Tuesday 24 November 2009

New things

Vessels
I recently tried using a bladder from the inside of a ball as a resist for making vessels. I took photos of all the stages to add to my flickr set of Making a Wet Felted Vessel with a 3D Resist. Here are a couple of vessels I made using the bladder.



Silk Carrier Rods
Not so long ago, I bought some silk carrier rods from World of Wool, I'd looked at them when I went to their shop, but they were such ugly, stiff, papery things that I couldn't see how I'd use them. Ruth from the Felting Forum convinced me to give them a go, and since they're only £2.50 for 100g (large bag) , I thought it was worth a try.
If I wasn't impressed by the way they looked, I was less impressed with their smell :)
Luckily after soaking in lukewarm water the smell went, and they were easy to split into layers:

There were some scruffly, straggly bits that came off, but I saved these bits up and when they were dry, I pulled them apart and carded them.
A couple of weeks ago, I dyed the silk rods that I'd separated:

I used a few pieces on projects, but wanted to see how they looked individually, to get a better idea of how usefull they'll be. So I ironed a few pieces to flatten them, then layed them on some black merino.

I was pleasantly surprised by the results, I never expected them to turn out quite so shiny, they really look metallic, like crinkled coloured foil, and were very hard to photograph because of that. I have a few more before felting and close up photos on flickr

Sorry about random gaps between text and photos, or no gaps between text and photos, the stupid site has a mind of its own.

5 comments:

  1. Does anyone know a better free blog site than this? All the hassles with the layout, and not putting the text/photos where I want them, are putting me off posting more often.

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  2. Sorry zed i wouldnt have a clue, i dont seem to have any problems and cause i'm an illiterate when it comes to computers i guess i have to ask if were using the same. blogger.com. is that what you meant hehehe ahhhhhh me the dummie
    anyway i was just going to say that your pics look very cool with the silk rods lol
    cheers

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  3. The silk rods look great, they give a nice texture.
    I have awarded your blog for the sunshine blog award and linked to your blog.
    Here is the link:
    http://lizetfrijters.blogspot.com/2010/02/sunshine-blog-award.html

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  4. Thanks Karen and Lizet :)
    Thankyou for the nomination, Lizet :)

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  5. Now I see the info on the silk carrier rods. You did a wonderful job dyeing them.

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