Felting and Fiber Studio

Annie and I were having lunch and looking out into the garden where a pigeon was having a good soak in the bird bath …

… and Annie said “he needs a rubber duck” and that’s how inspiration struck for the second quarter challenge!

I decided on a cartoon-like picture because the idea is funny 😊. My plan was to make a simple picture in the form of a ‘jigsaw puzzle’ of nuno felt shapes.

I inserted the photo into a word document, stretched it sideways a tad, then printed it as large as possible on my home printer – 29cms (just under 11½”) wide. Then I traced the main outlines and added the outline of a duck.

First the difficult part – choosing the fabrics to make nuno felt!  I have many boxes of fabric to sift through so it was a mammoth task – here’s just one box.

And a couple of days later, here are eight nuno felt pieces.  I made two for the pigeon (top right of photo) because I couldn’t make my mind up about which fabric would work best.

I made a tracing paper cut-out so that I could mark then cut the main outline from the green nuno felt – unfortunately I lost the curve at the end of the pigeon’s beak during cutting.

I put some baking paper on my ironing board then a piece of heavyweight iron-on interfacing (slightly smaller than the green nuno felt) on top of that with the sticky side up.  Then I put the green nuno felt on the top.

I used the freezer paper method to cut out the shapes for the bird bath, duck and pigeon then simply inserted them in place.  (See this blog post for how to use freezer paper to cut shapes from felt https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/2021/05/09/key-dish-and-pot-plant-mat-1920s-style/ )

Once everything was fitted together, I realised I’d made a mistake.  I hadn’t put a board under it to flip it over to iron the backing on (the felt wouldn’t allow enough heat to reach the iron-on interfacing so it had to be ironed from the back).  So I took a deep breath, grabbed hold of the baking paper and flipped the whole thing over.  It worked!  I ironed the interfacing to the back of felt and all the pieces were held firmly in place.

I pushed some thin, black darning wool in the teeny gap between the nuno felt pieces to make an outline – I used a ‘blunt’ needle that is designed to sew up knitwear to push the wool right in.

When I’d finished inserting the black wool I thought it looked too ‘heavy’ so I pulled it out from around the pigeon and duck then replaced it with thin, blue darning wool.

I stood back to look at the picture – what had I been thinking – the birdbath was ’floating’ on the background like a flying saucer!

It needed its stand, as in the original photo.

I cut a stand shape out of the green nuno felt then filled it with a piece of dark blue nuno felt.  I turned the whole piece over and put a patch of iron-on interfacing on to hold the newly inserted piece of dark blue felt.

I wanted to put some detail on the pigeon and I experimented with sewing but it didn’t look right.  So I simply drew a few feather details onto the nuno felt with an indelible black laundry marker pen.

I needle felted blue darning wool to make the rim of the birdbath then needle felted the duck and pigeon eyes directly into the nuno felt.

When I made the green pre-felt I wasn’t tidy with the edges because I had intended to trim it, but in the end I decided that it looked good with rough edges so I left them as they were.

Here’s the completed picture.  The photo below is very true to the actual colours of the nuno felt – unlike some of the process photos above that were taken in varying light conditions!

I put the textile picture into a glass fronted clip frame to hang on my wall.  Job done!

If you’d like to take part in the second quarter challenge, it’s now very easy to upload your photos – just click on this link –  https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/community-photo-submissions/

And should you wish to write a guest blog post about your fibre work, please contact Ruth Lane through the ‘Felting and Fiber Forum’ – https://feltandfiberstudio.proboards.com/

A big ‘thank-you’ to Jan for suggesting the idea for this quarter’s challenge, so come on everyone – let’s get inspired to just have a go!

Take a short walk from your door, perhaps just into your garden or a few hundred yards up the road.

Really look at things that you might usually pass by without noticing the detail.

Take photos or make sketches that could inspire you to felt, knit, weave or sew something – be it a small sample or a finished piece.

Look up as well as down.

Reflection.

Flaking paint.

Tree bark and lichen.

Shadow.

Look closely at small flowers.

Church window.

Bath time.

Snail shell.

Lichen, moss etc.

Wrought iron.

Colours, textures and patterns.

Annie made a flippant comment about one of the photos above, and after having a good laugh, we both thought ‘Why not?’  So now I have the inspiration for my challenge piece!

We would love to see photos of challenge pieces and it’s now very quick and simple to upload your photos – please use the link below.

https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/community-photo-submissions/

Annie

I have a pile of old knitwear items that are nice colours but are now way too small for me.  They aren’t good enough to donate because some areas are worn and bobbly but most of the fabric is still good. Usually my first thought is to cut up and use old fabrics as embellishment in feltmaking but this time I decided to try something else first.

I’ve seen other people make scarves and jackets by patching pieces of old knitwear together so I decided to kill 2 birds with one stone and make a patched sample, but also take the opportunity to conquer my avoidance of my overlocker.   I’ve only used it once or twice very briefly and not terribly successfully, and since then it has sat in the corner mocking me.  It was time to be brave!

So I cut some small pieces from the knitwear and went for it. I like the way the fabric crinkles and goes wavy on the edges if you stretch it as you sew.  Success – I had joined several pieces together.  My next issue was that the overlocker was threaded with 4 cones of white so I decided to be brave and change the colours!  Three YouTube videos, lots of eye drops and some careful administering with the tweezers later and I had 4 different coloured threads in the machine.  Hurrah!  You can see in the photo the first sample on the left is with white thread and raw edges and the second sample on the right has the coloured threads and also I cut sections from the sleeves so that there would be no raw edges to fray.

Now I have some new confidence with the overlocker and a decent sample that may well turn into an actual scarf one day if I can get in the right mood to cut about 100 more pieces!  The knit fabric works well as it is cosy and is not itchy.  I’d love to be able to wear wool, but my skin is too sensitive to it 🙁

You can see in the photo above that I got some nice scraps from doing this that I used in my next sample.  Double bonus!  I currently have some ideas in development for some artwork based around stylised trees and these scraps lent themselves to it nicely so I laid out some of the scraps on to a small base of white Merino fibres and began felting.  For my artwork I often only take the felt to somewhere between soft felt and felt, but quite often not fulled depending on what finish I want and how much I want to distort the fibres and fabrics.  I took photos when it was softly felted then carried on until it was well felted but in this case I preferred it at the halfway stage as it looked fresher somehow and not overworked.

For my next felt sample I used unravelled yarn from one of the old pieces of knitwear.  I had been fiddling around with it and decided to pull it apart.  Where it had been so tightly knitted the yarn kept a fabulous crinkle in it.

It only unravelled in short lengths, I assume that’s because of how I cut it on the seam.  I laid a few strands down, then bunched a few up then also scattered some tiny pieces on. I think this could make an interesting addition to a landscape or a picture of a bunch of flowers.

I was intrigued by the unravelled knitting so set about fiddling with the knitwear I had been dismantling for the overlocking experiment.  Cutting a ring or strip from some of the knit fabrics and then gently stretching them resulted in an interesting elongated knobbly bobbly string of fabric – not yarn, not complete fabric, but something in between.  Magic!

I haven’t felted with these yet but will do and will report back.  In the photo below the inner circle is a slice of sleeve before stretching, the outer circle is after stretching.

I also got carried away and began unpicking another piece of knitted fabric which has interesting potential, but haven’t yet had time to try felting with it:

I’ll come back to the knitted fabric experiments at a later date.

I wanted to do another thing other than my default feltmaking so I decided to try some more fabric applique on paper with free motion stitch, as I like the effect.   I rummaged in my fabric scraps and found an offcut of upholstery fabric with birds on called ‘Birds and Berries’ by Sanderson.

I cut out a bird and a few other motifs then glued and free motion stitched them to some cotton rag drawing paper (approx. 20cm / 8inch square).  Then I freehand cut some hearts from scrap paper, tea boxes, sweet wrappers and collage papers then glued some on and stitched the rest on.

I really liked the result so went on to make a card for a golden 50^th wedding anniversary in the same way but much bigger, 30cm x 30cm (12″x12″).  I loved the result but I regretted the size when I was cutting and attaching 50 hearts at midnight the day before the celebration!

Most of my textiles work involves feltmaking and much of what I use to embellish the felt is repurposed e.g. pieces of fabric cut from an old item of clothing or threads frayed from some old fabric.  I enjoy making small samples to see how different fabrics and fibres will felt before making bigger projects. Samples are quick and easy to make and can’t go wrong – you just experiment and discover new things, both good and bad, what works and what doesn’t work quite how you might have expected.

I am looking forward to making many more samples – the more you make the more ideas you get! 🙂

Do have a go at this challenge no matter what materials you prefer and no matter how new or how experienced you are.

The first challenge for this year is to make one, or more, experimental textile samples using repurposed items such as old clothing or furnishings.

For example, you could deconstruct an old shirt and use specific pieces or just rough cut pieces or even shred the fabric down to threads.  You could unravel an old sweater or scarf to reuse the yarn, or make ‘yarn’ by cutting lengths from an old t-shirt.

So why only make a sample?

Well, it’s quick, fun and there’s no pressure to get something right. It’s a great risk-free way to get creativity flowing and can lead to further experimentation or perhaps a new project. Sampling gives you a chance to test an idea before embarking on a project and it can inspire future work.

Look around at what you have and ask ‘what if?’  Then make a sample to see what happens.

Here are some of our samples of ‘textile deconstruction and reconstruction’:

This large scarf had a few holes in it and wasn’t fit for purpose.

Some of it was cut into strips then knitted to see how it would look and feel.

Old scarves and blouses can be used to make nuno felt.  If you’re unsure whether the fabric will work or not, make a sample!

Small pieces from three different garments were cut into rough shapes then placed onto a few layers of merino wool before felting.  The sample shows how each piece of fabric looked after felting.

This experimental sample is a scrap of fabric cut from an old garment then embellished with stitching.

This is a slice of the sleeve of an old sweater splayed out and stitched down.

Old t-shirts can be cut into strips to make ‘yarn’.  Seamless t-shirts are best as you can just cut round and round – with a seamed t-shirt you have to make joins in the ‘yarn’.

This red t-shirt yarn …

… and some of this recycled sari silk …

… were knitted together, as an I-Cord, on giant needles to make interesting ‘rope’.

Some fulled felt that was left over from a very colourful project was cut into small pieces, laid on top of loose white merino fibres then felted …

… the result was a colourful, textured piece of felt.

These shoelaces were rescued from discarded trainers.  They were handstitched to a piece of velvet and the sample was an experiment to try to ‘abstract’ rhubarb.

You may already have a stash of deconstructed stuff e.g. ribbons saved from gift wrappings, short lengths of yarn from old sweaters/scarves, lace from old blouses etc.

This weaving sample was made from such a stash.

So, look around at what you have to hand and ask ‘what if?’  Then make a sample to see what happens.

Please post a photo of your experimental sample onto the Felting and Fiber Forum under ‘Studio Challenges’ in the thread ‘2022 First Quarter Challenge’.

Lyn

In the late 60’s I was taught how to crochet by my Aunt Doris and I loved it.  She showed me how to read a crochet pattern and the first thing I made was a green mini dress for myself.

At that time the ‘granny square’ became popular and I made a long, sleeveless jacket for my mum from brightly coloured squares edged with black.

So coming up with a challenge idea was easy for me.  I had a search of the internet and found a free pattern by Michelle of The Snugglery (free pattern) The pattern is for a 60’s hippie-style top.  Perfect.

I auditioned my stash of yarns and picked out some bright ones that I thought went together well – orange was a very popular colour in the late 60’s.

I made 8 traditional granny squares to measure 16.5cm (6½”) each – all the same as the one shown below.

If you’d like to know how to crochet a traditional granny square, there are many free YouTube videos – here is a good one but be aware that US double crochet stitch is UK treble crochet stitch.

how to crochet a granny square

How frustrating is it when you come to a knot in the yarn?

Here is Michelle’s pattern showing how to join the squares….

… and here are my 8 granny squares stitched together but not yet joined to make one piece.

A fringe, made with 3 strands of yarn, is essential to the look of this top.  I decided it would be easier to attach a fringe while the squares were flat on the table before joining them to make the top complete.

The thin straps were crocheted using 3 strands of yarn and a simple chain stitch.

Here’s how I kept the 3 yarns from tangling.

The finished top will be donated to a retro charity shop and I hope someone enjoys wearing it – even if it’s for fancy dress!  Here’s the ‘flat’ shot …

… and after much persuasion, here’s Annie modelling it, but she refused to take her tee-shirt off!

Annie

I’ve had plans to make some more pods for a while now and as flowers were popular in designs in the 60’s I thought I’d make a floral one for the 4th quarter challenge.

Usually I put the design on the outside after the fibres are all laid down but this time I decided to do it in reverse. I think it would have worked well with a simpler design but it bent my brain trying to lay down felt flowers, yarn outlines and background fabrics in reverse!

In the end I laid out the design for the first side face up over a template circle so I’d only have to do the other side in reverse.  It was quite complicated with having to wrap the design round the edges.

Then I put the resist on top and flipped it all over so that the design faced into the resist.

I laid down the first layer of fibres over the design then carried on making the pod in the usual way.

After I took the resist out I turned it inside out to reveal the design then carried on felting to shape the pod.  I didn’t really think it through – maybe it would have been easier to just put the design on the outside.  But it was fun to make.  Although it’s not perfect it’s not wasted time – any time spent experimenting and making is time well spent if you ask me!

The fourth quarter challenge is to felt, spin, weave, knit, crochet or sew something inspired by the 1960’s – a decade that exploded with colour in art, fashion, homewares and music!

Although ‘pop-art’ originated in the 1950’s it flourished in the 1960’s, and Andy Warhol created many versions of his portrait of Marilyn Monroe …

…and Versace made a gown using Warhol’s prints.

Psychedelic and hippie art was everywhere! On posters, clothes, musical instruments and vehicles.

The world of pop music embraced the wildness of design in the 1960’s. Heinz Edelmann’s illustration style for the Beatles’ animated film ‘Yellow Submarine’ was revolutionary…

… and this album cover must be the most recognisable.  Jann Haworth and Peter Blake designed the cover for The Beatles ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’.

Peter Max was an influential designer.  Below left to right: He painted this design for Capitol Records, this ‘love’ poster and he designed this fabric.

Flowers featured a lot in 60’s fabrics that would be made into clothes, curtains, lampshades and furniture.

Flowers were also popular in many wallpaper designs.

Mary Quant was an influential fashion designer in the 60’s – she did use colour but she’s well-known for her black and white designs.

And who hasn’t heard of ‘Biba’?  This is one of her dresses. Photo courtesy of V&A.

Fashion was very flamboyant.  Look at these ties for men. Photo courtesy of V&A.

And shirts could never be too colourful.

Machine embroidered clothes were very popular.

Jewellery was bold, bright and chunky.  Photos courtesy of V&A.

Perhaps you remember the 1960’s?  Perhaps you’ve only read about them.  But we hope you find something in that decade to inspire your work.  Please post anything you make on to the ‘Studio Challenges’ section on the Felting and Fiber Forum

THIRD QUARTER CHALLENGE

For my 1950’s inspired picture, I drew on memorable things from my early childhood.

I was born in this house in 1953 – but of course there wasn’t a tv aerial or satellite dish on it then.

And here I am with my mum and my nan, in their 1950’s coats, outside the back door.

My strongest memory in that house is of playing with my teddy bear.  It was cold one day so I sat him in front of an open fire and scorched his fur.  No problem. I played hairdressers and cut it all off – even the fur that wasn’t scorched.  My dad took one look and said we should call him Fred Bear (threadbare).

Apart from my arrival into this world, the biggest event in 1953 was the coronation of Queen Elizabeth.  She wore a crown and carried an orb and sceptre to symbolise her monarchy and power.

Had I been a little older at that time I might have had a play-time coronation for my teddy.

Teddy is long gone but I can make a felted picture of what might have been using my memories of my early childhood in the 50’s.

So, to make a 50’s play-time coronation I would need:

A Throne (chamber pot).  Our toilet was outside so for night-time there were chamber pots under the beds – they were called ‘gazunders’ – and anyone sitting on a pot was said to be ‘on the throne’.

A Crown (paper hat). Any kind of celebration involved the wearing of a tissue paper hat in the shape of a crown.  I decided to make it candy-striped because I fondly remember the candy-striped flannelette sheets that were so cosy in the winter.

An Orb (large marble).  I played marbles with my brother and we both loved ‘king marbles’ as they were much bigger than the others.

A Sceptre (a knitting needle). Mum taught me to knit before I could read.  I had a lovely pair of brightly coloured needles with large round ends.

Righto, first job was to make some pre-felt.

After I’d made all the pre-felt, I realised that I had forgotten about teddy’s brown pads on his hands and feet.  Doh!  Off we go again.

I made the background from 3 layers of turquoise and 1 blue blended layer.

I cut out shapes from the pre-felt for the teddy, the chamber pot, the paper crown and the king marble then I laid them onto the background.  Here it is netted, wetted and soaped up.

When it was felted and dry I got to work with needle felting.

At this point I need to apologise.  I had planned to take photos of all the stages of needle felting but I became so engrossed that I forgot!

So, here’s the finished piece – teddy in all his regal splendour!

The third quarter challenge is to felt, spin, weave, knit, crochet or sew something inspired by the 1950’s.

There was a global economic boom in the 1950’s, and in 1957 Britain’s prime minister, Harold Macmillan, is famous for saying “You will see a state of prosperity such as we have never had in my lifetime … most of our people have never had it so good.”

Could you be inspired by ‘Fairy-Tales’?

In 1950 Walt Disney released the cartoon film ‘Cinderella’ – some cute mice and birds stitched her dress.

Walt Disney released 3 more fairy tale films in the 50’s: ‘Alice in Wonderland’, ‘Peter Pan’ and ‘Sleeping Beauty’.

In 1953, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth was taken to her coronation in the Gold State Coach – it weighs over 4 tons!  The photo below is quite recent but it shows the splendour and fairy-tale quality of the coach.

In 1955 Walt Disney opened ‘Disneyland’ where children of all ages could enjoy a magic kingdom.  Below is the ‘Fairy-Tale Castle’.

‘Balmoral’ is a real-life castle in Scotland, privately owned by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, but it does have a fairy-tale look doesn’t it?

Hands up anyone old enough to remember how children played in the 50’s?

Before the electronic age, play was simple.  Go-karts and bikes made from bits and pieces found abandoned, ball games, hula hoop, hopscotch and skipping.

Some toys that were introduced in the 1950’s are still around today – humming tops, frisbees, slinkies and Mr Potato Head.

So all of you who didn’t put your hands up just now, have you seen photos of how the grown-ups in your family dressed in the 50’s?

Maybe this is the fashion that people aspired to…….

….. but the ‘best going-out’ clothes for many people in England in 1959 looked like this.  A day out on a coach was a special occasion and worthy of a photo!  Can you spot Lyn?

There was an explosion of colourful, wonderful art in the 50’s.

Yayoi Kusama, a Japanese artist, produced these works between 1953-58.

David Hockney produced a varied style of paintings in the 50’s…

… and Karen Lane (lincsinstitches.com) showed her wonderful mixed media quilt on The Felting and Fiber Forum.  It was based on a 1954 self-portrait painted by Hockney.

The 1950’s was an exciting decade for space exploration.  ‘Sputnik 1’ was launched in 1957. It was a polished metal sphere 58 cm (23 in) in diameter with four external radio antennas to broadcast radio pulses.

Of course there was a whole lot more going on in the years 1950-1959 than we’ve mentioned above, and we hope that you can find something that piques your curiosity/interest and inspires you to create something.  Please share your makes by posting a photo on THE FELTING AND FIBER FORUM in ‘Studio Challenges’.

Lyn

I chose ceramic artist Clarice Cliff for inspiration in the second quarter challenge because I liked this plate that she decorated in 1929.

I planned to make a shallow bowl and matching pot plant mat, in the style of Clarice’s plate decoration, using the resist method to make a pod

This is the shape of the shallow bowl I wanted to make.  It would be white on the outside (like the reverse of the plate above) and decorated on the whole inside surface.  The large circle that would be cut out from the top would not be wasted but would be worked into a pot plant mat.

I have made a similar bowl before using this method so I was confident with my idea.

I took my colour palette from 8 plants that are growing in my garden during the second quarter of 2021 – red, mauve, green, orange, yellow, pink, white, blue.

I cut a circle of paper 24.5cm (9.5”) in diameter then drew shapes on it – similar to those above on the plate – then I coloured in the shapes using the colours of the plants…

…then I set about making 8 pieces of pre-felt to match.

To enable me to cut accurate shapes from the pre-felt I used freezer paper – the paper has wax on one side.  Tackling one colour at a time, I traced the shapes onto the non-waxed side of the freezer paper then pressed the paper waxed side down onto the pre-felt using a medium iron for 2-3 seconds.

After cooling, the paper will stick to the felt making it easy to cut the shapes out and the paper will peel away very easily.

Here are the shapes after cutting out – I didn’t realise until I was up to my elbows in wet felt and soap suds that I forgotten to cut 2 of the orange shapes.  There should have been 10 – doh!

I placed the paper pattern onto the bamboo mat then covered it with a clear plastic circle.  I misted the plastic with soapy water then I made some black yarn wet and very soapy – hopefully to make it ‘sticky’ – then placed it onto the plastic circle following the lines of the paper pattern beneath it.

I dunked the felt shapes, one at a time, in a dish of soapy water then placed them on top of the yarn.

I covered the circle with 2 layers of white merino wool top before flipping it over.

I removed the paper pattern then once again put down the black yarn following the pattern showing through the clear plastic circle.

Then I placed the coloured shapes on top as I did for the first side.

For this project, I put 4 layers of white merino wool tops on each side then worked it as described in the pod tutorial.

I cut the hole, as shown below, leaving only a narrow edge.

I finished the felting process on the circle that I cut away for the pot plant mat, then I turned my attention to the bowl-in-progress.

My plan was to make a shallow bowl in the shape shown below.

I’m not sure what went wrong but the felting gods were definitely not smiling upon me and my shallow bowl didn’t form as I’d planned.

So after a quick re-think I cut away the edge of the non-bowl then turned the remaining circle of felt upside down on a cake tin to form a dish in the shape of a pin-tray by Clarice Cliff (2 pin trays shown below).

It took a lot of soap and persuasion to get it shaped and my fingers looked like prunes after a while but I was very determined!

I did achieve my pot plant mat, but instead of a matching shallow bowl I made a key dish instead!

They would be ideal for a hallway table.

I hope you feel inspired by the 1920’s to make something in your chosen medium, and if you do, please post a photo in the Studio Challenges Section on The Forum.