Do you ever use lightweight cottons in your felting work? I’ve been quite busy lately working on my project of ‘other’ fibres and fabrics used in felting. I’ve been making a lot of felt pieces using lightweight cotton fabrics like muslin and cheesecloth. Another fabric I’ve used is Cotton Gauze, this is also known as ‘Scrim’, and I’ve used a couple of different types. This is some of the dyed pieces I have.
The gauze is really good for creating texture and effects. I’ve been making some large bold pieces to use for bookcovers.
I’ve also made some smaller pieces with resists, using the gauze for texture. This piece was for making into a pouch.
and this became a textured sculptural vessel
I’m starting to have a huge pile of colourful, texturey felt pieces all waiting to be made into something once the weather gets too hot for felting. This is a close up of a large piece I made for making a purse and matching mirror case out of.
The lightweight cottons also work really well for using in scarves and wraps instead of the usual silk. Do you use scrim or cotton fabrics in felting, or fibre art? How do you find it to work with? Have you ever dyed your own? (My hands are currently a strange shade after using red, blue and brown dyes this week!) I’d love to hear about your experiences with it and see photos if you have links :)
Naughty you - you're supposed to wear gloves when dyeing - didn't your mother ever tell you that?
ReplyDeleteHa! Yes, but she didn't tell me about the blisters from ringing out fabric while wearing gloves!
ReplyDeletePretty & colorful pictures! Love the texture too. I really want to try nuno-felting with hand dyed cotton gauze...Dharma Trading Co. has an undyed, loose weave/gauzy fabric called harem cloth. And it's inexpensive to boot, which is nice for those brand spankin' new to nuno...like myself. Definitely on the to-do list.
ReplyDeleteHi Aldaalda, thanks for the comment :)
ReplyDeleteI've heard of Harem cloth from Ruth who used it for her book The Complete Photo Guide to Felting. I haven't seen it here in the UK though. You can get packs of cotton gauze squares for just a couple of pounds/dollars, it's a cheap way to try it out.
Why not try www.texartcreative.com. Sue produces a range of Hand-Dyed Cotton Scrim which she uses herself and it is popular with her students too
ReplyDeleteThanks for that link, that looks like a really good resource :)
ReplyDeleteI added it to our resources page: http://feltingandfiberstudio.com/linksresources/
DeleteHi! Do you by any chance know how to make gauze or cheescloth look fuzzy or wooly? Sue
ReplyDeleteHmm, I don't know about that, Sue. I suppose you could try 'roughing it up' a bit, so make the strands loose and fuzzy, like when cotton clothes get a bit old. Is that what you mean?
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