Making a felted wall hanging.

 I started by pre felting a long piece to use as the flaps.I also made the felt balls on this matting which really speeds up the felting process.It is sold as a mat for cars or doormats but its great for felting and doesn't wear out like bubble wrap.

I layed plastic under the flaps so that they would not felt into the base.I only wanted them to attach to the base in the middle. When they were attached  I removed the plastic and fully felted them.

When it was rinsed and dry, I sewed on the felt balls, and added a few embroidery stitches

making a felted picture or hanging

This one of the ways I make a felted picture.

I cut all the houses out of prefelt which I had previously made.I then needle felted the doors and windows onto the houses.

 I laid out three layers of white wool as a base.White is best as it acts as a light base darker wools can migrate through.I then started to lay out the road.

 Then the sky with loose fibres then the hills in prefelt.

 The houses and trees were next after some gentle rubbing to keep things in place it was rolled until felted

When rinsed and dried I hand and machine sew the details in  

felted wall hanging

It has been such miserable weather, constant rain.I really need to get out and do some gardening, but the ground is waterlogged and as we have clay soil not easy to deal with.
So I had more time for felting so another wall hanging of quirky houses in a hilly landscape.

I needle felted the windows and doors before wet felting and it was hand embroidered once it was dry.I really like the colours in the sky and was pleased with the end result.

I had to hand sew the backing and sleeve as my machine decided to play up and has had to go for repair.

I also tried my hand at a large flower brooch it is about 10 inches across.Not sure that I would want one that big but they seem popular.Mauve is supposedly this years colour so it seemed to be a good colour to start with.My camera turns anything mauve to more of a blue hue but this photo is quite a good colour match

needle felted badges

Nearly all my felting is wet felting,but I decided to have a go at making badges.I wet felted the backgrounds then needle felted the designs,

 I embroidered a few basic flowers for detail.It is quite time consuming but enjoyable.

 So far I havent stabbed my fingers.!This picture was wet felted but the tiny sheep were needle felted once it was dry.

snow dyeing

One benefit of the last cold snap was being able to do some snow dyeing.I put  damp soda soaked cotton in a container ,I had soaked it for an hour . It was placed in a vegetable rack so that as the snow  melted the water could run away. I then shovelled snow on top and wearing  a mask I sprinkled procion dyes on the top .

You should wear a mask as you don't want to inhale the dye powder.

It was then left till it melted about two days , before it has melted quicker

The one below had indigo blue and purple dyes sprinkled on.

A small section of the one above

This one was lime green and purple the lime green has almost disappeared.The whole process is a bit hit and miss but then so is most of my dyeing

Here are the two Infinity scarves I made for my Etsy shop.The top one made with the space dyed wool makes me think of raspberries and kiwi fruit.I love it ,it really zings.The purple one is very long and goes around your neck three times.

The can also be worn as headwraps the poor model looks very anaemic after all our cold weather.
They are fun to make and easy to wear as they stay put and are very soft

Dyeing

I dye the wool and fabric for my scarves. I really love dyeing it doesn't always turn out quite how I wanted it to but that's fine . The first photo  both fabric and wool were spaced dyed.Not always easy to get a good colour match as wool uses acid dyes and cotton uses procion.If I use silk they can be dyed together with acid dyes.

I was pleased with the result and the finished scarf looks great.

The dyeing below is more of a contrast.

I will post a photo of the finished scarves when we get a good enough day to photograph them.

the finished scarf

Rinse the scarf and lay it flat to dry

how to make a nuno felted infinity scarf part 2

 It was the wetted with cool soapy water plastic on the top it had bubble wrap underneath.I then use an electric sander which is brilliant in getting the wool fibres to migrate through the fabric.If you don't have one it's a lot of rubbing over the plastic with your hands. when you can pinch the wool and it lifts the fabric up it has migrated through. Then it has to be turned over and the other side laid out and use the sander or rubbing on this side. Keep adjusting the plastic in the centre and moving the middle so that you do not get a fold like this.Now you can start felting.With a pool noodle roll up the scarf wrap in a towel and roll 100 times ,then open it up quarter turn roll up and roll another 100 times. Keep doing this until felted , or you can put it in the tumble drier on cold well wrapped up around a damp towel and covered in plastic

How to make a nuno felted infinity scarf

I find these very comfortable to wear as they stay put.
I started with a length of dyed scrim 73 inches by 14 wide. If you divide your wool fibres in half it helps to get the two sides equal
I had sewn the two ends together.You can use any fine fabric such as silk of silk chiffon or muslin and scrim.To stop the two layers from felting together I put a piece of builders plastic between the two layers.I then laid a layer of wool fibres on the top.If you want a thicker scarf you could lay two or three layers remembering to alternate the way in which they are laid downI laid some red tencel fibres on top for some colour and sheen