...and in close up.
After the initial felting..."Where did all of my pretty colors go?" :(
A needle-felting 'fix'.
One side of the (phew..finally!) fully felted bag...
...and the other.
As you can see...
...this bag fought me every step of the way!
After felting for a much longer time than usual...
...I still couldn't get the Wollknoll 'fine multicolor merino tops' to felt, no matter how I tried...
...and the silk gauze wouldn't felt in for me either!
I also noticed that the icing dyes had faded quite dramatically during felting...
...especially the bright yellow-green!
I decided to secure the silk squares with a multiple-needle felting tool...
...and pop it into the washing machine (well-wrapped and with bubble wrap between the layers)...
...to see if it would help.
I checked and stretched and repositioned it every four minutes...
...until it reached a well-felted stage.
All of this time and effort notwithstanding...
...I was still unhappy with the bag's shape and general appearance...
...and I had to scramble for yet another 'save'! :)
Next time: how a little judicious sewing saves the day!
20 comments:
where did all the colours go? i think they sunk in the sink:)
your work is great!!!!
Riet--Hahaha...silk sunk in the sink! :)
Yvette--Thanks so much!!
Sorry to hear you had so much trouble felting the bag. I quite often found that Wollknoll fibers are not the fastest felting fibres around (understatement...)
I'm looking forward to see the endresult!
Oh, Mattie...NOW you tell me! Grin.
Yeesh...I was convinced by my boyfriend (who has German immigrant parents) that EVERYTHING GERMAN IS BEST...so it must be so for their fiber, too.
Alas...I guess I have my work cut out for me, as I ordered THREE large balls of the same fiber in different colourways. Sighhh.
Sometimes it's easy to feel that a project has a will of its own...
Very interesting. I am still working on the sewing (my least favorite part about fiber arts) to fix a bag I made with Suzanne Higgs. We had a similar problem where my silk didn't want to felt in but we decided that needle-felting wasn't the option so...I am still hand stitching some designs.
Ah, what we learn about fibers and blends and how they will felt and take other fabrics/fibers.
Rachel--THIS project was a willful
child! Grin.
Andrea--You, hand stitching?!? I'm feeling a little faint all of a sudden! Giggle. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished result! XXO-
I think that if you struggle you discover the most beautiful sulotions! You now what i meen?? Good luck! hugzz...peebee
Wow, Heather, what a project! I have never attempted anything this involved. Looking forward to see how you saved the day.
BTW, thanks for your comment on the fiber arts blog.
The ladder yarn I am using is called Eros.
This sound like a case of ----if at first you don't succeed -----
Peebee--I had a few uncertain days with this particular bag...but I agree...struggle can result in growth! :)
Ellen--Thanks for visiting!
Fiona--Exactly!! :)
Sorry it was such a struggle. Somtimes felt just doesn't want to behave well, does it? Looking forward to seeing the solution.
Ruth--I hope you'll like it...it's quite different from these photos!
So funny that I read the comments regarding the fibers bought at the Wollknoll. A few months ago, I attempted to felt a tea cosy using merino fleece and it didn't felt at all! I thought it was just me and I ended up throwing it in the tumbledryer and sewing the parts together with a decorative stitch. Good to know that it wasn't me!
I wish you good luck with the rest of the roving you bought. The bag looks nice though! Warm regards, Alexandra.
Oh Heather, what a shame that your dyes run out, they were so pretty.. bet you were spittin mad.
I had a small amount of pretty varigated Wollknol fibre and found it a slow felter too - I used it ontop of faster felting merino tops in the end (you know how impatient I am lol)
xx
I think you put up a great fight! :-)
Heather you rock!
Hello Heather, No matter what you say we all have to admire the way you have stuck to this task. The colors you had at the beginning were beautiful. I sure hope that you can find a way to get them to stay. I hope that I can say that without hurting you because I too haven't mastered dyes at all. I can't keep them sharp. If you keep this lovely color please share with us how you did it.
Many hugs, Cameron
I am stunned. That wool was amazing in all it's bright and brilliant colors, and the bag looks totally washed out. If you saved this one, Lady, you are a miracle worker! I can't wait to see how you made out on the finished item. :)
Alexandra--Yet another felter who struggles with Wollknoll wool...yeesh! Well, it's a good lesson learned, and perhaps we can save some other unwitting felters from making the same mistake?!
Deborah--Truly, I regard dyeing experiments as chemistry experiments and don't expect ANYTHING, going in! :) This was Wilton's icing dye, and I hadn't expected it to 'stay' like acid dyes, but I sure was surprised by how it looked at this stage!
Good idea about putting the Wollknoll on top of an easier-felting wool...I'll try it! :)
Jeanette--You're so sweet! I think you will be surprised by the looks of the finished bag!
Cameron--How are you feeling, my friend? It's so good to hear from you (I'll pop by your blog soon). No--you haven't hurt me a bit...this silk did look rather sad at this phase!!:)
Sandie--Well...the jury is still out, so check back tomorrow morning and you can tell me how I did! :)
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