Scarves Part One

I've been into making scarves lately, though I probably carded more wool and ironed more scrim and gauze than I used for making scarves, but I have finished quite a few. This is a white one I made a few weeks ago:

I used 18.5 mic Merino, and Rose fibre for embellishing:

I cut the scarf wider than my template, and scrunch gathered it to size before adding the wool, so it'd have some texture on the back:

I also made a short, wide scarf/wrap similar to the white scarf, using natural cotton scrim and 18.5 mic Merino:

It's about 3 times as wide as the scarf, and I didn't scrunch the scrim first:

I used 3 different cellulose fibres for embellishing this: Viscose, Rose and Tencel, this is the Viscose:

Another scarf I made recently is this bright, colourful one. I always prefer the side where the wispy ends of the wool tops overlap (or underlap since they're laid first) the next colour:

This is the other side where the colours are in blocks:

An 'arty' shot to shop how soft it is :)

I think the multi one is the only scarf I made recently which isn't nuno-felt. This next one was made with 18.5 mic Merino and hand dyed cotton scrim. I embellished this with hand dyed bamboo top:

I cut a strip of subtley variegated lemon/yellow scrim to size, then cut the strip into roughly even pieces and re-arranged them before adding the Merino on top:

I've got a few more scarves to show, so check back before the end of the year to see part two :)

Nuno Felt Scarf Samples

We're making scarves at the well-being centre. To practise, we're using strips of scrim and some fine 18.5 mic Merino. I made some scarf samples with the scrim and wool. These are the ones I made:

The top one has a fine, narrow strip of wool all the way around; some random narrow strips and a few 'blobs' of blue:

The second one down has a simple grid pattern made from fine, narrow strips:

The middle piece has two fine layers (1 horizontal, 1 vertical) of wool tops:

The fourth one down had resist strips placed along the scrim, then two fine layers of wool, and embellished with some very shiny cellulose fibre I got in a bag of Botany lap waste-it's different to any others I've got, so from what World of Wool sold at the time, and the fact it is most like viscose, I'm guessing it is Tencel:

The bottom piece has a fine, narrow strip of wool all around and through the centre, and has wool in the same position on the back of the piece. It's the only one which does. I also fulled the middle more than the outside, so the edges waved:

The last orange one at the side has flowers in the middle made from the same 18.5 mic Merino, and leaves at each corner, it also has leaves on the back at each corner:

And for something a bit different, I made a demo scarf using dyed, irregular pieces of scrim as a base This is the scrim side:

And the wool side, also using 18.5 mic Merino, and embellished with viscose:

If you're interested in learning more about Nuno Felting and why how, and where you position your wool affects the outcome, so you can get the results you want, have a look at the info page for my e-book, Beyond Nuno: http://feltbyzed.blogspot.co.uk/p/e-books.html

More Textured Felt

One thing I didn't like about the burgundy textured nuno felt piece I showed last time, was the effect of the wool migration. Completely unavoidable obviously, but I thought I'd try white fabrics with white wool to mimimise the visual impact of the migration. I started with a small sample, I used various cotton fabrics, like gauze, scrim and muslin; some silk crepe, and some synthetic chiffon:

Looking at it on an angle, you can see even more texture:

This is some folded cotton gauze:

This is one of the pieces of silk crepe:

I liked all the textures, but the synthetic chiffon really ruffled up:

The ruffles it created could be used to recreate effects for lots of different projects, here's a close up:

I used most of the same fabrics on a larger piece:

Here's a close up off the left side:

And a close up of the right side:

I thought this was the kind of technique which would work really well with synthetic organza, it comes in different weights and finishes, so even though it has similarities, there are differences too. I used dyed Merino for this:

Looking at an angle shows the many different textures:

 This was a soft yellow organza, it 'folded' in columns:

You can see these organzas had a more crumpled texture. You can see the migration too, and though it affected the look of the finished piece and 'changed' the colours of the organza pieces, it was more subtle than with the large piece I made last time:

Notebook Covers

This first notebook cover that I finished this week took ages to make. My temperamental sewing machine keeps refusing to catch the bobbin thread with the needle. Occasionally I can force it to, then it runs for a while, then I go to turn the piece I'm working on and realise it was just making sewing noises and everything I thought I'd just sewn is loose :(   I kept going back to this until it was finished, then put the machine away so it can't annoy me anymore. I had a collection of felt pieces I'd made with natural coloured wools and plant fibres. None of them were big enough for notebook covers and either too thick or too thin for coin purses, so I thought I'd make a few natural coloured collage notebook covers. Or just one as it turned out. I used some unbleached calico as the backing fabric to sew the pieces onto. I really like the way this turned out. This is the front:

Some of the grey pieces are from a piece of felt I made for Karen's Weather Challenge on the Felting and Fiber Studio site, using grey Gotland Locks for rolling clouds. This is the back:

I machine stitched the top edges together, then finished off the edges and the flaps with some grey/brown thread I spun myself. It was quite chunky for a thinnish thread, but I like the way it looks.

This next notebook cover is probably the nicest one I've ever made. I used a piece of nuno felt that I made for my Beyond Nuno book. It has some gorgeous flowery blue synthetic fabric nuno felted onto merino tops. I made a little tie for the front from an offcut of the nuno felt. I cut a strip about 8-10mm wide and wet it with soapy water and rolled between my palms until it formed a cord. I used a spring toggle as the fastener. This is the front:

This is the back:

I really love the colours and the way the fabric rippled so nicely.

SuperMacro texture close up:

I'm getting better at letting things go and listing them on etsy, but if this doesn't sell before the listing expires, I'm keeping it!

Sewing and Experimenting

I've been trying to continue with the things I learned during Ruth's challenge for getting 5 minutes of fibre time into each day. I don't always manage that and often end up with one or two days where I have a couple of hours fibre time, and 3 or 4 days without, but I'm organising my time better and having projects at different stages, ready to work on when I do have the time. On my desk I have a box of  felt pieces that have been measured and cut and are waiting to be sewn. I also have a box of part made up items; things like purses, glasses cases and coin pouches which have been sewn on the machine and are waiting for me to finish off with blanket stitch. These are a few of the purses at various stages, the blue ones just have the back pocket mahchine stitched into place, the white piece on the left has some stitching around the pocket edges, and the one at the front is just in need of a button and buttonhole.

This is one of the camera cases I've been working on. The gray fibre is carded silk carrier rods. I blended some of the silk 'fluff' with merino and used some for surface texture.

I mentioned on a previous post that I had one more felted piece using the pink synthetic fabric. It isn't really meant to be anything but an experimental piece, combining nuno techniques and using a resist. This is a compilation of images.

Another experimental piece I did was one using some crimped acrylic fibre that looks like a synthetic version of laps.

It produced a really nice effect.

I have managed to finish off a few pieces and must get them photographed for listing on etsy. This ring pouch is one piece I finished. I first made some heart ring pouches a few years ago so I had somewhere safe to put my rings and bracelets when I take them off for felting. I've made a few more for gifts. They're only small, about 2 inches high and 2.5 inches wide, this photo makes this one look huge!