Pre-Felt Flower Adorned Red Purse- Part 1 of 2

Hand-stitching circles into a piece of pre-felt...

...using heavy duty nylon thread.



Applying flowers to the bottom of the wool roving-wrapped resist...

 

...and also to the purse flap...

 

...prior to the final felting.

 

Cutting into each flower with sharp scissors...

...to reveal an inner layer of color!



The fully felted and dried purse. 

 

Hand-stitching bullion knots...

 

...into the center of each 'bloom'.

 

Since returning from Marjolein Dallinga's wonderful class this summer...

...I've found myself using partially felted wool (pre-felts)...

...in ways that I never had before!!

For this project, I first made a large pre-felt by laying out a single layer of white wool...

...then added squares of several different roving colors for layer number two.

After the sheet was partially felted and dried...

...I hand-stitched circles into it using strong nylon thread.

Next, I cut out around each of these stitched circles...

...(leaving a generous margin)...

...and applied them (using a bit of 'soap glue') to the wool-wrapped resist.

After the piece was fully felted and dried...

...small, sharp scissors were employed to carefully remove the nylon thread.

In order to add a bit more interest to the flower centers...

...I embroidered bullion knots onto each one with yellow embroidery floss.

Next time: the finished purse...

...with handmade leather strap.

Seamless Felted Jacket Class- Part 4 of 4

It's still a mite big...

 

...but I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel!

 

Ahhhh...much better...

 

...not long to go, now!

 

After steaming, the felt softens and the colors lighten...

...with more silk showing through the wool.

 

The rear view on a beautiful Fall day in Tennessee...

 

...and now a view of the jacket fronts.

Aren't we just a riot of color?!? :)

 

Happy and relieved feltmakers...

...with our 'fearless leader', Linda Veilleux.

 

This class was an absolute blast...

...and I believe that everyone went home quite content with her jacket.

My classmates were absolutely lovely, too...

...and new friendships blossomed as we joined forces to flip...

 ...or wrestle our large resists into place. :)

It's amazing how different each jacket looks from the next...

...and it certainly gives you a snapshot of just how creative one can be with felt!

Seamless Felt Jacket Class- Part 3 of 4

 All trussed up and ready to roll.

 

As the fulling begins, only the thin plastic piece protecting the godet remains in place.

 

Linda Veilleux's expert instruction and sense of humor kept me motivated...

...even when my energy flagged.



You can see that I still have a little way to go...



...but it is starting to shrink...

 

...and, look, the ruching has begun...

 

...and it's starting to have that lovely 'nuno felt texture'! :)

 

This is a project that would be nearly impossible for me to do on my own...

...so having a group of like-minded feltmakers and a wonderful teacher made all the difference.

Once I got past the layout and the irksome plastic sheeting...

...I actually quite enjoyed the hours of rolling and fulling...

...because you could finally see progress being made!

Next time: the big reveal.

Seamless Felt Jacket Class- Part 2 of 4

Marking the perimeter of the first front flap with masking tape...

...then adding a layer of silk paj.

 

Laying out two thin layers of wool, wetting it out...

...and covering the whole shebang with painter's plastic.

 

Beginning the layout for flap two...

 

...using brightly colored variegated roving.

 

A piece this large takes a bit of time to lay out...



...but it's exciting when you start to see it filling in!

Wetting out the second front flap. 

 

Now...on to the very long arms!!

 

A jacket like this is not for the faint of heart...

...and I was grateful to have such friendly company as I worked.

With lots of 'parts' and plastic sheeting...

...it's easy to get confused as you lay out the silk and fiber.

The godet on the back of the coat presented a special challenge...

...but we finally managed to wrestle the painter's plastic into position.

Next time: the rolling begins!

Seamless Felt Jacket Class- Part 1 of ???

Just a few of Linda Veilleux's wonderful felt wearables.

 

Our beautiful Arrowmont studio...

 

...with ample space and lighting...

 

...deep sinks and plenty of tables for working with large resists!

 

A picture of me with my 'paper dolls'...

...a truly innovative teaching tool that helped us to visualize our 3-D garments.

 

The beginning of my jacket:

Dark blue-black 50:50 silk and merino roving...

...and a lovely variegated merino roving from my friend, Joan Berner.

 

Basting on the silk godet.



Laying out mawata silk hankies (for decoration)...

...and variegated roving on the godet. 

 

I attended a spectacular seamless felt jacket class at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts last week...

...taught by the charming (and very talented) Linda Veilleux.

Using an enormous bubble wrap resist and a much-labored-over jacket design...

I created a long-sleeved nuno felt jacket from this roving and the dyed silk paj from my last post.

Next time: the adventure continues! :)

Dyeing Silk Paj Fabric

Yards and yards of silk Paj...



...plus one easy-to-use Jacquard dye packet...

 

...equals this beautiful result.

 

A lovely, pale periwinkle-grey piece of silk is born...

...and it was super easy!!

It's not quite as blue as in the above photo... 

...nor quite as grey as in these photos, either...

...but somewhere in-between.

 

To prepare for a garment class with Linda Veilleux...

...I needed to dye 15 yards of silk Paj.

Not wanting to mess about with the process too much...

...I used a 'direct dye' that came in a melt away sachet...

...(no loose dye on your skin or in the air that you breathe!)

The dye is thrown into the washing machine along with the silk and some vinegar...

...and only one packet was needed to dye this entire length of fabric.

The literature says that it's not quite as colorfast as traditional acid dyes...

...but since this fabric is destined to be made into a nuno felt jacket, anyway...

...I don't think it will matter all that much if it fades a bit over time. :)