Process

So I need to stop making hats and focus on the dress. My issue has been how to represent the gorgeous texture of the moth body. They are furry little things as you can see.

I

I had thought that using rabbit fur would give a similar result. My samples showed that I can lift the pile of the rabbit fur but it would take a lot more rabbit fur than what I have to get a thick enough coating.

I then thought about the texture and thought about the fact that this will be seen from a distance on a stage and the audience needs to see the texture. So then  went on the path of looking at an effect that would give the impression of texture. So follow the next samples.

Colour is becoming an issue too as they are really just a cream colour but there are some tones of brown and mustard in there too. Do I dye the fibre and then felt...... or felt and then dye? These last two samples show one with just white on white and one with a dyed under layer with white on top. Also construction. I can't decide whether to make it in one with a resist or make the pieces and sew it together.
I'll just keep thinking I guess as I seem to be getting closer

Cyber Fibre Hat

I finally got round to making up the cyber fibre I spun a while ago. I did not go for the computer cosy but instead made a hat for the Hubby to wear at the winter magic festival in Katoomba in June. This festival is renowned for the hats everyone sports for the day. This is so not his style but I think he can manage it for one day.

Autumn Hat

I'm in a bit of a hat making mood which is nice but I really need to move onto making the moth dress I need to have ready in a about 4 weeks. 2 of which I will be away on holiday. I can see some all nighters in my future. In the meantime here's some pics of my Autumn hat.

Front AND back

Wow VV excited to receive my copies of the German Magazine "verFilzt und zugeNaht".  I made front and Back cover! I feel very honored to have been asked to do a profile for the mag. It is beautifully put together and I only wish it came out in english as I would love to read all the articles. They look so interesting.

Getting there

Still not finished. I'm knackered. After rolling till my arms nearly dropped off and my forearms were red raw yesterday I had to give up but went back to it this morning. The first photos show the wool and silk all laid out and wet down before the felting began. The next photo shows the hat pretty well shrunk with the template held up behind to show how much. I'm guessing it has shrunk by 40 to 50%.  I think I had about 9 or 10 layers in this hat. I wanted it to have more integral strength than the last big hat I did which relies on stiffening product to keep it's shape.
The fibre I used for most of the layers is a mystery roving someone gave me in a clean out. It was not too coarse but had alot of loft so I thought it may be good for something sculptural. I used merino for the final 3 layers with silk top and fine spun wool.
Next step is to shape and dry it. I will still have to stiffen it but I hope it will mostly hold it's own shape. I will be putting more loose silk around the cocoon after it is dry.
Then onto the moth!

coming along

I am always astounded at the size things have to be before they are felted. Here's the template and part way through laying out the hat. Looks interesting huh. No it's not a football hat.

Can you believe this?

OMG this is astounding I was mesmerised. I hope you will be too

Double double toil and trouble fire burn and Cauldron bubble

   Fillet of a fenny snake,
    In the caldron boil and bake;
    Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
    Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
    Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
    Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing,—
    For a charm of powerful trouble,
     Double, double toil and trouble;
    Fire burn, and caldron bubble. 

 This is the Mystery pot for my next big project.

BTW thanks to William for the words.

 

This is the clue .

Picture Perfect

  

Found this pic off another site. Don't know the origin but what a celebration of fibre!

Workshop Sweatshop

I have been recently coaxed off my Mountain to the the beautiful Central Cost to conduct a nuno felting workshop with the very lovely and talented folk there.

 

  

 

We definitely worked up a sweat as the weather was warm and we couldn't have the fans on or the windows and doors open as the fibre would blow away!! This was a day packed with activity as all bent to the task of making a nuno wrap.

 

 

I always enjoy the way each work is so different to the next and the students each bring a little bit of their own soul to each creation..

 

  

  

The finished items are all photographed whilst they were still wet so you can't really see the true colours or beautiful lustre and drape, but I'm sure you'll agree they have done some gorgeous work.

  

 

 

Cyber Fibre

The latest hand spun is supposed to be a bit techno. Lots of glitter, wire and glam. It was fun to really plan this one out. Not sure what I should do with it. Perhaps it should be a computer cosy!

More cobweb and handspun

 
 

 This piece has been felted with some beautiful mulberry silk top and is the softest thing.It is so fine it can be draped out as a wrap or scrunched up as a scarf.
One of the holes got a bit too large for my liking so I widened it even more and the added the handspun, crocheted piece as a feature and something to poke the end through. Of course then I had to add a few more bits to balance it out.

Spiral Paving

I couldn't wait any more to take pics. We have had the most amazing weather here over the last two weeks. So much rain 400mm in just 8 days I think someone said.!!. I will apologise now to those in South Australia and Victoria, but really it is too much of a good thing. I have been unable to get any sort of  stint of good weather to finish this job. We have had two days of no rain though it supposed to start again tonight. (*#@*) I just want to get the bricks dry enough to put in the jointing sand. Any way you can certainly see how the whole thing looks now so I took the pics anyway.!
I want you to all ooh and aahh over those steps cause they come up the exact right level!!!!! Mr Crowley (My high School Maths teacher ) would have been so proud.

spin-to-felt

We ll I decided to do a cobweb felt in black to make the spin the feature of this scarf. I lost some of the bouncyness of this yarn. It did tend to flatten out a bit. I had hoped the mohair would be less prone to this. Perhaps adding at a prfelt stage would help, but I doubt it. Lets face it felting is rough treatment for a delicate yarn. Not an altogether amazing result, needs some tweaking to find the best way to incorporate yarn.