Felting

Have you ever done any wet felting?  I had a chance to do some with a group from my local Guild.  We spent a day in a small town's hall with Ellie Wilson.  She supplied everything we needed to produce samples that illustrated various techniques.  Here is what I managed to create.

This first one was layer upon layer of wool roving.  To those layers were added contrasting pieces of wool and then the whole mass was dampened and rubbed until it formed this layer of felt.  I wish you could feel this.  It is very pliable and soft.

Next exercise we layered wool roving and silk .  This was a bit harder to do because we had to get the wool fibers to migrate through the silk.  

Our next attempt used wool and silk "slubs".  That's not what the silk is called, but I have forgotten already the correct name.  This is what happens when you don't take time to make complete notes.

Notice that tail-like piece on the right?  That was an exercise in creating felted tassels or rope.  Our final exercise was to create some dimension.  It is surprising what you can create with a bit of water, wool and bubble wrap.

Looks like a honeycomb.  Here is a side view.

Until this workshop I had not attempted any felting, wet or otherwise.  I enjoyed it, but will have to try needle felting to make a fair comparison.

Till the next time, create like no one is watching.