Finished!

My student, Katherine, finished the wet-felted landscape that she started just today.  Fabulous!

"Aspen"

Day 2 of Wet-Felting Class

More beautiful work from students in my wet-felted landscapes class!  Still have some finishing to do, but they are wonderful!

Dreamscape

Another lovely work by one of my landscape felting students: I call it a "Dreamscape!"

A Model

This is a model for a class I am teaching on wet-felted landscapes, will update you about the class 

Wet Felted Landscapes

Some lovely work from the first day of my "Wet-Felted Landscapes" class.  We started with small

works to learn the process: next week, larger works!  My students rock!

Fall Felting

I had some thick, brown, needle-felted batts that I wanted to make into shoulder bags and a messenger bag, and make them themed for the four seasons. So, I started with autumn.  I have a series of photos to show some of the stages in this process.

First, I laid out and cut the appropriate size of batting.  The I lightly covered it with some loose, white, Icelandic wool that I am trying to felt before I purchase it (and it felts well). This is to lessen the very deep, charcoal brown of the base batt.  Atop that, I randomly added strands of purple and a unusual coral-orange colored, both 100% wool boucle yarn.   To this I layered leaf-like shapes cut out of colored prefelt.    And this is what I had at this stage:

 I next used a felting needle tool to needle, or "lock in," the main elements I wanted to stay in place (stuff shifts around as you wet felt.  See previous posts for more info on using a felting needle). In this photo, you can see that the main shapes are now lightly needle-felted:

Then, I transferred the composition to a large piece of bubble wrap (this presents the uneven surface necessary to encourage the wool to felt, or bind together).  I covered the entire project with millinery netting (the kind used in hats) to prevent the wool from felting into itself when I roll it. You can also used a slick, rayon fabric.  

See the cut, pink pool noodle in the photo below?   That is used in the rolling part of the process.

Below: bubble wrap, wool project, netting:

The next step is to wet down the entire project, saturate it, with a solution of a squirt of dish washing liquid in a 1 gallon bucket of hot water (I actually used a homemade solution of olive oil soap, shaved and mixed with water, and left to soak, but dish soap works fine- I like the natural ones).  I wrung out a sponge full of this soapy solution all over the project.  You can also use a spray bottle or bulb sprayer, but an inexpensive sponge works fine:

Next, I began carefully rolling the entire thin- bubble wrap, wool project and netting, being as careful as I could to prevent folds occurring in the wool (this was a bit difficult, as this particular wool batting was was quite thick, unlike most commercial batting or prefelt you can purchase):

Here is the roll, tied up with old stockings, on a towel to absorb water (best to have a few old towels around to use to sop up excess water):

Using my wrists, on a tall enough surface to ease my back (my kitchen counter) I rolled it back and forth 100 times, unrolled and checked to see how well the wool was locking together, then I rolled it back up for 100 more rolls.  Below I am performing a pinch test, to see how well the wool is locking. Very little is coming up in my fingers, so it is getting pretty well felted.

When done, I rinsed it in warm water with 1/4 c of white vinegar added, then I rinsed it again in cool, clear water:

I am in the process of embellishing the project and locking down a few stray areas using needle felting.  And here is the result (so far):

Close-up:

I will continue to work on this piece and intend to make it into a messenger bag.  Stay tuned!

Felt Painting with Update

     I have been working with a combination of wet and needle felting that, for want of a better term, I have been calling "felt painting."  Above is an example of a decorative wall hanging. I wet felted the base, using prefelt (a pre-made, first layer of wool) and arranging a variety of greens and a few yellows on it.  I used dyed curly locks that I purchased at a fiber festival.  After wet felting and allowing the base to dry, I individually needle felted the pink roses and small purple flowers, attaching them to the base with a felting needle.  I will begin working on the rose leaves, though I don't want to put on so many that it obscures the cool background.

     The piece above is the base for a tri-fold bag.  The first fold will be where you see the greater concentration of bluish wool.  Then I will fold over a smaller length on the left side to make a flap. stitching together each side.  I will needle felt the floral design before folding (it is easier to do this on a flat surface than on a "pocket"), make a felted rope handle and piping and embellish with beads and embroidery.  Keep posted!

Update:  The felt piece is now dry and I folded it the way it will be when I make it into a bag:

It looks a little crooked, but won't be when it is done!
Happy felting!