3D and other felting treks

Expanding my felt play into 3D work is so exciting.  My first with using a relief was a beret style hat and from there a bell cloche hat.

A few days ago I experimented with making a cat cave.  It came out as planned but in the future will be adding more fiber as it could be a little thicker thus holding its form against rubbing cats.  It seems to have met approval, though if you look carefully I did have to lure him in with a bit of catnip.




I am looking forward to experimenting more with the relief process.(placing a piece of tarp, or thin packing foam between two layers of roving)

Also this week I have not abandoned the wonder of merino wool scarves and tried something new from a fellow felters blog post.  The results fun and airy.

Poppies 15"X22"

Decided to work on a new wall hanging as well. Inspired by the poppies that were covering my yard like a blanket.  I am in the process of planning out another with nebula in mind.

Jellies...

This new piece is my favorite yet. Felting is like painting with wool and silk. It is fascinating, delightfully textural, and pure joy for me. This piece is 22" X 35". I will be making a bar hanger for it in my metal class on Monday evening, just picked up the flat bar to do so. Corriedale wool base, merino wool top, silk, mohair, wool yarn, hand dyed silk caps. The piece was inspired by the Jelly Fish exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Below are photos of part of the process.. laying out the layers, wetting, and rolling

More adventures in fiber and felting.

 I was able to attend another felting technique class last week. This process is similar to the Nuno process, however it does not use fabric as a base.  The fabric is created from  wool roving and assorted bits and pieces that are fairly limitless.  I also have been trying out some hand dying of both silk and wool.  Most of my pieces thus far are experiments and learning opportunities, but as my knowledge of these fiber techniques and challenges grow I am becoming more and more excited by the possibilities.

 Center: Nuno Felted Silk
White silk with white wool merino roving with green accents
Left: Wet felted scarf with Merino Wool, wool yarn and silk thread accents. Hanging leaves
and a pull through.

Nuno Felted Wool on Silk Chffon, hand dyed.