HB M!

Seamless Formed Felt Lantern

Experimented more with formed felt -- cut shape out of packing styrofoam, layer roving, water, soap, agitation, pressure, etc. Made lantern/vase shape. Did brown outer layer first, then did whitish layer, embedding some glass between the wool layers. Needle felted the brown and white layers together. Plan on working with this idea on larger scale, so this served as prototype. Pictures shows without candle, and how it looks illuminated from within.

Felt Projects

Trying out some applications of
felt. Having fun!
First: Needle felt on silk habotai (that was xerox
transferred print (gum arabic/ink)). Stuffed.
Second: Shibori felt (see previous post for process)
Third: Printed photo on silk chiffon, wet felted.

Shibori Formed Felt

Knitted plane out of wool (non-washable). Enclosed some items in the knit, secured tightly with rubber bands. Put in washing machine to felt. Let dry (no dryer) for a couple days, removed items, and their impression stays. Here we have it..43.

Wet Felting

Took some old Czech stamps, dating to "Ceskoslovensko" (Czechslovakia) days, and enrobed them in wool fibers to felt. The idea was to create a haze/veil to those days. I have two more ideas to carry the piece forward...the "Velvet Revolution" part, and current day.

Without a Pattern!

I am only picturing the cute small things I recently made without a pattern....though have made kids clothes "by eye" for awhile. My real triumph was making a pair of pants (two pairs!) for me, without a pattern. Simple in theory if you use a pair you like already for basis, but, actually...scenario went: cut out of semi good knit fabric first proto..fit great. Cut out two more protos out of woven yardage I had hanging around...hmmm just how much give do you need here or there to make a woven fit like the knit???? Last cut out of linen, super big, then whittled away to decent (not great) fit. But, I attempted and did make progress in learning about adult pants in wovens

Mushroom Dyes

Went to lecture on dyeing with mushrooms. Got the book. Picked a variety to try. A bit more complicated than reading the book! Mordants, timing, chopping, waiting, ahhhhh. I got as far as testing a few varieties for color, and did see some results. Am going to table this for a little while, as it seems to require more than the "casual" try that I am willing to do at this time. Great to know that you can dye the whole color wheel with mushrooms.