Nuno Felting

I am fascinated by all things felted.  In fact, I have started searching the racks at Salvation army for sweaters that are made of 100% wool, mohair, or any other natural fiber.  I've already taken a wet felting class, a felted soap class, and now a nuno felting class where wool and bits of yarn, string, or other ephemera is felted into a silk scarf.

We began by dying our scarves and microwaving them to set the dye.  We ironed them dry and lay them out on two tables end to end.  We created designs with the wool roving and bits of yarn.  Then similarly to wet felting, we used water, soap, and agitation to felt the wool into the silk scarf.

I learned that I like control over my art.  That's hard to do in the dying section of the class.  I found it frustrating but persevered and made it through.  The designing and felting more than made up for my early dismay.  I ended up with a lovely scarf with various sized ruffles due to the wave pattern I used with the wool roving.  I must make more!

A detailed view

I Finally Learned to Felt!

Since discovering the 212 Arts  Center, I have been soaking in the camaraderie of fellow artists and some amazing classes.  I have finally taken a felting class after falling more and more in love with the material.  What fun!  I have definitely found a new passion! We cut out shapes from sheets of felt (NOT the cheap crafty felt you find in the craft section) and arranged them on a backing piece.  We pinned the shapes in place then wetted our designs with a mixture of water and Murphy's Oil Soap.  After gently rubbing them in circular motions with a wadded up plastic bag as they were sandwiched between bubble wrap and rug backing material, we removed the pins.  Then we then rolled and unrolled them providing different types of agitation.  Finally, if we wanted extra texture (which I did) we dropped/tossed them over and over onto the table surface.  To finish, we rinsed them in cool water to remove the soap and we blotted them dry.

Here are a couple of photos of the two pieces I finished today...