nunofelt – Felting and Fiber Studio

Finished the Hat

December 26, 2020 shepherdessann Comments 6 comments

I got my ha finished…Yay… So naturally, it is raining. Oh well, I know the cold will come.

Rub, rub, roll, roll. You know the drill. once it shrank enough I popped it onto a hat form to see how it was doing size-wise. It is very hard to photograph because it is so dark and the silk by and large disappears once it is wet.

Top view, it looks a bit raggy around the brim but it isn’t. It has silk wrapped around it and it has shrunk up making wrinkles. Except for one spot at about 11:00. I will have to sew or needle it down.

Side-ish view, You can just see the silk colour.

It is on my high dome block. It is much too tall but I like the slope of the crown on this one better. the height I want is the block in the back but it is much flatter on top. It is loose on the block too. So more rolling. It didn’t take much rolling to get the right size around but quite a bit to get it short enough.

and then it was time to roll the flower

I pinned it in place so it will dry rolled up nicely.

…..two days later and it’s dry. I am taking pictures quickly because I need my table to wrap presents. I have tried to brighten them on the computer so you can see them better.

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It looks good but trying it on it’s a bit tight. Then I realize why, my high dome is a 22 and my other one is a 23. I need the 23 to allow for my braid. So I turned on the steamer and got it hot and stretched it out to 23 using the right size block. Now it fits properly.

here’s the inside or underside however you look at it. again the dark colour is hard to see but I think you can see the texture of the silk with the Nuno felt.

the felting is finished but I think I will shave it to see if I can bring up the colour of the silk more. I still need to make a couple of leaves out of this felt and sew the flower so it stays rolled up.

I hope that for the next post I will have something else to show you but also the hat with the leaves and maybe even on my head.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday. It has been great to be able to stay connected to you all through the internet. It has really helped keep me sane through this stressful year of the pandemic. I will see you in the New Year.

Ann

Another Great Nuno felt Class

May 14, 2019 shepherdessann Comments 8 comments

I had another wonderful group of ladies learning to make Nuno felt. I had 5 in the class.

Here everyone is laying out their base wool on the silk blanks I had dyed for the class

Ruth has been talking about layout effecting shrinkage. Some of these ladies are laying their wool along the scarf to get a shorter but wider scarf and the others are laying the wool across the scarf to get a longer but narrower scarf.

After the base is laid down they get to add the embellishments, more wool, curls or silk fibres, hankies or throwsters waste.

Then after much rubbing and rolling and some scrunching and throwing everyone had a lovely finished scarf. the first 2 below put very thin layers so the silk would show through to the wool side.

Everyone seemed really pleased with what they had done and the magic of making nuno felt. I am always amazed at how different everyone pieces are and the surprise when it really works.

Next Steps Putting Together the Bags.

June 12, 2018 shepherdessann Comments 13 comments

Last time I showed you the parts of the bags ready to be put together. https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/2018/06/04/making-some-more-little-bags/ Now I will show you how I do it.

First I wet one side. I use the resist to press the wool down and make sure it will be wet where I need it to be.

Next I add one of the pieces of silk.

Then I add the resist and the 2 pieces used to close the bag.

Next I add the second piece of silk and wrap the wool around everything

I add the second side of wool and wrap that around too.

After I’ve done that to all the pieces I add some embellishments. I am using a multicoloured top for grass on the blue one and the pink one got a rolled up ball of silk scraps. I covered the ball with more pink wool and will cut the top off near the end.

This is after several rollings. you can see they are curling as they shrink.

I cut the slit for the bag and rub it with well soaped fingers to heal the cut edges.

Next will be more rolling and some throwing to get the fulling done. I will show you the finished bags next time and some I finished with some embroidery.

Ann

Making Some More Little Bags

June 4, 2018 shepherdessann Comments 13 comments

I haven’t had much time to felt and today I finally got some time to start some new little bags.

The last time I made little bags I forgot to add the spikes that end up as the closures so I made a bunch of spikes to be ready this time. Now to remember to make the rings for the bottom.

I make these bas self lining by putting fabric next to the resist. This creates a nuno felt lining and I don’t have to do it later. I licked this silk scarf a friend gave me for it’s nice bright colours and interesting dye pattern.

The other thing adding the nuno lining dies is add strength allowing me to make a thinner, less bulky bag. I set up 4 resists because if you are going to rub and roll some felt you might as well do make it worth while.

Here are the 4 bags ready to be put together. I try not to match the linings to the bag colour to much so it doesn’t disappear when I am done. I may have to switch the 2 middle ones.

At this point I had to stop and switch the laundry and got distracted with other things so I haven’t made it past this point today. You will notice that I have forgotten the rings at this point but I have a chance to fix this when I get back to them. It is not to late …..yet. Next time I will hopefully have some progress to show you.

Ann

A Couple of Felted Pouches

January 19, 2018 shepherdessann Comments 14 comments

This week I decided to make a new pouch for my business cards. The one I am using now is getting a little ratty looking from being in my purse for several years.

I didn’t take any in progress photos. I wasn’t really thinking about it, just enjoying the process of making something.

This is the first one, front and back and closed. It turned out well but I tiny bit smaller than I wanted. Not bad considering I didn’t do any measuring I just cut out a resist and started.

Here it is on the resist so you can see the shrinkage

And a pictures of the nuno felt designs.

I made the second pouch bigger. I wanted some ruffles along the sides so added extra fiber there sticking out from the side. I didn’t make the extra wide enough and it almost disappeared. It is a tiny bit ruffled but not great.

and on the resist.

And a close up of the silk roses, I think I will shave them, they are a bit fuzzy.

Finally both of them with a ruler to give you an idea of size. one is about 6 and the other about 8 inches

I have a thought of making them to sell. I thought maybe I would put a grommet in the back with a carabineer clip in it. I am just not sure they will sell at a decent price. Do you like the idea? What do you think people would pay for them?

Dyeing Some Silk for Classes

November 23, 2016 shepherdessann Comments 24 comments

The first 2 weekends in December I am teaching a nuno felt scarf class. I need dyed scarves for that, so that was Sundays Job.

I buy my silk by the bolt so I measured out 6 feet and then ripped them into 12 inch widths. I did 16 in total. I like to use the low water immersion technique from Paula Burch’s All About Hand Dying site.

First I scrunch or twist or fold up the scarves and stuff them into jars as tightly as possible. I did two scarves together in the jars so there will be 2 of everything. They won’t be exactly the same but fairly close.

Next you add dye. I use 2 colours adding them one after the other.

As usual I forgot to take as many pictures as I intended. After the dye has sat for anywhere form 10 min to an hour I add the PH up that sets the dye and then leave it for at least an hour. I worked on my felt Christmas cards while I was waiting for an hour to pass. I can”t show you that until after they are received.

Next is to tip them out and rinse was and rinse again.

This is the result. They are still wrinkled . I haven’t had time to steam them flat yet.

I think I got a good variety for people to choose form. I have a few left from the last class that I will take too. It’s fun to play with the colour combinations. Even the stir sticks are pretty. What’s your favourite way to dye silk?

Nuno Felt Scarf Class and Alfred

December 7, 2015 shepherdessann Comments 19 comments

I am afraid I haven’t had much time to anything this last week. I did finish and mail my felt post card for the holiday exchange we do on the Forum. I can’t show you that until it arrives at its destination. I did teach nuno felt scarves again. I didn’t take pictures but my Friend Judy stopped by and got some actions shots.

This is a great action shot of Lynda rolling her scarf

Here we are checking how the fulling is coming along.

And Lynda’s finished scarf. As you can see she was very pleased with it. I think they really enjoyed it as they bought almost all the remaining scarf blanks I had.

The other thing that has been occupying my time is Alfred. That is a cheese ball he is chasing and he ate it up once he figured out it tasted good.

Felting Along

July 21, 2014 shepherdessann Comments 12 comments

I am felting along. I do not have anything much to show for it yet but I am plugging away at several things.

I am almost finished the instructions for a nuno felt bracelet kit I plan on selling. I have all the instructions for the felting done but still need to do the finishing, adding buttons and button holes. It takes so much longer to do than you think it will.