Wednesday 7 September 2011

September Meeting 2011 Nuno Felt












At our September Meeting we welcomed Jan Hicks who showed us how to make nuno felt. We laid out towels then a slatted blind followed by bubble wrap. Our piece of damp open weave fabric { silk, muslin] was laid out on top. We then laid out our coloured merino wool fibres thinly, either in patterns or randomly.
















After the fibres were laid on the base fabric of silk or muslin hot water and soap were applied. Friction was then applied by rubbing with hands, rolling and finally banging and beating on the table to encourage the wool fibres into the spaces in the material. We all enjoyed getting rid of our stress by beating on the table!





















As the wool began to shrink and felt interesting patterns began to appear on the fabric rather like seersucker.































The nuno felt was laid out to dry but most went home in plastic bags to finish the drying at home.
Once the felt had dried some were going to be used as scarves, some were going to be incorporated into other embroideries and some embroidered into to make a new embroidery. It was an enjoyable work shop and thanks go to Jan for her help and expertise.