Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Attempting the Wet Felting

I started my adventure with felt with needle felting. As a sculptor, I really enjoy the flexibility needle felting gives you to make anything you want and your only limits are your imagination.

The reason why I want to try wet felting is because I am interested in making a larger, more wearable piece like a big luscious scarf.

I always thought of wet felting as slightly messy and less than accurate and my latest efforts prove me correct in this. Now all you wet felters might immediately say you can control quite a bit and maybe you can, but I cannot, at this beginning stage, control much of anything!

The last photo has the truest color because I took that photo this morning. This is what happens when you do craft projects in December in the evening in the Pacific Northwest!

I started with laying out my felt. Turns out I should have double the amount of felt I used. Also, I am most interested in trying my hand at "Nuno" felting--this is felting wool to silk chiffon. I went to the fabric store yesterday and the line was so long and they had so few employees I just turned around and walked straight out. So I winged it without the silk for now.

I am very pleased with the little ball I made. I am thinking to wet felt a whole bunch of spheres and then do needle felting on them to add detail.

I didn't work the felt long enough and you can see it is not completely flat, but that is why it is called the learning process. I found out that the Weaving Works up in Seattle is offering some wet felting classes in the next couple of months. Sign me up! I have been working out a book and a lot of books are woefully incomplete when showing you the details. It is much easier to learn in person.
Thinking I will cut the sample apart and incorporate the bits into some needle felting.

2 comments:

  1. I just started wet felting too. It is so addicting! Love the scarf and your felt bead.

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  2. Thank you! Up close the "scarf" looks more like handkerchief size, but I just signed up for a nuno scarf felting class in Seattle so hopefully I can learn some tricks!

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