling/re-selling prepared fiber. We have been told by sellers that Roving is a rope like fiber preparation, and all long rope like preparations are roving. Unfortunately, there are two rope like presentations of prepared fiber. If you are a spinner or felter you will quickly notice there is a big difference. The spinners likely have been taught the difference between the two.
Combs produce a strip of parallel fibers which, when spun, will create worsted yarn (smooth, think of the fabric in an expensive men’s suit). While carding (whether on a drum carder, hand carders or pet brushes) will create more disorganized fiber, and when spun will produce a woolen yarn. Think fluffy sweater yarn.
When needle felting, the disorganization of Carded fiber will make fiber entanglement easier. Combed top can be used, but if you disorganize it (use one of the carding tools or hand blend it), the fiber entanglement will happen much more quickly. If you are trying to create a sculpture with a long fur coat, then combed top such as alpaca or blends with silk will work wonderfully since the fiber is less inclined to felt to itself and can be added in shingle like layers to build up an outer fur coat. So don’t write off combed top as useless to us, it just takes a bit more persuading to felt and some fiber types can make beautiful fur for sculptures.
Projects:
She has found inspiration in the Isle of Man and its diverse landscape. There are examples of sky, sea and land. At the start of each project there is a note about the image, what tools will be needed, and wool colours will be required. The step-by-step instructions for her project are full of explanatory pictures, which are clear and should be easy to follow. There are also good descriptions of what she is doing and why. She suggests working with small amounts of fiber in layers, which is similar to the watercolour like effects I tend to work with in wisps of fiber.
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4.1-4.5) a few examples of photo instructions, they are clear and give a good indication of what she is doing.
Sewing Embellishments:
6)Sewing Embellishments
There are a couple of pages of embroidery stitches and examples of embellishing your picture with stitches. She also includes a list of suppliers for the UK and the US to get us started. I hope, in the next edition, she will include some of the Canadian suppliers too. (Olive Sparrow and Fiber Craft spring to mind, but we have other sellers in other provinces too.)
If you are interested in Picture needle felting, this book is worth a look, and probably adding to your library. It would be a helpful resource, to those reasonably new to needle felting, as well as inspire those who have been felting for a while. Although I probably will not create her Isle of Man landscapes, she has inspired me to look around locally for inspiration. I am glad I have added Create Beautiful Needle Felted Landscapes, by Helen Winter to my library.
Other books you may want to investigate if you are interested in this topic, check second hand or local book store to find a copy:
Jaana Mattson’s Landscapes in Wool: The Art of Needle Felting by Jaana Mattson 2021
Painting With Wool Landscapes by Bethany Harris 2022
Creating Felt Pictures by Andrea Hunter 2012
Art in Felt & Stitch: Creating beautiful works of art using fleece, fibres and threads by Moy MacKay and Polly Pinder 2012
Flowers in Felt & Stitch: Creating Floral Artworks Using Fleece, Fibres and Threads by Moy MacKay 2015
The Art of Moy Mackay: An inspirational guide to painting with felted fibres & stitch by Moy MacKay 2018
Painting with Wool: Sixteen Artful Projects to Needle Felt by Dani Ives 2019
Last weekend I had my last scheduled nuno felt class until the fall. I had 6 enthusiastic women attending and we had a great day.
Earlier in the week I died some more scarf blanks so everyone would have lots to choose from. I use the scrunch dye technique with MX/fiber reactive dye, from Paula Burch’s site. http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/lowwaterimmersion.shtml
Everyone had fun doing their layout and being creative with fibers. It always amazes me how different they all are.
Of course, there was always all the usual rubbing.
and rolling
6 happy nuno felting ladies.
And their scarves
All in all, a wonderful day with wool and silk. Not quite as much fun as playing myself but still fun. I really like teaching and seeing the amazement on people’s faces when it really works.
I have been working slowly on my grove of trees landscape. I finished stitching down all the trunks and foreground fabrics.
So here’s a photo with it all stitched in place. Next up was adding a bunch of branches and I wanted to see how I could do that.
I took a piece of clear plastic and used paint pens on the plastic to look at various color choices. The photo on the left shows white paint pen and the one on the right shows using grey, peach and brown paint pens. The white definitely felt too stark. So I thought I would use a mixture of colors.
I looked through my stash to see what colors I had that might work. I decided to use wool thread as I wanted the branches to not stand out too much. I thought adding “shiny” cotton thread wouldn’t work well.
So I started with grey thread and this photo doesn’t really show the true colors of the thread. I used the grey on the grey trunks in the background.
Then on to adding peach branches to the peach tree trunks. I couched the threads down using the same thread for the couching stitches.
Then I needed to decide if I was going to keep going with light colored threads or add some darker branches. I tried a piece of pink thread by laying it down on the right and then a dark maroon thread in the center. I decided the darker branches would work the best. As the light in this piece is coming from the back right, the lighter branches give that feeling of light shining on them. The foreground branches would be darker with less light shining on them.
So I added a medium value red thread for the three red trees to the right side. Again, all the branches were couched down.
Then I added in the maroon threads for the darker trees on the left side. I also turned the silk that was loose on the top under to the back. I will hand stitch all of the loose silk around the edge down to the back. The piece is now hanging on the design wall. I think I will add some peach “grass” in the foreground just as I have couched down the threads for the branches. But I am letting it sit for a bit so I can see if it needs anything else. What do you think?
I know that some of our readers are members of the International Feltmakers Association and therefore know all about our upcoming exhibition “Connections”. For those of you who don’t, the Feltmakers organisation uses their AGM at the end of March as the launch for a themed annual online exhibition to showcase our members work. The wonderful thing about these events is that they are not juried, there is no right or wrong so no one is judged, it’s open to any ability and how you interpret each theme is entirely up to you. All of the online exhibitions can be viewed by anyone, not just members, simply visit Feltmakers.com and click on Our Feltmakers from the menu and then choose Online Exhibitions. Last year’s theme was Hats Off! Hats and fascinators are simply sculptures for the head so we could let our imaginations run riot and you can see the wide variety of headwear created for that event here.
For me this year’s brief took more thought as there are so many different ways it could be approached…..”you can find connections in the way you interact with other feltmakers, in the way you are inspired by nature, other mediums or other artists. You can also explore the literal: how can I connect one part of the felt to another?”
I finally whittled my thoughts down to two ideas. The first would take the form of another head piece, because I’m developing a bit of a thing for fascinators, and the second would be a 3D vessel.
I am a huge fan of the Dutch Feltmaker and Milliner Saar Snoek. Saar has a different approach to many other feltmakers I know and her imagination and creativity when it comes to felted headwear is phenomenal!
Some of Saar Snoek’s amazing wet felted headwear.
How I approached my Fascinator might sound like a cop out to some of you but remember the theme of the exhibition is Connections🤩 So rather than start from scratch I decided to “connect” three existing pieces of my own to create a Fascinator, these are pieces that were never intended to be worn on the head. One of these was originally designed as necklace which I’ve worn on several occasions along with the second piece which was a matching bracelet. They were both Nuno felted, stitched, embellished with beads and backed with fabric.
Next I looked around for something suitable to top off my head piece. I’d been working with organza earlier that day so auditioned a piece of that but decided against it. It needed something with much more impact!
The organza wasn’t doing it for meThe Splash would make more of a statement!
I’d previously made a blue version of the Splash, inspired by the wonderful Australian feltmaker Pam de Groot, and thought I’d try that out for size. Although it was far too floppy at this stage I could envisage it working as the third piece of the Fascinator. I used acrylic paint to colour it to complement the other two pieces and to give it enough rigidity to keep its shape.
Next I removed the necklace chain and invisibly stitched everything together.The final stage was to attach it to a gold metal headband repurposed from another project and then talk a friend into modelling it for me. Fortunately Maria was all for it and I think she really suits it too!
I called this piece Crowning Glory.
For my second piece I started by sketching a variety of shapes including cords, spikes and balls which could be used to join individual pieces of flat felt in a decorative way. While I was considering how this would look my design changed several times and ended up becoming a four sided hinged structure. At this point I realised it would be a good project for Waltham Windmills next challenge which is Structures. So having only made four connectors I decided to park that design for now and moved on to plan B.
The first four connectors are now being saved for another project
Plan B was based on a very rough sketch but became more of a “let’s make a start and see where it goes” sort of plan to avoid any more procrastination!!
I started with an egg shaped resist, covered it in green and grey Merino fibre and worked it to prefelt. Various thicknesses of hand made prefelt and fully felted offcuts were then arranged on one side and covered with a thin layer of white Corriedale fibre. At that point I decided to add the grey concertina protrusion before attaching the ropes, balls, cords and several other pieces of prefelt on the top side. In all I connected at least 60 separate pieces of felt as well as small pebbles, acrylic wallpaper and dried seaweed. It’s very tactile and I’ve left it hollow so it can be pushed and pulled and reshaped allowing the viewer to also connect with it.
I’ve called this one Biomorphia
I hope you’ll take the time to visit the Feltmakers website after the 29th March and see the exhibition for yourself.
1)Picture of bag in progress (there is still more to do but it’s looking like a landscape now!)
2) Cover of new book
3) diagram of fiber
6)Sewing Embellishments
