Laying out raw fleece from a multiple-cross breed of sheep...
...and covering it with layers of wool roving.
Felting the rug...
...until it is fully felted...
...until it is fully felted...
...then feeling horrified to discover that somehow during my layout...
...the fleece 'tips' had not all been oriented 'out'!
...the fleece 'tips' had not all been oriented 'out'!
To rectify this insanity, I then went a little insane, myself!
I pulled off bits of loose wool roving...
...ripped the rug into chunks...
...with green wool yarn!
After hand-stitching the rug back together again...
...I added a layer of cotton scrim to the backside of the rug...
...for structural support.
...I added a layer of cotton scrim to the backside of the rug...
...for structural support.
Some close-ups of the lovely finished texture...
...of this very strange rug...
...of this very strange rug...
I had a large raw fleece that had been languishing in storage...
...for nearly two years.
It was some sort of 'this crossed with that and a bit of this, too'...
...and it was very soft and pretty.
Unfortunately, as I was laying it out...
...I could not tell the 'tip ends' from the 'cut ends' on a large swath of this fleece!
(Whether it was because of the long storage time or the breed, I cannot say...
...but I've never experienced this kind of thing before!)
Next time: more close-up photos of the finished rug...
...now in pride-of-place in my living room...
..despite its dubious origins!! Grin.
...for nearly two years.
It was some sort of 'this crossed with that and a bit of this, too'...
...and it was very soft and pretty.
Unfortunately, as I was laying it out...
...I could not tell the 'tip ends' from the 'cut ends' on a large swath of this fleece!
(Whether it was because of the long storage time or the breed, I cannot say...
...but I've never experienced this kind of thing before!)
Next time: more close-up photos of the finished rug...
...now in pride-of-place in my living room...
..despite its dubious origins!! Grin.
10 comments:
Well done on rescuing it! Your drastic action definitely paid off it looks lovely!
xoxo
It turned out pretty well in the end, didn't it!
oooooh, it looks fabulous! How big is the finished rug? I have some fiber I want to attempt this with but every time I go to try it in the garage, it's rainy and blah and drains the inspiration. Gotta love autumn ;-)
I love how your rug came out!
Its beautiful!
TFS
Aly :o)
Thanks, all! Andrea-It's approx. 3ft. X 2ft...and I know what you mean. Facing a large project like this requires being in the proper mood! :)
I really like the color of the fleece. How clever of you to come up with a way to save it too. :) I'm not at all surprised though. You are so good at this now, soon you will be teaching a class maybe?? Hey, why not? Just go for it. LOL
Sandie-I do like the golden bits in this fleece! :)
well done! and a good reque, I always work the other way... first bottom layer and then afterwards adding the raw wool on top,. Loosening the fibers and adding them tight to eachother so no holes can occur... I stil have one fleece laying outside on 2 tables since this summer.... no energy to finish it... and now slowly getting too cold for such job outside....
Kim-Your rugs are always spectacular! I'll have to try one 'your way' sometime!!
:)
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