Wolf in sheeps clothing ? or "when things go terribly wrong"

.....And this is where I left it yesterday . Not very encouraging to have something this unattractive after 8 hours of constant poking . but....

that is part of the good and bad aspect of needle felting . The bad part is that you have to spend hours to find out what is going to come out of the wool . Sometimes, what comes out is less then pleasing, but you have already invested hours . The good part of felting is that it is almost always possible to find some way to rescue the wool you invested, even if the time itself is lost . At the very least , the sculpture can be used as filler or a base for the next larger sculpture . Sometimes, it can be "saved" with just a few minor overlays and a 5 more hours of felting .

So, what went wrong...? Firstly, I did not have a clear vision of what I wanted to make . I actually like to felt this way, just vaguely shaping the wool until it starts to look like something familiar and then I add the details based on what it reminds me of . This is something I have been doing since I was a kid . I would take a piece of paper and draw some quick random lines and then look at it until faces and shapes popped out as "something familiar" , then I would darken certain lines and add the rest of the detail . I found this fun because the end result was always a surprise to me .

Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't . It's a bit risky but rewarding when it works because I feel like the wool is telling me what it wants to be...(I know, silly "New Age voodoo" to some, but that's how I roll .) Anyway, I never got a clear image of what this as going to be...head and snout shape remained vague in my mind . Was it heading towards bear, dinosaur, DooDoo bird ?

The other problem ,which is a silly mistake, is not paying attention to the color roving I was using . I had some batts that I thought looked brown but was more pinkish red and not particularly attractive . The end result would have been great if I wanted to make a road kill animal or something a hunter had already skinned but those are both to sad of images for me and I just refused to "go there" .....the dark side....(been there.... done that...moved in and got comfortable on the couch with a bag of chips but eventually woke up and ran away screaming ..."The Horror, The Horror".....) The world has enough horror with out my adding to it .

So...the only way I saw to recue the skinned animal was....give it a bit of fluff .


...and some cute ears......
and a big booty with a fluffy tail . I do still have to finish the arms and face but had no brown wool this morning . I haven't decided if I will change the face...I made the eyes to close and don't like the felted eyes I made anyway . SO...back to work, another few hours to try and get a bit of cute out of this guy .
I finally got my new chiffon for some more nuno felting . I am really interested to see how the pattern prints will look . The one on the left is a hand dyed vintage scarf I bought on ebay and I think it's gorgeous . The other two are new fabric that don't haverolled stitched edges, so I have to decide if I want to try that or just add the fiber to the edges and see what happens .

Some times they get mad...angry animal needle felt

I was trying to capture that "cute" effect that comes with simpler, more abstract designs but still could not constrain myself from adding shape and detail to...."angry bear" . (I'm assuming that he is angry because I found his belly button because my cat always gets mad when I try and find his....touchy, touchy ).

End result is that I did learn something from the process . One is that it is very difficult to fight your own nature and mine appears to fall between "detailed and realistic vs abstract and cartoonish " . I can never seem to stand firmly in either camp .

Thing two, I learned, is that 6 inch critters take a lot less time then my 1' and 2' critters . I like the big guys but that is so many hours of poking before you get to feel the satisfaction of the inner animal emerging ....sometime, patience is not my strong suit .

Thirdly, I realized that I really suck at felting eyes . I just haven't learned how to make wool eyes look real enough . (Time to hunt down some nice glass eyes .)



I don't know what if any, type of animal this is yet, but thought I would show a critter before detailing is done . Just getting this far, was 10 hours of firming up and shaping . I figure there will be another 3-4 hours to finish him . This "whatever" is about a foot tall and still needs the top of his head, some ears, feet and tail and furry fringe....that is really the fun part of the felting....giving them a bit of personality and deciding what to add
I now have a little gang to inspire me to keep felting . It's fun for me to see them all hanging out and think about who else would look good in my critter crew .

Toys In The Attic Art Show and Charity drive for Toys For Tots

http://www.toysintheatticshow.com/


Gosh, I hope that link works . This seems like the coolist event ever . I would love to be a participant, but even if I don't get up the courage to apply , I sure hope I can force myself out of the house to attend . Go directly to the site to get the best information and be sure and check out the artist who are participating this year . I just "followed" several of their blogs myself because they are amazing .

Off to work my over night shift and think of some possible needle felt critters to make for this show and even if I don't apply, this is a great event to stimulate my creative juices....(sounds messy...and it is, but like most messy things.....Very Fun !)

first nuno felting, first pro-reactive silk dye and a few new critters

This was a weekend of first for me .

Jane from Glorious Hats on Etsy) came down from Bemidji and stayed the weekend . Our friend Eileen joined us for a bit of chatter and some dinner but had to leave before we broke out the dyes . I had previously ordered some dyes from Etsy and some Silk chiffon from Thai silks but was waiting for just the right time to play . Unfortunately, the right time was the night before e were to all go take a nuno felt class at The Fiber Studio in MPLS . It was a bit of rushing to get the silks done in time for class but we did manage to dye them up .

The dying itself was several steps of mixing and experimenting with the colors and I really had no idea what I was doing . I had bought a book but it mostly focused on painting fabrics . Our work space was also limited so we couldn't get the whole 72' scarf on our work table, leading to some dripping . All in all, it did give me an idea of the basics and I will feel more confident next time I break out the dyes .

The following day, we all met at The Fiber Studio for the Nuno felting class . I'll provide a link to Jane's blog when she finishes blogging so you can see the scarf she was working on and her perspective on the experience....

http://glorioushats.blogspot.com/2009/09/i-flew-coop.html

I would say that we both thought the class was very relaxed and well taught and we both plan on playing with more nuno in the future . I think Eileen would concur and hope she will also share a picture of her scarf on her blog (hint, hint Eileen) . We both used a tencil/merino blend for our nuno and were pleased with the results . It added a lot of shine and texture to the scarfs .

The actual process was not as messy as had originally feared but it does take several hours of rolling before we reached a felted texture we liked . I will definitely be working more with wet felting now that I have a better idea of what to do and when I my fingers need a break from the needle poking they endure to make my bags and sculptures .
I added about 4" of just the tincel/merino to the ends of the chiffon to see what it looked like and it turned out surprisingly light but durable so I hope to make some scarves and bags out of just this material, sans chiffon .

I'm still working on learning to make smaller needle felt critters . This shy little rodent is Gilbert and I will be making him his own wet felt rug to stand on....I think I will include either a rug or scarf of wet felt with each of my little critters . I think the contrast of natural animal fibers and brighter wet felting will be a nice contrast
I worked on Theador for about 12 hours yesterday because I wanted to experiment with adding a patch of imitation fur (it's on his back) with the needle felt to see how it works . This will take a bit more practice to develop a method of blending but I think it will work . He still needs a bit of work on his eye lids and a main trim .

The tiny pup was a gift for my BF's birthday because he likes the miniatures....there was a bit of blood lose and swearing involved in his construction...(I poke to hard) but I think he turned out better then my first few I tried .

New needle felt critter and I don't know if I can sell him

Meet Melvin, the red and black tailed...(watchamacallit) . I thought I was going to make a bear but this guy decided he wanted to be here instead .

Here he is investigating a little friend in his orange hoody who is wondering if "Melvins" like to eat green things .

He is firmly needle felted but his arms are slightly softer so he can be put in different positions .
I really don't know what it is about him but I feel very attached and don't think I will be able to sell Mel . Perhaps selling these guys is going to be harder then I realized , like selling kids you gave birth to . It's not just that I would miss him but I worry that he might go to someone who wont give him enough hugs and kisses to keep alive.....(stuffies live on kisses and hugs, just like people .)

beaded needle felt cuff bracelets finally finished

I never would have thought myself ADD when I was younger because I could set for 12 hours straight and finish just about any book I picked up . However, since beginning my shop on Etsy, I soon learned that I am much better at "starting" then finishing projects .

These are cuffs I made several months ago of merino and merino/tencil and am only now getting around to adding closures and beading . Why....because I have a hard time with how slow the process is of getting out all the beading materials...deciding on a design, threading the silk thread on the needle, putting the beads on the copper wire and sewing it down . I do however, like the results, so I will try and endure .
I am trying several different sizes and closures for the cuffs . I know many women have problems with the tiny bracelets they often encounter...we are not all built like Kate Moss <--(replace name with whatever anorexic super model is currently popular...I don't keep up with this stuff) . I was originally going to use the antique buttons for these but didn't think they really fit the over all design so made individual needle felt balls for most of my cuffs . The "hooking" part is a stretch loop which allows for a few more inches of expansion and is very comfortable. It also has the advantage that it can be closed first and just slips right on . I also like the hook closure because it is hidden when worn and has a smoother look . This cuffs are not as wide or bold as my first ones but all are very firmly felted so that you wont have to worry about lose fiber pilling or catching on coat cuff when worn underneath something .
I am also playing around with using some of the turquoise and other beads to make my own "buttons" that will match the over all design . I use a copper wire and wrap it around bead , make a loop and sew it down .
A few of the cuffs I am leaving "bead free" and using some thinner pencil roving as the main design .
Here is some more of the lovely merino I used for the cuffs and bangle below . They are incredably soft and I love her warm colors . (Smokey Mountain Fiber on Etsy) . I have never been disappointed in anything I have ordered from her ....lovely stuff .
Lets see how long it takes me to put on closures and beads for these . I think it will be much easier now that I have re-organized my crafting supplies and can actually find what I need .

More experiments in texture and needle VS wet felting

I have been working on a needle felted scarf the past two nights and this is the backside after about 12 hours of felting . I am still debating water felting it to blend the colors more but then am afraid I will loss all the softness . I really look forward to feeling some wet felting to see what it is "supposed" to feel like . This needle felting is about 1/2" thick and feels super soft but is spongy and has no drape but easily bends around the neck . My only concern is how long will it last ?

The method I use for this is very different then wet felting and I use much thicker layers of wool.

First , I lay down about 6 rows of black roving (east to west), only spreading it out a little to over lap. I then lay much thinner layer of yellow going north to south and another medium thick layer going east to west again . After I needle that for about 6 hours on both sides, I lay down another thick layer of orange on top of yellow...very simple design, as this was an experiment . and needle felted this down for about an hour . At this point, I had done as much as I could with the 8 needle tool and switched to an individual needle .

The whole time I am doing this I am thinking....wouldn't it be faster to wet felt this...but wanted to see if I could retain the softness and achieve the durability on an item this large . I needle felted another 5 hours with the individual needle trying to tighten up any areas missed by the 8 needle tool .

This is the front side and if you click on it , you can see a bit better that there are no "lose wool hairs"...but...will it eventually pill up if rubbed against someones winter coat collar while they are moving about ?
This is a scarf made in a similar fashion , needle felted about 12 hours but I then threw it in a hot water washing machine cycle . This is very durable and probably is closer in texture to body armor then a scarf . It's merino, so it is not rough and scratchy like the crappy wool I wore as a kid but it has lost the fluffy texture of the needle felted scarf . It actually looks better then when I first took it out of the drier . I used an old razor and shaved off some of the black that had migrated over the colors and they are much brighter now .

" To wet felt or not to wet felt...that is the question.Wither tiss better to bear the hours of poking and blood loss or to bear the messy water and suds and outragious rolling ?"


Below is another gorgious fiber package from "Fat Cat Knits" on Etsy . I am in love with her tencil/merino blends . Magical colors and soft as silk , can't wait to start felting it .






...and my kitty seems to think the litter containers I have been collecting and cleaning out for storage belong to him !

Alien fruit and Sleestak crysalis..experiment in texture

Above are two pineapple sized "alien fruit" . My main objective with this experiment was to see how different fibers reacted to different times/amount of needle felting . I wanted to explain how I did this but am finding it difficult to explain . I think I will have to do a picture tutorial on my next week off . Regaurdless, I did learn something myself about how different the end result texture of the 100% Merino and the Merino and Tencil blends reacted to felting . (Tencil is on the left and has much more texture of individuals "hair" , while the merino appears to puff up and looks more like human skin) . It might help to click on the above pictures to see the difference better . I think it gives me a better idea of different alien skins I want to work on .



The three pictures above, while not very "attractive", are just large Sleestak crysalis, (from theLand of the Lost) . The next in the series will be a baby Sleestak . Might eventually get around to doing the whole life span if I dont get bored or to ADD before then .

How firm should you needle felt...when is needle felt "done" ?

The above is exactly why I have not yet listed items on Etsy....yes, it is my "Photo and crafting" room and has been in this disheveled condition for several months...like about 12. The cat litter containers are cleaned out and waiting to become storage for some of the thriftstore nick-nacks and antiques I used to have in this room and I have slowly been packing up to make room for my crafting supplies . My supplies are currently in every room of the apartment, including two over flowing walk in closets, but I am hoping to get most of them into the drawers in this room . I wish the people from the new "Obsessions" show on A&E would find my blog and send me some help .



Below are a few of the projects I have been working on this week . They represent several different styles of felting that I have been experimenting with and tie into the topic for today....

How felted is felted ?

This has always been in my thoughts but has recently. A friend had mentioned that they had bought several felted items on Etsy that did not appear to be felted enough to be durable . The last thing I want is for someone to purchase something from me and be disappointed in it, so I began to look though my own items . Most of my sculptures are very firmly felted and take 8-15 hours of poking . But I did go back and find some of the wool sweater bags that I had needle felted designs on...one of my first projects, were not holding up well . The designs were lifting from the wool .

What I think I have learned from then to now is that the sculptures, jewelry and bags that I needle felted from 100% lose wool appear much more durable then the few sweater bags I needled roving into . I still don't know enough about the process to understand why...I did spend hours poking the designs using what I thought to be Romney but.... might it have been some type of "superwash" fiber that I was sent by mistake or did I just lay down to thin of a layer of roving ? So I did an experiment on one of the bags . I covered the original design...(The wool bag with the sunset and purple mountains with snow) with thicker merino roving (sunset and green valley) . Although the deign is very simple, the poking took about 8 hours to feel it firm up enough and I am still contemplating doing a wet felt to firm it even more .

So what was the problem ? One thing could be that the bag that I bought, thinking it was wool, was actually a blend of synthetic fiber....(I did the burn test) . But I have felted designs onto synthetic fleece scarves and they are still crisp and firmly felted...and have gotten a lot of use . So, answer is I am not sure but I think that the thicker roving and more time has helped .

Above is one of the wool and tincel bracelets that I made for myself . I have a lot of allergies, metal being one of the worst ones, I wear very little jewelry due to resulting rashes but found this to be a nice alternative for me . Slips on and off easily and unlike some of the wools I was allergic to as a kid, the Merino has given me no problems...yea! .

Another "proto-type" of something I hope to sell in the shop (but also needed for myself) are these "agatish" coasters . No more water marks on my table . They only took a few hours to get very firm and have stood the test of a week of use with no problems .
Getting ahead of myself....I found several doll parts while cleaning the craft room...(I used to use the arms and legs attached to wood planks as coat hangers for my wall.yeah, creepy, I know )
I actually tried a new technique for this....needle felting a bowl shape and then placing it over the skull and needle felting it to firm it up . Once it felt pretty snug, I followed with a basic wet felting on and off the skull, then took it off to dry, slip it back on once dry and finished snugging it up with needle felting . A lot of hours for something that probably only I like but I figure it was interesting to see what the wet and needle felting did together .

Back side of a guy I call...."Socrates"
I think I captured the contemplative look of a philosopher...or someone trying to decide between Captain Crunch or Chocolate rice crispies .
Below are some of the needle felted "alien pods" that I plan on using for an alien tree some time next week . I will try and do a tutorial on these as I think they are a demonstration of an interesting texture you can get with the needle . Even if you don't care for the alien pods themselves, might lead someone to other texturing ideas .
Also included are some free form hearts and an experiment in covering a rock that I found on Lake superior . I have a lot of rocks that I want to experiment with this technique .
A close up to show something that is "lightly felted" . This will eventually be my largest "alien pod" which I am entering in the Handmade MN contest called "Purple Rain" . The core of this pineapple size "pod" is Romney, then I layered down black Merino over the whole thing and felted it together, then added several layers of different colored Merino and tincel blends . I like the effect and it can be handled without loosening the wool but might eventually start getting to "fuzzy" if over handled . It feels like a ball of silk at this point but the more I needle felt it, the firmer it becomes but loses some of the softness and the texture of the individual hairs . I will try and show the "after" tomorrow .

Above is the "fake wool" purse covered in the Merino and firmly felted down and below is the first attempt with Romney and if you click on each picture, you can see better what happens when you haven't felted the fibers down enough...(or used superwash or to thin of roving...?), the fibers begin to migrate out of the purse and leave a furry halo that will eventually pill up .

experiment in posting utube videos...part 1