Friday, July 20, 2012

Portugal- Pinky-Orange "Dreads" Purse- Part 1 of 2

Laying out tufts of Bordeleria wool roving...

 
...and adding a stripe of blended silk and merino roving to each one for a pop of color.



Making dread-like attachments with dry, fluffy ends... 
 
...and preparing the surface of a plain white, wool-wrapped resist for use as the purse base.

 
Adding the first row of "dreads"...

 
...and (after several layers in between)...

...adding the last row.

 
Pieces of thin plastic between the rows...

...prevent the attachments from felting to each other...

 
...until it's safe to remove them!

 
Partway through our week of class...

...Nicola asked for a list of 'most requested projects' from each of us...

...so that we could head home with a much-desired new skill.

Terriea was keen to learn how to make a 'Horst-like', dread-covered purse...

...and I had time to try one as well!

Starting with a roving-wrapped resist...

...I added layers of "dreads" made from Bordeleria and blended silk and merino rovings.

Strips of thin painter's plastic placed between each layer...

...kept the attachments apart during preliminary felting...

...until they were no longer in danger of felting together.

Next time: adding spiral accents to side two...

...and the (mostly) finished purse.

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14 comments:

Yvette said...

love it!

Rachel said...

It's fascinating to see the range of effects and patterns you can create, and this one, I suspect, will attract admirers where-ever it goes!

WonderWhyGal said...

Squeal! This purse is going to be gorgeous! Well, duh, I know you already know that.

I do love the felted projects where locks are still "live"

Heather Woollove said...

Yvette--Thank you!! It's fun, isn't it?!? :)
Rachel--Admirers, maybe...funny looks, certainly!! Har.
Andrea--I'm glad you like it. The 'dreads' are not actually locks, but they sure do resemble them, don't they?!?

Kathryn Ray said...

Hahaha, that second photo reminds me of a bunch of sushi logs with shrimp on top. ;-)

Terriea Kwong said...

Haha... the 2nd pic. of the dread-like attachment looks like cooked shrimps ready to eat. Love to see how you turned the bag and use it. Waiting the 2 of 2 part.

Heather Woollove said...

Kathryn and Terriea...great minds do think alike!!:)

Voie de Vie said...

I wasn't quite making the shrimp connection - but that color is pretty close to roe. :)

Cannot wait to see how this turns out!

Vivian said...

That's some brightest dreadlocks I've ever seen, and it's very fetching! Yep, I thought of cooked shrimp too.

Kelly said...

Very cool looking so far! I cannot wait to see the finished project!

Anonymous said...

Stunning work. Beautiful colours, form & texture ... lush! :) x

AllyB said...

Looks fantastic! I can't wait to see how it all turns out. I learn something every week from you. I appreciate it so much. Thank you

Spinster Beth said...

Now I want some shrimp.

Heather Woollove said...

Denise--The 'shrimp-colored' silk/merino blend is really shimmery, too!
Vivian--Hahaha...it's a pretty wild purse!
Kelly--I'll be taking suggestions on a purse handle in my next post, so put your thinking cap on!
AYLM--Thanks so much!!
Ally--You are so kind...thanks for the sweet comment!
Beth--Hahahaha...you really make me laugh! Maybe you saw my recent 'Portuguese food' posts?!?!