Barnacle Pillow Tutorial- Part 4 (of 4)

The pillow covered in netting and wetted out.

 

After felting and spinning dry.

 

The finished pillow...stuffed a little less firmly than the earlier two.

 

Barnacle pillows in all their glory!

 

Well, I hope by now you can see why I call these barnacle pillows...

...since they're covered with the kind of stuff sailors spend a lot of time scraping off!! Giggle.

You can see the differences that come about when working inside-out and
right-side-out...

...and how the schlumpy placement of raw locks in the smaller ones...

...resulted in a completely different 'look'.

I think they'll lead to some interesting conversations when my daughter displays them on the sofa in her new apartment...

...or maybe she'll keep them sequestered in her own room...

...as sort of an 'eyes-only' kind of thing! :)

Barnacle Pillow Tutorial- Part 3 (of 4)

Laying out white roving for the inside of the large pillow.

 

The back side of the pillow...wetted out.

 

Adding raw locks to the pillow front.

 

The pillow just prior to felting.

 

I made this pillow a little differently than the earlier two...

...since I wanted a bit more control over the placement of my raw locks.

Instead of working from the outside-in, I made it right side out...

...and quite a bit larger, too.

For the back side of the pillow, I laid out orange and yellow roving...

...in a bullseye pattern.

For the front, I added individual locks of raw wool...

...from Jacobs, Black Romney and Icelandic sheep.

Before attaching the locks to the roving...

I dipped each one into a diluted soap solution, to help with the attachment.

Next time: the end of the wild pillows!

Barnacle Pillow Tutorial- Part 2 (of 4)

After felting...with the raw locks hidden inside!

 

Cut open and turned right side out..."Hello Fishy-lips"!! :)

 

Stuffing the pillow with wonky white roving, prior to stitching it up.

 

The finished pillows in all of their weirdness!!

 

As you can see from the first photo...

...after felting, you're left with a hollow ball of felt with the plastic resist inside.

It is then cut open, wide enough to turn the pillow right side out...

...and stuffed with wool roving.

Since I wanted the pillows to be pretty firm (for lumbar support)...

...I stuffed them with a lot of wool.

If you'd like them to be softer than this...

...just stop filling them when they 'feel right' to you! :)

To finish it up, I hand-stitched it closed with strong thread...

...and repositioned some of the loooong Icelandic fleece locks...

...which had gotten a little stuck during felting.

Next time...I'll introduce you to their big brother!!! Giggle.

Barnacle Pillow Tutorial- Part 1 (of 4)

Laying out raw fleece on a round resist.

 

Adding orange wool/silk fiber and a layer of cotton gauze.

 

Side two.

 

Covering side two with roving.

 

I think there might be something really wrong with me...

...since the projects that thrill me the least...

...are the ones that many of you like the best! Grin.

My bright and cheery pieces often leave me cold...

...yet I thrill to the sight of raw fleece, weird boingy bits...

...projects which resemble tumors or fungi...

...and creatures from outer space or deep under the sea.

So...in the spirit of all that is weird (and lovely to me)...

...I bring you the first of a many-splendored post set!!

These pillows were made for my daughter, L's birthday recently...

...for use in her Minneapolis grad school apartment this fall (brrrrr).

I used a round resist, and layered it with raw fleece, roving and cotton gauze...

...and then a second layer of roving (not shown).

I repeated this sequence on side two...

...completely encasing the resist with the raw wool inside.

Next time...felting and finishing the small pillows (I made two).