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Registration for the expanded 3D Resist, aka a Book Resist, workshop is now open.

Registration for the expanded 3D Resist, aka a Book Resist, workshop is now open.

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Registration for the expanded 3D resist, aka a book resist, opens today, September 5, 2026. The class runs from September 26 to Oct 31 2026.  Cost: $75 Canadian, approx. $54 US, $46 Euro, $39 Pounds, $75 Aus, $90 NZ.

This is now a two part course. The first part will show you how to make, assemble and use a 3d book resist. It will guide you step by step from building the multi-part resist to the finished piece and give you the skills to continue on to more fun with sculptures.

The second part of this course will be on design and testing.  This will save you fibre, time, and frustration when things don’t go the way you thought they would. It will show you how to test different shapes and cutting methods without making multiple felt samples. You will be able to assemble and test the concept, testing multiple assembly and cutting techniques. Then you will be able to move on to making a felt piece with confidence.

Here is a link to the materials list. You probably already have most of it. Material List for 3D resist workshop

Please join me for this expanded workshop and have fun learning some new skills.

Register here: https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/classes/3d-multi-part-resist/

 

Here are some pieces other students have made:

Renee 3D with balloon
Fay Starfish
Fay, Red six-leafed book resist vessel

 

 

 

a tail/tale of a whale – part 1

a tail/tale of a whale – part 1

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Updated 08/31/26

I had such wonderful plans for the last two weeks of summer. 1; invite Ann to the cottage to relax and do some felting, 2; do some wet felting to add to some dry felting (while Ann was there, sort of like a life guard, to keep the water behaving), and 3; then finish up the first whale. So I suppose it’s not a surprise it is the tale of a whale, or a whale of a tale, I have for you today.

Like many of my plans, they often go astray. It started out fine, but my luck could not last.

3 weeks ago: I re-watched Sara’s humpback whale felt-along on YouTube, and had hours of fun researching both humpback and blue whales. I inadvertently found out a bit about a few other whales as I investigated. It is the way of research, so many rabbit holes to look into.

I followed Sara’s instructions for creating the armature… mostly, instead of a mix of 12 & 14g, I used 12g aluminum. She used coated floral wire to give extra strength and help the fibre hold to the armature. I had the unlabelled floral wire from Dollarama easily to hand, so I was liberal in its application. She had made the armature in 2 parts: the top of the head and body with tail, and the second armature had the lower jaw with side fins and body with 2 wires to add to the tail.

Black grocery box full of wire, fleting suplys and snacks sitting on black walker1.1) project box for whale project, 12g wire, un-gauged floral wire, tool kit, snacks

I wanted my whale to be able to open its mouth, so had research pictures of mouth interiors and how the expansion happens when it sifts water and krill through its mouth and out through the baleen (we will come back to those). Since Sara had an upper and lower jaw already with her armature, I went with what she had worked out for lengths and proportions.

Sara wrapped the upper and lower armatures separately with core wool, building the basic under structure. Then joined both half’s together and wrapped with more core wool.  she added the wet felted skin over the wrapped armature.  I had taken 2 days to make careful notes of what Sara had done, but as usual derailed and just used the photo-reference I had.  I spent most of a week puttering while adding the core wool and had much of the structure blocked in when, on Thursday, Ann arrived at the cottage.

Preamble: I really don’t like getting wet. It’s so, wet. If water were drier, I would be happier. I kept asking my Dad, a hydrogeologist, if he could invent dehydrated water. He seemed to think water was fine the way it was. (I asked him for a dinosaur when I was 3 or 4 and was told he was not that kind of geologist; at least asking him to fix water was on topic. Other than these minor failures, he was a fabulous dad.)

I had picked up a new 4′ long folding table with adjustable leg heights to work on. I had a new pool noodle and the wet felting kit I won from Marie at Living Felt (Texas).  Sara had done some per-blending for the upper layer of colours. I had an extensive selection of tones to work from, so I relied more on colour placement. The under layer for the darker top was a special blend from World of Wool, called “Indigo”; it is a fabulous blue-black, which I hoped would creep a bit into the upper layers.

thin wisps of indigo (which leaned heavily towords black) layed down in a harring bone oriantation.1.2)first layer of the upper skin (W.O.W. Indigo coriedale)

Watching Sara lay out her top layer was interesting. She said the felt skin should be thin so it would be adjustable with a bit of tugging when done. I remember Moy McKay wanting thinness in her wet felted landscapes so they could be needle felted and fit in the sewing machine. Multiple times Sara said “that’s it”, then added a bit more fibre. I wound up doing the exact same thing, “ah I think that’s it,…… no a bit more just here”. Even with my enthusiasm, I was still able to keep the felt fairly thin.

adding embelishments and colour for the second layer embelishments compleat ready to wet - ick1.31-1.32) Embellishments added to second layer of top skin, coriedale, silk, slubs, yarn and locks

Once the fibre for the skin was laid out, it was time to carefully add the soap and water, just enough to wet the wool but not the floor or me. I dampened the top layer of plastic and started to “gently caress the timid bunny”, or you can think of it as “lymphatic effleurage”, which is about the weight of a nickel in pressure.

checking stability of the felt stuffed big frog holding small blue disk with handle and small bumps, good gental rubbing tool Tupper ware lid has flutted surface slightly more aggressive rubbing surface1.41-checking felt integrity before switching to the wet felting tools;  1.42- photo of frog and rubbing tool, 1.43 -photo of tupper ware lid as rubbing tool)

Once the bunny is less timid and the fibre is starting to migrate, I switched to using the soft rubbing tool, then I used Ann’s Tupperware lid.

rolling felt around large diamiter pool noodle 1.5) Starting to roll the felt, flipping and rotating the skin regularly

When the felt was firmer, I could start rolling with my new extra-large pool noodle. A regular pool noodle would have worked too; I just didn’t have one at the cottage.   When I had rolled from each end and side, on both sides, it was time to gently drop the skin on the table. This is a gentle way to shock the fibres into further shrinking.

hand has let go and the felt is falling towords the table1.61)dropping to continue shrinkage

wet felted skin partly done whale armature sitting on top of wet skin1.62-1.63) top skin shrunk and checked with partly finished under structure.

I also did a bit of rolling and rubbing in specific directions to get the last bit of shrinkage I wanted. The skin is still quite thin but is also holding together nicely. It is time to set it aside and work on the lighter underbelly skin. Sara laid out and rolled both together, but I didn’t have a large enough table to do that, so it’s one side at a time.

Underside:

Sara’s lighter under layer was sort of the shape of a large mushroom. I started that way and add a bit more width at the top to allow more wrinkles. I had it layed out, had started to dampen the fiber when i changed my mind and added the “under arms”, OK, fins.

Ann had some grey and white fiber with little black flecks, i think it was from world of wool. i added a bit along the border where the two skins would join.

laying out the base layer in a harring bone pattern second layer of white & Grey, corrodale, silk, locks and slubs adding the under sides of the side fins, sara had not added them to her skin. close up of added fiber fiber layed out and preparing to roll after rubbing gently the fiber was ready to roll2.1-2.6) layout and wetting of the light lower skin

By the time i started rolling it was time for Ann to head home.  We cleaned up the porch a bit, closed up the cottage, and headed out. It had been great to have her company and i felt much braver with her keeping an eye on the sneaky water.

Ann and her dry balls ready to felt3) Ann had been Preparing dryer balls and had quite a few ready to go.

I still have more rolling to do on the under side skin but that will have to wait until i get back to the cottage.  i should let you have a brake and we can continue the whale saga next post.

Mason bear closeup
A wee escape into the Highlands for some knitting

A wee escape into the Highlands for some knitting

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If you’re reading this post, there’s a good chance you have at least one crafty friend group; whether yours meets up for felting, crocheting, summoning the Gods of Wool under the full moon (wait, that last one might be just me…) or a bit of everything, it’s good to get together with like-minded people and share an activity in joyful companionship.

This past weekend, I met up with 3 friends for some light travelling and knitting. We rented an AirBnB in the Highlands and departed on Thursday for 3 days of crafting and castle-visiting fun.

Our first stop was Glamis Castle. This is a castle dating back to 1372, with rather lovely gardens. Sadly we’re not allowed to take pictures inside due to it still being the Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne’s residence, so I shall only be able to regale you a few whimsical images of the outdoors.

First, witches!

The 3 Macbeth witches, weathered wood sculpture
Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble

The back of one of Macbeth's witches wood sculpture

I was mesmerised by these sculptures, the weathering and liveliness of the faces, the texture… Surely this could inspire a felted artwork?

I’m terrible at taking photos of the “big picture” but love details. Here are a couple.

This needs to be a yarn colourway…
Buzz buzz
What a lovely concept.

The following day we went to Crathes Castle, this one in the capable hands of the National Trust for Scotland. Again, marvellous gardens, and this time I was allowed to photograph the inside, but if you know me, you won’t be surprised I forgot to… apart from one little detail that I’ll show below.

Is this a thistle? Regardless, it’s gorgeous!
Well. There’s really no need to comment on this plant, is there?…
Facing the wrong side…
What a marvellous fuzzy plant. It almost seems made up…
I really want to know how a tree is crowned champion. Also, this is the best tree because it’s Portuguese (and guess half my nationality!)

I think my captions really er, capture my thoughts on these images (hover with your mouse to read them!), but I do need to point out my outrage when I saw that the spinning wheel was facing the wrong side. WHY do I see this all the time in exhibits? Yes, I had to tell the people responsible. Yes, if I lived near I’d go back in a few week’s time and check up on the status of this scandalous situation. Yes, I am aware most people wouldn’t care.

Finally, you’ll be delighted to know I do have knitting photos to share!

I went to the Highlands full of hope and with a sense of endless time, and of course was perfectly convinced I’d knit and finish all three of the projects I took with me. The truth is, I hyper fixated on just one and that’s what I have to show you.

Meet Mason Bear.

Half-finished knitted bear

This is an adorable knitted bear pattern that I’ve made a few times already, and until recently never kept one. That’s been corrected, but this guy was meant for a friend who is going through some challenges and I thought could use a pick-me-up.
Although the pattern is meant to be knit flat, a few simple adjustments make it perfect for knitting in the round, and this means you can purl a lot less and stuff him as you go along. Very convenient, if slightly menacing-sounding.

Now renamed Timothy, this bear took a brave bus ride during the busy Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and is now living his best life in a place where he will be loved.

Tell me about your retreats! How many have you taken part in? Are they “official” or are they just with friends?

SHAPESHIFT – making felt sculptures

SHAPESHIFT – making felt sculptures

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I’ve been reviewing the future direction of my felt work. I’ve decided to stop having so many exhibitions and sales. I will still do some exhibitions but I’d like to focus less on what people might buy and more on the things I’d like to make, irrespective of whether or not they are saleable. 

In particular, I’d like to do more complex 3D & sculptural work as I particularly enjoy it. So it was a happy coincidence that Gladys Paulus was offering an online felt sculpture course called SHAPESHIFT.  

My very first blog on this site was about a 3D seed pods workshop I took with Gladys Paulus in November 2019.  Herfe’s a link if you want to take a look.

https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/2019/11/14/a-felting-adventure/

I really admire her work and found her an excellent tutor so it was a bit of a no-brainer: I signed up for SHAPESHIFT with a glad heart. 

You can find a full description of SHAPESHIFT through the link below. Essentially it is about developing your eye and aptitude for sculptural felting rather than producing a specific ‘thing’. Working from a 25cm flat circular resist, Gladys takes you through play, intuition and discovery, building confidence and a developing a sculptor’s eye.

https://onlinetutorials.gladyspaulus.com/courses/shapeshift–458f1e58-42de-4b8f-af48-722cf56fd241/salespage

The course materials are clear and thorough with extensive text and video descriptions. Gladys also gave generous, thoughtful, insightful and encouraging personal feedback, which was invaluable.

So, let me introduce my 10 sculptures. 

The materials list suggested working with light coloured wool batts.  The only light batts I have in a large quantity are Corriedale (25-29 mic) and Merino (23 mic) both from World of Wool.  I started with the Corriedale, which is quite a bright white colour. All the sculptures start off with the same flat circular resist.

1) SEEDHEAD

This was my first sculpture. It’s quite a complicated shape and took me a long time but I was happy with the result. I could do with de-hairing it (I tried a heat gun but didn’t really get on with it).

2) CONTORTION

I lost sight of the overall shape of this one and had to go back and felt it some more. Isn’t felt a wonderful material that it lets you do that! It’s my least favourite shape but I learned a lot from it, which really is the point.

3) WRAP

I called this ‘wrap’ as it feels a bit like a hug. It’s less complicated than the previous two. Although it’s not obvious from these photos, it also tips slightly which gives it a slightly fragile feel.

4) SLIPSTREAM

With ‘Slipstream’ I was specifically working on getting smooth transitions between different planes: some nice sharp edges.

5) RINGS

I may go back and re-work ‘Rings’ to exaggerate the fact that the rings aren’t parallel. At the moment it feels a bit ‘meh’, although I do like the way you can see the light though the hole.

I thought my sculptures so far were tending to look like vessels. I’ve made a lot of vessels in my time so I decided to try to move away from those shapes. At this point I also switched from using the Corriedale to the Merino batt. It’s a more cream colour, felts slightly more quickly and gives a lovely smooth finish.

6) LEAVES

With ‘Leaves’ I worked on making more concave shapes. I particularly like that it looks completely different from the top (picture 2) than from the sides.

7) PLANES

More work on refining planes and angles

8) LEAF OR SHELL?

Similar to ‘Leaves’ in that I used some of the same shapes and didn’t want the sculpture to look like a vessel. I also like this one as it looks very different from different angles

9) UPTIGHT

I think with ‘Uptight’ I pushed the limit of how many different ribs and planes I could get across the shape. It was a bit of a tussle to get it as I wanted it, though I’m happy with the result. For a long time it was a horizontal sculpture but near the end it became upright, which contributed to its name.

10) TILT

I knew ‘Tilt’ would be my last sculpture for the course and tried to go with something a little more relaxed. I like that it seems to be balancing. I thought I might make a shape like three pebbles balancing on top of each other but decided they would be too small – I may make something like this using a long oval resist.

It was good to see other participants’ sculptures – they were all so different. For me it really illustrated the enormous flexibility of the medium, and how much the shaping is entirely in our hands

I absolutely loved this course.  I learned some new techniques, which I will continue to use, but most of all I reveled in taking time, letting things develop slowly, experimenting and learning as I went along.  I have a bit of a felting gap now due to other commitments but I am already thinking about what sculptures to make next.

I’ve always enjoyed wet felting, but this course really re-awakened my excitement in making felt.  I woke up in the morning thinking about felting and couldn’t wait to create my next sculpture.  That was joyful and a great gift.  Gladys is working on a more advanced sculpting course called RESIST! Will I be signing up? What do you think?!

Technique chat: Shingling

Technique chat: Shingling

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You may have seen my last post, making a fluffy llama. At the end of the last post I still needed to finish his eyes and add eyelashes. Today we were going to consider shingling; adding layers of small amounts of combed fibre or fibre locks in a pattern that mimics the coat on a creature, like that llama I was working on. The fur mimicked by shingling is usually on the longer side, but it can be used for shorter fur too.

When I first started to needle felt, there had been only one option suggested for making a long-ish coat: shingling, with the use of combed top.  I now know a number of variations on this technique and a few other options besides it. But let’s look at where I started and a couple of the variations.

As with all the projects I leap into, after the idea, it starts with a bit of fun research to find out what type of fur you want to mimic.   Remember to check if there is a summer or winter coat, or if there are regional variations to your animal. It will not look right if you mix the coat of a red wolf with a timber wolf, or have a winter coat on the shoulders and summer coat on the back and legs! Google image search will help, but you have to be careful; sometimes the image descriptions for photos on the internet are labelled wrong. Look for sites that are researching the animal, breed associations, or even hunting groups can have some helpful photos (although not the hunting or cooking parts).  It is also helpful to try to get shots from various angles. (I was extremely pleased when I found a picture of the underside of a polar bear foot!)

chart of lengths of coats examples of aimas and techneeks to consider5.0) chart of coats of animals examples and techniques

For those needle felters who don’t mind getting wet, Sara (of Sarafina fiberarts on YouTube) had been experimenting with making “Pelts”, which are wet felted skin pieces she adds over her shaped felt under structure. Her results have been effective and interesting but do involve getting wet (so I have stayed with the dry techniques for now. I promise I will get brave eventually!)

There are a few things to consider beyond just getting the colour you want and deciding on a working direction to add your shingles (bottom to top or top to bottom; I have seen other felters who work in both directions successfully).  Let’s look at some of my variables; you may have more considerations to add to this list.

Variables in shingling you may want to consider:

  • Which fibre will best suit your project (there is more than just colour to think about when picking fiber)
  • Fibre Staple Length
  • Blending your fibres and colours (Blended colour will look more natural than flat colours)
  • What scale to work in/ how big or small is your creature?
  • Working with locks
  • Amount of fibres used in each shingle
  • Stacking your shingles

Let’s expand each consideration.

Which fibre will best suit your project: (there is more than just colour to think about when picking fibre)

  • Stiff or softer fibre will give a different drape (use photo reference to decide which you need).
  • How likely is this fibre to felt to itself from handling or rubbing?
    • This is more important if the creature is repositioned regularly (handled).
    • Silk, viscose, alpaca, and llama don’t have scales as most wool does, so are less inclined to felt to itself. Wool that has less crimp and outer guard hairs like kemp and tog is also less inclined to cling to itself (felt easily) when handled.

amples of viscose fiber folded in 50/50, 25/75, 75/25 proportions as well as a sample using wool to help adhear at the fold location.5.1) samples in viscose

  • Trim or not to trim (embroidery curved blade, dog grooming scissors/ thinning sheers are options)
    • Trimming can occur to shorten the fibre length you are applying, or you can trim the fibres after you have applied the shingles.
    • A stiffer fibre vs a softer fibre will also react differently when trimmed by scissors. Stiff fibres can give a more bristle-like appearance when trimmed short.
  • Silk, Viscose and similar smooth fibres can be difficult to attach securely to the felted under structure:
    • Adding a bit of carded wool or soft spun wool yarn to the area you are securing will help adhere the slippery fibre, like a staple or glue. (You may not need to add assistance to adhere if you are finding it is embedding deeply and securely. Working the fibre in a bit deeper and varying the angle of needle insertion will help it stay without adding extra fibre as glue. If you can’t work a bit deeper, then try adding the staple or glue-like bit of fibre. Remember the extra embedding to secure the fibre will shorten the staple length showing as fur.

diagram devided 50/50 showing needle felting perpendicular to fiber lenght5.2 – fibre divided 50/50 felting across to create the shingle

5.3) Add a bit of carded wool or loose spun yarn to attach as glue or a staple to hold the shingle5.3) Add a bit of carded wool or loose spun yarn to attach as glue or a staple to hold the shingle

5.4)Alpaca fiber; folded, tacking folded fiber, and using extra fiber to help hold slippery fiber (staple or glue using loose spun wool yarn or carded fiber)5.4)Alpaca fibre; folded, tacking folded fibre, and using extra fibre to help hold slippery fibre (staple or glue using loose spun wool yarn or carded fibre)

5.5) Sample using Viscose5.5) sample using Viscose

Using a bit of carded wool as a stable, to help embed the viscose fibre. While a bit of the staple or glue fibre is visible in the sample, using a similar colour as the shingle will make the assisting fibre or yarn invisible. The next layer of shingle will also obscure the previous attachment site.

5.6) using a wider attachment area for slippery fiber5.6) For slippery fiber you can also create a wider attachment area

Fibre Staple Length

  • If folded, what percentage of the fibre is used.
    • Folded in half (50/50 split) was what was first suggested to me. This can create a lot of loft or thickness in the shingle. If folded so cut end is under tips, it will lift the tips and give a thick dense coat.
    • Folded (25/75) folded tips on top of longer cut end, gives tips dispersed amongst longer cut end.
    • Folded (75/25) folded longer tips on top of cut end, gives lift from the cut end with longer draping tips.
    • * You can also use almost all your fibre as coat, and only secure one end (90/10). This is not exactly a folded shingle, but in some cases it’s the proportions that work. You still position it overlapping, as you would in any of the other shingles.

samples of alpaca fiber, various proportions folded6.1) alpaca samples

  • Single needle line of attachment or wider area of needle attachment (for slippery fibre, the wider attachment site can again help the fibre stay attached to your creature)
  • Using scissors to shorten the fibre length if needed (we are felters and like scissors!). If you are using combed top, it is easier if you pull off staple lengths then trim, rather than cutting the combed top itself, which will give mixed lengths to deal with (harder to blend and attach)

Pros:

  • Twice as fast (except for (90/10))
  • Under layer can lift the top layer and make a fluffy-looking coat
  • Works well for large colour gradations

Cons:

  • Can become heavy-looking depending on the scale of the sculpture
  • Can create small colour changes but can be a bit tricky to get exact location
  • Fluffy look can be out of scale to smaller figures.

 

Blending your fibres and colours (Blended colour will look more natural than flat colours)

  • Using the same fibre length will blend easily and produce a uniform length of coat.
  • Nature is not flat colour. It helps to mix shades and tints of colour to make your creature look more realistic. (Dyeing over a natural grey fibre will also give more depth and subtle variations within the colour)
  • Matching colours can be easier if you use a “window”. Cut out a small square in a piece of white or black card stock, leaving at least a 2-inch border to separate the window from the rest of the picture. This lets your eye and brain separate the isolated colour from the background, which makes it easier to colour match.
  • Areas with spots of colour change can be easier if switching to smaller amounts of fibre in your shingles (many little shingles). Your other option is to carefully blend the colour changes within the larger staples. The difference is more about the amount of control, suggesting a colour change or spots vs trying to mimic a specific animal’s colour patterns.
  • For stripes, you could try to lay in following the colour pattern. I have seen a felter who drew the pattern on her animal then just filled in each adjacent colour section, slowly working up the side of the animal.

blending colours of muskox fur. used alpaca to creat the fur7.0) muskox layers of alpaca to make the muskox coat

What scale to work in/ how big or small is your creature?

  • Smaller will have less detail but will need to suggest more with what you have. You will also have to use shorter fibers or trim to get the fur in proportion to the size of your creature.
  • Larger can have more detail but will require more work and attention to photo reference. Enjoy the process of needle felting and don’t rush.
  • As an example of scale, my fox picture has a problem with the whiskers. They are the wrong scale to the image. I used horsetail fibre for the whiskers, and the size is too light in visual weight. I need to find something a bit visually heavier ether a coarser horse tail or possibly the outer coat of a musk ox. I have heard of felters using the bristles from paint brushes (the house painting kind) as whiskers too. (The awl and glue method was used with the paint brush bristles. I used a large eye sewing needle to secure the horse hair.)

7.1) the visual weight of the whiskers is too light for the scale of the image7.1) the visual weight of the whiskers is too light for the scale of the image

 

Working with locks

  • Which part(s) of the fibre are you using, Tips only, tips and tails?

8.11-8.12-8.13) Samples with locks

  • Locks with crimp are easier to attach than locks with less crimp, like the hair I used on my Mer-people. It’s not a huge difference, but remember to check the fibre is adhering securely and will suit the purpose you intend to use it for. If your creature’s purpose is to sit in one pose on a shelf, you will not need the same security of attachment that a creature that is regularly reposed would require.
  • Crimpy curly little locks make fabulous outer coats for little sheep figures and pins. If you find little short locks with lots of crimp, put them aside for a later project if you don’t need them now.

 

Amount of fibres used in each shingle

  • Are you making a puff ball or something sleek? Sample thin layers of shingles vs fewer thicker layers. You may also find the thin layers helpful if you are working with stripes or subtle colour changes.

shows soap on a rope hedgehog wet felted understructure then needle fleted brisles9.1) ”Crevis” is a soap on a rope hedgehog. I used stiffer fibre and packed it quite tightly to give good scrub-ability. I had fun mixing light colours around the face. I wanted more of an emotional expression of hedgehog rather than an anatomical Hedgehog, since his soapy centre is rectangular and rather flat.

 

Stacking your shingles (patterns)

  • You also can change either the spacing of the shingles or the way the shingles are staggered; (stacked / offset(running bond) / 1/3 offset/shingle pattern / random placement). Looking at the way tile is laid out can give a good reference for shingling patterns. Again, a bit of quick sampling will suggest your best option.

10.1) Wooden shingles, layers offset each row, not necessarily the same size adjacent shingle.10.1) Wooden shingles, layers offset each row, not necessarily the same size adjacent shingle.

tile patterns that we can use with shingleing10.2) patterns of subway tile to consider for felting layouts (Straight stack, offset or running bond, 1/3 offset)

10.3) alpaca shingle samples spacing10.3) alpaca shingle samples spacing

10.4) Alpaca shingle sample of spacing- side view10.4) Alpaca shingle sample of spacing- side view

  • Direction of work: Start from lowest furred area, working to highest, or the other way around. Both work; I just found the former easier than the latter, which requires you to lift the shingles above to position the next below. An example of starting at the lowest point and working up and forward would be my partly 3-D Muskox picture. I also check and see if there is a direction of hair growth and hair fall. This could indicate the direction to lay in the fur.
  • How much fibre will you use in each shingle section? If you have areas that have denser fur and areas that are sparser, you may be altering how much you use in different areas and /or the shingle pattern you chose to follow. An example of variations of fur on a single creature would be a Bison or Buffalo. You may also want to use different fibres to mimic the different sections (longer, softer and shorter, stiffer fibre). As long as the colours for the different fibres work cohesively together, your creature will look realistic.

 

There is also a way to add locks without shingling to create the illusion of fur. I used it to create part of the sheep pins, and Ann uses it on her little sheep figures. Those tiny crimpy curly locks are layered over the surface of the creature in swirls, then tacked down, catching bits of the crimp locks.

10.5) Ann’s Sheep using tight crimpy locks to creat the fur/fleece.10.5) Ann’s Sheep using tight crimpy locks to create the fur/fleece.

 

Let’s take a quick look at some of the tools I have collected that can be helpful when adding a needle felted fur to a creature.

Tools that may be helpful: (new toys you might like to try)

  • Sharp embroidery scissors: straight and curved bladed
    • Excellent for careful trimming and getting into difficult spots. The curvature can mimic the curve of your creature. There are various amounts of curvature and length of blade available, so it’s nice to have a couple choices.

11.1) there are a few brands of curved embroidery scissors, as well as fine sewing scissors and curved blade pet trimming scissor11.1) There are a few brands of curved embroidery scissors, as well as fine sewing scissors and curved blade pet trimming scissors

  • Pet trimming scissors for thinning coats/salon version for people (look like they have notches along one blade). They are used to thin bulk along the side of hair or at the ends, also for blend transitions, or give movement to hair. They are used teeth side on top and usually at an angle to the hair (perpendicular can give harsher lines if over trimmed).

11.2)Thinning scissors have different teeth spacing that removes different amounts of hair.11.2)Thinning scissors have different teeth spacing that removes different amounts of hair.

If you are really curious, this is a quick video on using them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEqi7qfZyOY

  • Eyebrow brush and comb (weird original idea, but great for felting). This tiny brush and comb allows you to do small adjustments to your creature’s coat. I saw a tiny mettle comb version, but haven’t seen it again now that I have a use for it.

11.3) Eye brow tools11.3) Eyebrow tools

  • Eyebrow trimmer – strange razor trimmer (again, why is this a thing? Ok I admit my eyebrows never fully arrived so why trim them? What if trimming scares them away and I wind up with none?!) Again, an option for doing fine trimming and adjusting.
  • The puffer for blowing lint off your camera lenses; it can help to fluff up a coat or blow out trimmed hairs after using the scissors. It comes in a number of variations, including an electric version that may blow away your creature!

11.4) air blower, originally for cleaning camera equipment11.4) air blower, originally for cleaning camera equipment

  • You could even consider Hair spray or styling gel, but sample first; you don’t want fibre to yellow over time!! (I was a cheap art student (many years ago) and some of the very cheap hair spray we used as fixative did yellow the pastel paper.)

 

I hope this has sparked a few ideas to consider when adding fur on your creatures. I am sure I had more to add, but the AC seems to be struggling; ok, it’s give up, since it is almost 30C in the house.  You may have more options or tools to share; please add your suggestions too.

I hope you have found a cool, possibly air-conditioned spot to felt.  Ottawa has been hot with repeated waves of aggressive thunderstorms and flooding (the street west of us had flooded basements; Glenn said ours is still dry, but we did lose the cover to our side door).  If you are South of us celebrating your 250th birthday, have fun on the 4th, and hopefully you will get to enjoy your fireworks. Canada Day had spectacular thunderstorms, but fireworks would have been more fun.  Have fun, stay cool and keep felting.

 

Felting at CanGames 2026

Felting at CanGames 2026

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Someday I hope we will have a local felting convention, full of classes for Wet, Dry or even Damp felting! In the meantime, I have done the best I can and found a cosy corner or even a full table at the board gaming conventions in the city (there are two which have an unexpected felting component, they are very patient with me).

corner of brink building, sign says Rideau Curling Club, blue door is open, there is a ramp with a black raling leading up to the door.1.1) CanGames 2026, Ottawa, Canada

Each year on the long weekend in May CanGames happens in a curling arena in downtown Ottawa (Canada). It starts on Friday afternoon and runs through to Sunday night. There are board games, card games, RPG games, game testing, and I think LARPs in the basement, but I didn’t make it down the stairs.  There were also vendors for shopping, and the Kanata Games club had an open gaming area at one end of the arena, across from the secondhand game sale on Saturday morning. Beside the open gaming and just before the last vendor is the felting area (it’s small, but an increasing number of gamers check in to see what is being worked on this year).

While Glenn gathered and priced the games he was going to sell, I assembled fibre, reference photos (I could have used more), my felt pad in a zip-lock bag, a selection of needles, 2 project bags and a couple of bottles of Mountain Dew to keep me going.  I already have in my car my small folding aluminium table, and my walker which is just a chair with cool wheels (Glenn says I need to upgrade to Ben-Hur wheel spikes).

We arrived early on Friday before noon and waited for the convention to open. I then settled into my regular spot by the open gaming and the last vendor spot. I have been in the same spot for the previous years. I had 2 project options in my felt box from which to select my weekend project. I decided on the partly wrapped armature of the llama, which was from the Llama Needle Felting Tutorial that I had started to watch on Sara’s YouTube tutorial (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvqR_OPVmbI&t=1739s).  I had the armature and the initial layer of core wool wrapping done. Since I don’t have mobile access to the internet, I decided to detour from her instructions at this point…. I have pulled a few photos of llamas and comparison shots with alpacas to help, but I did not have time to do as deep a research dive as I usually would enjoy. I should have really watched it all the way through to the end of the tutorial, and not just the first part with the armature and the under wrapping of core wool. Let’s see how this goes!

berly wraped in core wool, armature of alpaca on small black folding table, there is a project bag, refereance images half a pool noodle with neeldes in labled spots, core wool and some candy also on the table. another vew of the previous picture showing berly wraped in core wool, armature of alpaca on small black folding table, there is a project bag, refereance images half a pool noodle with neeldes in labled spots, core wool and some candy also on the table.1.2-1.3) Lamma with initial core wool wrapped needs a lot of work at this point. On my little aluminium table is the llama, project bag with photo reference, a selection of needles in half a pool noodle, core wool, Smarties, Mountain Dew, Maple sugar candies, and the remains of an arrow bar.

I have already derailed from Sara’s instructions by adding a lower jaw so I can open his mouth. I may add a tongue or maybe not? I will have to look at more photos later. For now, I want to focus on the face and bulking up the body. I added bits of core wool. I think I was switching between the T38-333 blocking in fibre and the SP40-222 for more of the firming and surface sculpture.  Since I will be adding a fur top layer for his coat, I want a reasonably firm understructure but not as firm as my fish-people.  While I start sculpting his face, why don’t you take a peek at the open gaming from the Kanata Games Club? You may spot something fibre-related. I have already been asked if I have one of a few alpaca/lama board games (I have one of each so far, as well as quite a few sheep-inclusive games. We can chat about them if you would like some other time).

3 photos top shows shelving holding games and 2 stand up banners saying that this is the kanata games club and how to contact them. the lower 2 photos are the lid to the game Eternal Decks and the same game being played.1.4) The Kanata Games Club runs the open gaming area. They are very friendly and are quite inclusive about my felting.  There are a few very pretty games that seem popular this year. I am tempted to try one, maybe later in the weekend.

Across the arena from me is where the secondhand board game sale will be. There will be more games dropped off up until before the sale starts, which will be Saturday morning at 10 am. 3 years ago I was 3rd in line, 2 years ago I was second in line, I wonder if I will be first in line this year?

2 photos; top shows 4 tables alreay piled with boxes of games, more are ariving in ruf totes and large bags, lower fotto show 2 more tables pied with boxes of gameing stuff. this is just friday early afternoon more will arive through the day and early saterday morning.1.5) the used game sale

Just peeking, there are a lot of interesting boxes of games, some very old ones included too. I will do my best not to buy Glenn any games he is selling this year. (oops) I had better get back to work, or we will not have much felting to talk about today!

Friday afternoon into the evening, working on the understructure. Slowly sculpting the face and then starting to bulk up the hips. I regret not getting the chance to watch all of Sara’s instructions.

same black mettle folding table as before, with Llama understructure having more llama like shape, still unrapped towes, the is a name tag with 2 bull frogs, one jumping off a lilly pad the bigger one sitting on a lilly pad. there are also an open sleave of chocklet cookies and a pacage of sesimie snaps (2 out of 3 have been eaten)1.6)  Adding bulk and sculpting the face. I was showing the frog name tag as an example of 2D needle felting. I don’t think they would like felting as much if I were wet felting; their games might get damp! I have added chocolate cookies and Sesame snaps. I was sharing the cookies.

I was very focused on felting and chatting about felting. It was later in the evening than I thought when last year’s Chariot Race winner dropped by to see what I was working on. While chatting with her and showing her what I was working on, I eventually remembered to check how the Friday night chariot race was going. There seemed to be a lot of carnage this year! She said she had been attacked by many other chariots and was now out. I went over, and only 4 chariots look like they are still moving.

this is a game played on a track, the tables are spaced so the one running the game is standing in the center. the track starts out wide then narrows at the first of 4 courner turns, there are many charriots tipped on there sides indicateing a crash or death. there seem to be 4 chariots left racing from all that had started. 1.7) Chariot race Friday night

Glenn returned after playing one of the games upstairs and was ready to head home. We made a quick stop to try and sign me up for a murder mystery RPG game on Sunday (there are 4 players signed up, but if one doesn’t make it, I will get to take their spot)

 

Saturday morning: We headed in early. I have a new strategy this year for shopping. Instead of working at my table, then joining the line when it starts, I am going to be the line! The Lama and I got comfortable in the walker and watched more games arrive. I forgot to pull out the camera! I got focused on felting and then on shopping (Glenn had a list of things he had seen that I should watch for, and 2 other games he would like, if I see them.) As always, there seemed to be both amusement and enthusiasm in my odd focus of gaming topics. I seem to have all the sheep games, so have decided to branch out, and am now looking for other fibre-bearing creatures (or spin-able or felt-able fibres, can I find games about cotton or flax?)

I found 2 of his 6 games and no fibre-oriented games, but got distracted by a few other games that might be fun at the cottage.  You can see a few of them hiding under my jacket behind the llama, now back to felting.

same table as previous lacking candy, Llama is standing on photo reference with core wool beside, behind is a partly hidden pile of second hand games from the sale. the games are partly hidden by my gray jacket.2.1) Understructure of llama standing on reference photos in front of a stack of board games covered by a light jacket.

The face is improving; I don’t have the lower lip/chin quite right, and the eyes will look better when I add colour and eyelashes. Oh, and the ears (what you see is actually the wrapped ear wires since I want to be able to adjust the ears and pose them.) I can’t remember if Sara had added the ear wires or if I am off on a tangent again.

close up showing feet of llama photo reference and spiral felting needle. 2.2) Spiral needle on reference photos, the knees and ankles still need work!  What weird feet! I have got to work on those ankles. I spotted a couple with very lumpy knees, too.

close up of face the ear wires are covered in core wool and it make him look a bit alpaca like. 2.3) He seems to have stuck his face in the bag of alpaca fibre. I guess he approves of that colour?

back of woman, waring green/gold/black plad triangle woven shawl. her hat band scarf matches in colour, her hat is straw.2.4) Green, black and gold triangular woven shawl, this is the weaver who was demoing the triangular loom in Peterborough, Ont. She is wearing a scarf as a hat band that has similar colours to the shawl.

What a surprise! Do you remember the lady doing the triangular loom demo in Peterborough a few weeks ago?  She just dropped by to see what I was doing. It was nice to see what she had been weaving on her triangular loom.

I kept puttering at my understructure as he slowly started to look a bit more llama-like.

the face has a bit more fine sculpting and the upper lip is looking more llama-like, the lower jaw is open in this foto2.5) I think I am happier with the upper lip now.

A quick break to see what is happening around the curling rink.

top photo of one end of the curling rink full of tables set up with people palying bordgames. lower photo, game involing boats in water, closest on is large and has sails. 2.6) the curling rink and a ship battle game

bord game set up on plastic table, there are cards, counters, meples and posibly cubes indicating buildings, i am not sure since i havent played this. the board itself is quite colourful and may indicate a forest with rivers? 2.7) This is one of the games Glenn had me looking for; it was called “Root”. I am not sure what it’s about or how to play it. (but it looks pretty)

Back to felting, I am still getting too many “Is that an alpaca?” comments. I need to add the ears! Llamas have much taller ears than alpacas. They also have the reputation of being grumpy and spitting, but I am not sure I could express the latter in felt.

2 photos showing first one then both ears sitting on my felt working pad. the lower end of the ears are left with the fiber loos so they can be attached to the head and ear wires3.1) Starting the ear shapes, they need to be firm but not too thick so I can fold them and attach them to the ear wires (which are already covered in white core wool)

Ear shapes, leaving a wispy end unfelted to help attach to the head.

Looking at the few reference photos that I have with me, I keep thinking of their shape, reminding me either of Rabbits or Bananas? (Maybe I am getting hungry.) That’s not quite right, though; now he looks a bit like a weird, long-legged bare koala bear?

back vew of head neck and sholders showing ears which are looking too round. i will felt a fold in them and trim with sizors if i need to. 3.2) ears added using loose unfelted fluff and attaching to the head firmly. Also, attached the covered ear wires to the back of the ear.

I need to create more of a folded ear and make it thinner. I have scissors and felting needles; I can do this!

Now that I have the body to a medium firmness, the ears are close to what I want, and I am impatient to start adding the top coat. I am going to use the shingling method to create the top coat. As I have mentioned before, there are lots of ways to achieve the same effect. I could use a reverse needle to create a fuzzy nap, similar to what you see on the back of a felt picture. Or there are a number of options to lay on the layers of top-coat to create a more realistic coat.

You can create different effects by how you choose to add the fibre. Let’s take a peek at what I did this time to make a fluffy llama ready to be sheared, then we can consider other options I might have tried (probably in the next post, this one looks a bit long already).

I usually start at the lowest part of the body that needs fur and work up. I have seen other felters start from the head or centre back and work down. Both work, but the latter requires you to lift the fibre you have applied to place the next section under it. Both options will work, but the latter feels like more work to me. But if it works for you and you get the effect you want, then stay with the method that works.

2 shots showing adding fiber to hip and low back of alpaca.3.3) Alpaca in progress, adding fluffiness starting

llama lieing on his side on table with coopertive or solo adventure game. box lid in back ground, middle of table has spiral bound book of maps, there are cards and a carictor sheet also on the table to the left is a dice bowl and dice. 3.4)The Llama and I joined a cooperative game.

Llama was having a hard time playing since I had not finished his eyes yet.

2 photos top show positioning of fiber with tips up and cut end down on side of alpaca. lower shot shows deeply embeding fiber into llama body about half way beteen tips and cut end.3.5) Positioning the shingle of alpaca locks, then felting perpendicular to the staple length.

body of llama is now covered in alpaca fiber mimicking a reasoably scruffy llama in need of a hair cut. the neack is still bare he is standing up on one of the gameing tables.3.6) quite fluffy and scruffy alpaca, almost to the point of adding the neck fibre. It will need to be shorter than the body fibre length.

I am working cut end down and tip end up. I am also attaching the fibre quite deeply since this is actually a fine alpaca fibre I am pretending is llama. Deeply felting, it will help it stay secure.

2 of the 3 types of alpaca fiber that was in the bag i was working from. the two clumps one larger one smaller are sitting on the photo refernce.3.7) The bag I am selecting fibre from has a few odd, coarser sections. I have put them aside for now.

this is the third section it has darker base at the cut end and light chocklet coloured tips. it is a bit softer and has strong lock structure.3.8) alpaca fibre dark brown with chocolate tips

This is the section I am working from

  2 shots of the head neck of the llama as i am about to add fiber up the neck. the expresion is somewhat quesioning.3.9) About to start neck, llama is looking either inquisitive or confused

I am not sure if he is questioning my judgment or wants to be a different colour.

Another quick break to see what’s going on at the other part (gaming) of this convention

I had signed up as a replacement if one of the 4 players in a mystery RPG didn’t show up. One was late, but they eventually all arrived. Drat. If it is offered again next year, I will sign up earlier.  You got to play one of 4 little old ladies who were in a book club together. Someone dies (there was mention of Lovecraftian circumstances!!) and you have to find out what is going on.

Glenn helped to carry the walker up the stairs, then back down when all the games arrived. It is an old building and has accessibility issues. It is very hard to find a venue that suits and will not bump them for a wedding or other more lucrative booking. All that climbing was not fun, so let’s take a moment and look around before heading back to the Felting Convention Corner.

2 photos top has game booth for nightmare schematic smileing woman in hat has tray of cookies at front of table. lower photo shows play testig same game4.1-4.2) games at the convention, one that is being play-tested is offering cookies!

Glenn’s coughing was increasing, so we decided not to stay around to watch the Kill Doctor Luck (life-size) game, lest we pass on his plague, and head home a bit early. I packed up the box of felting supplies, one almost furred llama, and folded up the little table. Glenn packed it all up in the car with a few more games that had been labelled free and left on a table for redistribution (I picked up a few for the cottage!)

2 of the 4 tables set out with games that were now free to any convention goer. there are some quite old games as well as some newer ones. 4.3) On Sunday morning, games left for free distribution after the sale were put out on tables (4 tables this year).

from the hatch back vew of the inside of my car, showing pile of games under blanket, walker and large felt box of felting suplys and llama almost done.4.4) the car, loaded up with walker, games under black blanket, and a box of felting fibre, tools and a mostly done llama.

This was again a fun (felting and) gaming convention. You never know, next year we might double the size of the felting component and have 2 needle felters working in the corner! There was definitely more interest in needle felting this year.

 

I would like to chat more about the technique referred to as shingling to give the illusion of a coat. There are a number of options, such as the direction you lay down the fibre (top to bottom or bottom to top?), the staple length, do you fold it over, if so, how much half and half, 1/3 to 2/3’s or not at all?  Which fibre do you select to mimic an appropriate scale replica of what you are making? Long, soft and drapeyer as I was working on, or do you need shorter and stiffer?

I found an eyebrow brush. I did not realise that was a thing to do. I can see it being much more useful to me to gently arrange the fibre I just put on. We can also adjust the top coat with scissors if it’s not just right yet. I love that felters can cut staple lengths if they don’t suit the purpose wanted.

Let’s chat about that more later. Have fun and keep felting!

Jan in green sweter and floral apron working on adding fiber to Llama's neck. taken on the monday long weekend social at the local guild.4.5) photo taken by Ann

A Catch Up

A Catch Up

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In my last post I mentioned several pieces I was working on and some events that were coming up and I thought I’d use this post to update you on how those went.

I’d made several superfine Merino pendant samples in preparation for a wet felted workshop I had been asked to run for IFA Region 8 in Arnesby, Leicestershire. I had tried to cover options for all abilities from a very simple design that didn’t require a resist, through to a complex design requiring multiple resists. As it turned out all of the samples proved useful because between them my 10 students chose to make one of each of those designs. I was too busy on the day to remember to take progress photos (sorry) and nobody got fully finished before we left but these are some of the images Ive received since…..

One of the ladies, Leah, enjoyed making hers so much she’s gone on to make two more in a style very much of her own which I love!

Another project I’d been working on was Passage of Time, a wet felted Wallhanging inspired by a huge sandstone slab, for the IFA’s online exhibition “Time” which launched in March. You can see the exhibition here. I’d rushed to get this done to meet the deadline. It wasn’t as colourful as I’d intended and I knew it was far from finished! This was how you saw it last…..

After submitting it I continued to embroider and decorate adding colonial knots, free motion stitched mussel shells, machine wrapped cords and embroidered barnacles. As well as needing more surface texture I felt it should be larger and more irregular in shape so wet felted and embellished a second piece to hang adjacent to it. It’s now approximately 1m x 50cm and I’m much happier with how it finished up…..

The exhibition at Harding House in Lincoln went better than any of us could have imagined! Five months of planning and two days of setting up with my friend Jo resulted in an event that we were all very proud to be a part of. Fourteen out of the eighteen participating members travelled from various parts of the midlands to attend the launch party on Saturday 14th March.

We tried to cover as many different techniques as possible with our exhibits and included an “Education Station” with info boards, “touch” samples and the new promotional material advertising the International Feltmakers Association. We also ensured there was an artist in residence every day for the two weeks, either wet felting or needle felting. This meant visitors not only got to see felt being made but they had a point of contact if they wanted to learn more about the art they were seeing, about the IFA, or about Feltmaking in general.

We had a steady footfall throughout the fortnight we were there and it was wonderful to get to meet and speak to so many interested visitors, the feedback received was fantastic!

Earlier this month I travelled over to Risley in Derbyshire to spend the day with Material Girls and the talented, and very entertaining, textile artist known as Mr Finch. Finch creates enormous 3D fabric sculptures of animals, birds, insects, fungi and other fantastical creatures such as this owl and an onion complete with arms, legs and clogs!

He also brought along this Badger and I have to say that the photos really don’t do justice to these fantastic sculptures. To touch them they are rock hard and incredibly weighty, it’s hard to believe that they are stuffed with polyester stuffing! It was fascinating to see close up how he’d made the joints and details such as the paws and fingers.

Finch provided lots of laughs and kept the ladies entertained throughout the day as we learnt his tips for designing templates and creating fabric sculptures. If I’m completely honest I was disappointed that we were hand stitching and not using machines during this class so I’m looking forward to creating another hare very soon using cotton fabric and my machine, putting in to practise some of the useful tips and ideas I picked up from Mr Finch. I think you can see from the photos how much fun we had!

 

Mega-Stega March Break Sampling

Mega-Stega March Break Sampling

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March 2026 has been busy with Guild library work, questionable weather (is it spring yet? It must be spring, I feel so ill (stupid snow mould allergy), no, it’s snowing again). There was a bit of needle felting. There was even my birthday, I had forgotten to have one last year with all the anaesthetic (but math caught up to me on this one, so I am older than I originally thought).

walker seat is piled with 3 large clear bags of wool and a large zipper bag with more wool, and the camera bag.1.1) Arriving at the guild with my trusty vehicle, laden down with fibre, camera, and cookie.

This month, we had a chance to have a mid-week felting day in the local guild studio during the March school break. We had a few of the local felters (Wet and Dry) drop in for part or all of the day. We each had our own projects, and it was fun to do them together. We chatted and it was great to have others to discuss our projects with.   Ann had a sculptural project using differential shrinkage, and I returned to the Mega-stegosaurus-bag, this time it would be a bit less mega (smaller) but remain Stega.

My goal was to figure out the correct size for the pattern and do a bit of sampling to make a final decision on colours.

Ann and I discussed more of the mechanics for the legs. When I put the bag down, I want it to stand on its own. Who wants a stegosaurus that falls over? Originally, I was going to put large wooden dowels in the legs and a base inside the bag. This would make the legs wool on the outside with a wooden centre.  While chatting with Ann, we discussed removing the hollow legs and making the wood legs a feature, showing them.

I had planned a wooden base to hold the legs, but I can adjust this to the new plan. It will give a strong attachment site and keep the bottom of the bag flat.

Diagram showing bad drawing of stegasurus bag with wooden block legs and wooden base inside the bag2.1) Diagram of the side view of Mega-Stega leg design with four separate leg blocks

Since I want to have Mega-Stega stand when put down, he or she will need 4 legs screwed into the wooden base inside the bag. I may have to add 2 screws per leg to keep the legs from rotating or unscrewing. If I want to have fewer screws, I can use a block with a carved groove to represent the 2 front legs and another block to represent the 2 back legs.

front vew of mega-stega bag, with 2 options for legs2.2) Front view of Mega-Stega bag with separate legs vs 2 carved blocks representing 2 adjacent legs

paper pattern with extention for belly2.3) Dropping legs and adding belly to the general shape of Stegosaurus

floor underlay pattern with adjustment in size and angle of neck2.4) Ann suggested changing the angle of the neck and lengthening the tail.

Since I will need a way to get into the bag, I am considering the evil zipper. I am not fond of sewing zippers. I have done it before, but most of what I enjoy sewing are historical costumes, which don’t have them.

Because of the shape of Mega-Stega, having a head/neck end and a tail end, I have the option of making a pocket in each space or stuffing them to make them firm appendages. I also have the option of adding a partial armature so I can curl the head and or tail so it will hug the body rather than stick out in front of or behind. I will think about this more as I work through the rest of the design.

Ann reminded me that I should expand my pattern, but not as much as the last one. As you saw above, we removed the legs and added more belly to allow the belly to flatten to create the bottom of the bag.

Ann with her multipart resist sitting on table in the studio.3.1) Ann helped me create the floor underlay resist shape.

As you already know, a Stegosaurus has 2 rows of large plates running adjacent to the spine, and spikes at the end of its tail.

When I was in kindergarten, I got up very early (6 am) on Saturday mornings in the hopes that the TV would be showing the Palaeontology lectures from the University of the Air. (I was disappointed if the Math or English courses played.) One of the best classes had a gest Geologist discussing a new discovery: blood vessels in the plates of Stegosaurus. He suggested that this suggested that the plate might be a cooling system, which was unnecessary in cold-blooded creatures. By the time my parents woke up, I was finished with dinosaurs and was happily watching cartoons.

A year later, in grade 1, when the teacher said all dinosaurs are cold-blooded, I asked about Stegosaurus’ plates. She didn’t know what a stegosaurus was. Ah, yes, I see the problem! Adults don’t get up until after 7 am on Saturdays, so she must have missed the cool University lectures.

I will add plates, but I need to inset them slightly down the body, so I will have space to add the zipper.

mega-stega resist and ann's multi part resist3.2) Considering plate locations. Ann’s multi-part resist is on the other side of the table.

close up of positioning plates3.3) close up of plate location considerations

I want to give the suggestion of the flushing colours that a blood vessel system might have.  I dug through my bag of red/orange. I have this braid of BFL/Silk, and I have a small amount of pure silk in a similar colourway.

BFL braid in Orange red and yellow4.1) Blue Faced Leicester (BFL) and silk 100 gr in shades from yellow through orange into red

I had considered a white base layer. Let’s make a sample.

Sampleing white wool base with red/orange/yellow overlay4.2) Sampling over white wool

I found a bag of fibre that I thought was Corriedale. Whatever the fibre was, it seemed a bit spongy rather than firm as it felted.  Hummm. That is not quite what I wanted in either the firmness or colour.

Let me try again. I have a half bump of black, it may be Merino. Why is it not labelled? I used the plate shapes I had cut out of the floor underlay as a template. I don’t need them to be hollow, so I don’t need to add a resist to the plate.

I lay out the shape in many thin layers of black, then added wisps of yellow, orange, and Red BFL/Silk. I then flipped the plate and put the top colours on the other side.

black wool under layer with same colour blend that was used over the white wool in the previous picture4.3) sample on black wool

Yes, that is more what I was thinking. Essence of blushing blood vessels! I made more samples in the various plate sizes I had cut out. I tried to leave the bottom part loose so I can attach it to the body eventually.

4 samples of the plates in black under wool4.4) Samples of pates

I will have to make more, but this is a good beginning.   I like the colours with the black under layer. I should be able to trim the tip on the one that is a bit messy.

samples and resists used as templates4.5) samples and templates for the plate

I now have a colour scheme, a pattern which I think will work, and samples at least some of which I should be able to use. Now I just need a bit of free time and table space to try to create my Mega –Stega bag.

I will have to put this aside for a little while, as I finish the preparations for a new workshop I will be giving next week. I hope to show you more progress in the near future, have fun and keep felting.

A felted object in orchid, teal, yellow and white wool is on a wooden table. The object seems to hold no particular shape.
Buying boxes? Nossir! (or maybe I should have..): how to salvage a misshapen project.

Buying boxes? Nossir! (or maybe I should have..): how to salvage a misshapen project.

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Hello, my creative friends.

Here we are at the start of a new and exciting adventure: making a felt box out of, yes, wool!

You think that I am stating the obvious, felt is oftentimes made of wool and of course you can make felt boxes: just look at the internet and you will see tons of them for sale (mostly made with industrial felt)! But you would not believe how many times I have had to explain those two bits of information to people during the time that I was making my box: yes, I am felting it. Yes, it is made of wool. No, I am not going to sew it (if I possibly can), I am felting it. Yes, I make it by felting wool. W-O-O-L. How, you ask? You can make all sorts of shapes by felting with the right resist..no, I am not going to sew it, I assure you it will come out with the box shape. Well, hopefully.

To be sure, a box is just another type of wet felt vessel made with a resist, and yes, of course you can make it by sewing the single felted flat sides and a flat bottom together, but…sewing, where is the fun in that? (total respect to people who like sewing, eh, it is just not me)

Long story medium-short, we decided that we needed to organise our living room in a better way, changing bits of furniture and generally trying to sort out the chaos, also because we are in the process of adopting guinea pigs (oh, my! let’s see) and we need the space for an indoor cage. So, we are plus bookshelves and minus an office desk with drawers, and we need some kind of storage box that fits the shelves and, crucial, does not seem something that you find in your shed. Unfortunately, the size of our shelves is not standard, and a standard storage box will not fit, either because too small or too big. So I thought, let’s have a box that is good to look at and the maximum size that will fit in there, let’s make it ourselves!

(well, I would not want you to think that I normally talk to myself with that royal We. It is clear to any who know me that all that was just me and me thinking “What, 30 pounds for that soulless box that does not even fit properly? no way, I can make one better than that and spend less!” or something of the sort)

A white sheet of paper with measurements for two boxes, a bigger one and a smaller one.
The size of the bookshelves that we have comes in two flavours, big and small, both somewhat non standard, so I originally thought about making a smaller box as well, and took measurements for both. All measurements are in centimeters.

Calculations for a 40 per cent increase on a piece of paper.
I arbitrarily added a 40 % increase on all sides, and did the same also for the height of the lid (all other measurements being the same for lid and box, of course)

To start, I prepared my resist for the bottom of the box: this involved a bit of sewing, namely attaching together the various bits of bubble wrap in the shape of a very floppy box without a top, as I will make a lid to fit it (some time in the far future). It does not show well in photo, but here it is:

A bubble wrap resist is on a floor
Here is the resist seen with the bottom part prominent (naughty).

A resist made of bubble wrap is on a brownish floor with a rug.
And here is the resist bottom down: very floppy, you can not really tell that this is a box shape.

I hate hand sewing on bubble wrap, the plastic just clings firmly to your needle and it is worse than sewing sewing, in my opinion, so let’s not dwell on it.

I did not have as much wool as I needed, so I ordered some from World of Wool. I wanted to try out something different from my usual Merino, as I needed something coarser that could be hard wearing and stand a bit stiffer, because the box is not small and will be full of quite a few things that are on the heavier side, such as tape and packing tape, some cables, and so on. Unfortunately, I am not used to coarser wool, the room was in a chaos and I did not have time for much research on our brilliant Blog or Forum (yes, it is lame. Let’s say, it is not the best excuse for not doing my homework that I have ever found, I’ll admit, but if you give me a bit more time I can say that the guinea pigs have eaten my research), anyway, ahem, later on our wise felt experts from the FFS Forum have determined that apparently I picked the wrong wool.

Well, you know, it can happen to anyone if they skip research and sampling. Well, yes, I also skipped making samples, because, let me think, the guinea pigs ate my sample? OK, maybe not. I’ll get better, pinky promise.

Anyway, I got my generic “English wool” from World of Wool, and yes, it was a bit coarser than Merino but still quite soft..in hindsight I may have been suspicious when it felt so soft, I do not know. Actually, that is a mix of different breeds’ wool, some that may actually be quite good for stiffer felt and some that are not, although they are coarser than Merino. Perfectly fine felting with it for all sorts of uses, but , a word to the wise, do not use it to make big boxes, eh.

A label reading: White 56's English Top, Size 100g, Quantity 6, Total 600g.
Here it is, the challenging wool.

So, I got on my white horse and started felting on my resist straight away with a lot of good will. I assumed that the coarser wool would need less layers to obtain the same felt (do not ask, pre-christmas chaos guinea pigs mind fugue hobblegobble chicachicacha) and I decided on 4 good layers.

Here are a few photos of my felting the first box:

A rectangle of laid out white wool just sprinkled with water, on a bubble wrap.
Starting from the bottom, that was the biggest area.

A work in progress of wet felt in white wool is on a table covered in a white towel and bubble wrap. There is a smaller rectangle covered in a small layer of wool resting over a bigger rectangle covered in white plastic sheets.
First layer on a short side. I took care to cover each already worked on part with a layer of plastic (I used plastic bin bags) as I learned from Lena Archibold’s advice on how to work with a book resist.

Folds wrapped in bubble wrap open over a rectangular shape wrapped in white plastic sheets.
Figuring out how to fold the different sides to get an even result was a bit puzzling at first, I spent some time opening and closing folds, it must have looked weird from outside!

A rectangle of wool pre felt has a layer of Merino wool on top. The Merino wool is half rectangle in orchid color, and bright yellow and teal on the other half rectangle, overlapping a bit the orchid color.
Yes, we are at the fun part of the 5th layer, when I could use dyed Merino wool for the wow effect!

Another rectangular side of the box. There is a rectangle of laid out Merino wool, half the rectangle is teal and half is orchid color, and the two colors overlap a bit.
Here is another side. I actually decorated both four sides, but forgot to take photos of the two smaller. Anyway, it is the same colours for all the sides, only different layout.

A smaller rectangle of wet and soaped Merino wool, with the upper part in teal, a small central line in yellow and a bigger area in orchid color, all slightly overlapping each other.
This is one of the small sides, all wet and soaped, being worked on.

A roll of pre felt is on a wooden table, covered with a white towel and a plastic bubble wrap.
And here we are at the rolling stage. I also used throwing and variously manipulating the shape.

Wait, let’s see if you were attentive: have you noticed that I said “first box”?

Exactly: here is how it stood after drying, that is to say not at all:

A felted object in orchid, teal, yellow and white wool is on a wooden table. The object seems to hold no particular shape.
No words, really.

It took more or less a day to felt, and a few days to dry. I liked the colours (a last layer of Merino wool, the 5th, to do that), and the shape ended up exactly the right size, but it would not stand, and I thought that it was because the layers were just not enough. I had enough wool to start a new one doubling the layers, so I went back to it using the same resist and the same type of wool (not my cleverest day, fine).

A big bag of white wool is being weighted on a scale on a wooden table.
I weighted the remaining wool and I found out that I only had used about 150 grams of it, so I had still about 450 grams to try again.

The steps were the same, only more layers, so I will not show more pics of it, only the final result when the box had dried:

A felted box with the sides slightly collapsing is on a grey sofa.
One side..

A felted box with a side in yellow and teal is on a grey sofa. The sides of the box are collapsing in.
..the other side. I did not decorate the small sides this time, but left them natural white, as they are not going to be seen when the box is in the bookshelf.

It was better, but still the sides were not holding up.

At that point, it was definitely time for my felting fairy godmothers to intervene: I asked the classic “Help, what did I do wrong?” on the Felting and Fiber Studio Forum and, thank goodness, got kind replies that explained the generic English wool issue as probable cause (so, no, adding more layers was likely not going to cure that, in case I still had not clicked on to that) and gave me very good advice on what I could try next to avoid throwing the 2 boxes into the scrap pile and to salvage them.

The suggestions were:

– to try and stiffen the sides or corners with machine or hand stitching

– to try and put a wire armature inside the felt or stitch it on the inside of the box

– to use PVA glue to stiffen the felt

– to stitch the two boxes together one inside the other, and maybe also

– to add some stiff padding, sandwiching it in between the two boxes.

Or possibly to try a combination of the above suggestions until the aim was reached. Which is exactly what I did, apart from the PVA glue and the stitching, both left as last resort, the glue because I was not fancying working with glue with such a big object, and the stitching because I do not have a sewing machine and it takes ages to stitch by hand.

What worked? well, clearly not one thing only, I had to go on trying to the last, but in the end I have a workable box and we are already using it, even though there is no lid yet.

First, I added thick wire to the inside of the box corners, with a few stitches. The felt was not thick enough to insert the wire into it, that would have been better. Sadly, it did not solve the issue totally.

Then, I stitched in place the first box (the thinner one) into the second box, leaving the upper edges open for putting in some padding if required. It was better still, but not there yet.

Lastly, I started looking for padding. Floor underlayer was suggested as good for that job, but when I went to look at my local DIY builders warehouse I did not find the exact type and thickness that I needed, and I came home empty handed. The same research online left me with too many choices, some of them a bit on the expensive side because with a required minimum purchase limit that was also way too high for my storage capability (What, 20 meters rolls minimum?? I do not live in Versailles palace!)

Luckily, as I told you, we were changing some pieces of furniture and it so happens that some had polystyrene sheets in their packaging: initially, I did not want to use that for a few reasons (it breaks easily, it is not going to be washable, it can disperse plastic bits in the environment in time..), but in the end it was there and I could use it instead of chucking it in the garbage bin, so it is kept out of the dump for a little while more. And it was free for me, and readily available.

So, I cut it to size with a knife (bits of polystyrene everywhere, not my idea of fun but the kids where jumping up and down like it was going to be disco party in a minute) and inserted it in the pockets in between the two boxes, and then a quick blanket stitching all around the upper edges did the job. In time I may unstitch it and change the padding, if I will feel so inclined and will have the time.

And here it is, my box done!

(the bottom part, at least)

A felt basket or box without lid, full of miscellaneous objects, on a grey sofa.
That is one side..

A felted basket or box without lid, and full of objects, on a grey sofa.
..and that is the other. Already full of stuff.

Now, for the lid, we will see. Who knows, it might be ready in time for my next blog post..only, don’t hold your breath for it, guinea pigs may be coming and all of that (how did I manage with my lazy excuses before them is a wonder, my friends!)

I hope that you liked my adventures, feel free to leave me a comment, as long as you do not ask me about hand stitching the whole box or preparing resists by hand stitching bubble wrap together, any other thing is totally fine.

Best wishes!

Kiki

@kiki.textile.art

http://www.kikistextileart.com

Felted hat workshop #6?

Felted hat workshop #6?

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Felted hat workshop #6? It’s a fun workshop with Ann, so let’s take it again!

Nov. 29 2025, I was busy teaching needle-felted landscape for the Ottawa guild in the studio. As you saw recently, Ann took the workshop and was making an impressive forest with mist. She was also making funny faces as we tried to get a group shot!! (This was the best option, and really is pretty good…. I was so tempted to show you her best silly face!)

5 students holding up their pictures1) Most of the students from the felted picture workshop (one had to leave early) (Ann sent a shot of her progress on her picture, but I should let her show you in another post!)

 

Nov. 30th 2025, Wet Felted Hat workshop.  Glenn and I were back in the studio bright and early, but not quite as early as Ann. She had the tables set up and was laying out the tools we would need. I was going to be a student today, and she, the teacher!  She had me in the back by the door (out of the way…. I have taken this class a few times before, I think this is hat 6, or was it hat 7? I can make one on my own, but it feels safer to face the water in a group.).

Glenn was there in case I ran out of rolling power, partway through the day. In the meantime, he was working quietly at the back of the room on one of his game boxes (he was building inserts for the game pieces to fit in the box better). He seemed to be having fun and did stay drier than I did.

Husband setting up at table in front of snowy window2) Glenn at the table by the window

Ann with bag of wool balls3) Ann with a bag of balls of wool

More enthusiastic students arrived, and we wound up with a class of 7 students.  With a class size of 6, we usually are done at 4 pm, but adding more students adds more time for everyone to finish. We each chose a wool colour and a hat shape. Like my workshop on the previous day, we had students working on the same topic, but each was quite unique.

white hat with black edged brim and top of hat 4) Sample hat with brim

Ann showed us samples of some basic hat shapes.

a table full of various silks and other augmentation fibers Ann is standign to one side and showing a silk roving.5) showing us various types of fibre we can use to augment our hat

She had a full table of fibre to augment our base colour for the hat.  (Various formats: of silk, small curly locks, and other fibres.)

6) Drawing out the patterns for each student6) Drawing out the patterns for each student

She then adjusted the basic pattern for each student’s head size.

She demonstrated 2 ways to pull out thin wisps of staple lengths of fibre.

pulling thin wisps off the combed top then laying the down like shingles over the resist. pulling thin wisps off the combed top then laying the down like shingles over the resist. pulling thin wisps off the combed top then laying the down like shingles over the resist. pulling thin wisps off the combed top then laying the down like shingles over the resist.7.1-7.2- 7.3-  7.4) pulling thin wisps off the combed top, then laying them down like shingles over the resist.

7.5) A second way to pull off a staple length7.5) A second way to pull off a staple length

 

Our various hats

slightly ball and stick shaped hat resist covered with black wool8) My hat (black, strange shape), side one is done

Ann, helping with dreadlocks to augment this hat.  First lay out one side, then the other.

9) helping a student add dreadlocks to her hat9) helping a student add dreadlocks to her hat

Now time to add the scary water!!

adding water and soap to wet the wool adding water and soap to wet the wool10.1-10.2) adding water and soap to wet the wool

Gently pushing down, making sure the wool is wet all the way through.10.3) Gently pushing down, making sure the wool is wet all the way through.

11.) Side one, turn the edges around the resist.11.) Side one, turn the edges around the resist.

12) My hat is a bit behind the others!12) My hat is a bit behind the others!

 

The second side is placed over the resist and wet. Once wet through, flip and wrap edges. Be neat, or you get a Mohawk line on your hat!!!

13.1-13.2) Adding embellishment fibers over wet wool. 13.1-13.2) Adding embellishment fibers over wet wool.13.1-13.2) Adding embellishment fibres over wet wool.

13.3) Ann explained about rubbing directions, and what happens if you go the wrong way.13.3) Ann explained about rubbing directions and what happens if you go the wrong way.

 

The gentle rubbing (caressing the wool begins.) I am a bit behind the others in class, but I will catch up if I keep working!

14) The Tupperware juice container lid works great as a rubbing tool14) The Tupperware juice container lid works great as a rubbing tool

The water was starting to fight back,  I realized as I discovered my apron had dogged to one side, and let my knee take the wet, dripping attack! It was obviously time for the towels to come out, yes pinch test is a success, so on to rolling!

15) Finally I am rolling my hat!15) Finally, I am rolling my hat!

I am still behind; most of the others are cutting open their felt to expose their resists.

16) cut a hole to reveal the resist.  Then heal the edges.16) Cut a hole to reveal the resist.  Then heal the edges.

 

Once we had shrunk them down partway, we started to try them on.  (Ick!! Cold, wet wool hat….where is the dry warmth I remember from my other hats???)

17) trying the hat on.17) trying the hat on.

One had a flat brim developing; you can see some of the hat blocks.

18) Hat block and brim18) Hat block and brim

19) This was a technique, I did not favor, but seemed to be very effective! Ann is rubbing a hat while its on the students head19) This was a technique I did not favour, but it seemed to be very effective!

I think my weird hat reputation has been surpassed. This one looks like it will be truly intriguing. It’s not finished, I think.

vibrant yellow green hat! vibrant yellow green hat!20.1-20.2) vibrant yellow green hat!

These two hats are done21) These two hats are done

 

5 pm, already?!! I was still working on mine, but the basic shape is done. Next, I will rinse out the soap and do some final shaping. I am going to be run off my feet for the next 2 weeks at least, so maybe I can find time to finish it after that?

22) Packing up the room after the workshop 22) Packing up the room after the workshop

 

I was wiped after all that wet felting! As we headed to the car, Glenn agreed that dinner out at the pub, Rose and Crown, in Centerpoint (west end of Ottawa, which used to be Nepean), would be lovely, which it was. Then I fell into bed early. The next day was December 1st, which was the guild meeting. I was in to the studio early to beat the traffic and set up the library. This month I still have more guild work, including prep for teaching inkle weaving, and then there are blog posts and Christmas! For tonight, heading off to bed to get some extra sleep sounds very exciting. Maybe I will get a real rest in January!

If you have the opportunity to take a workshop with Ann, she is a fun teacher (even if there were no Smarties (candy) in her class!)