Learn how to optimize your Nuno Felt design layout with this tutorial. Perfect for beginners looking to improve their Nuno Feltmaking skills!
Here's what I've learned about laying out a nuno felt design and lots of ways to get the design successfully felted through the fabric.This is Part 6 of my exploration into making nuno-felt . Those of you new to wet felting and nuno felt would find watching the whole playlist very helpful.
I have been making small samples as I research what works and doesnt work when making nunofelt. As you will hear me say in the other videos... I make mistakes so you dont have to. In this video I overdid the use of the yellow wool fibre . It worked really well to help attach the design to the fabric but .... in the end I got to it with some tweezers and pulled off enough of the yellow to make the design work. By the way, my mistakes are genuine .
When textile artists talk about Nuno Felt, it is sometimes in reference to using wool or other fibre to decorate a lightweight open fabric such as silk or muslin. Our task is to push the wool fibres together and at the same time, pushing the fibres through the weave of the fabric. You only need a very small amount of wool. This is where wool comes into its own best qualities of being great for all temperatures.
Previously in Part 2 I tried to create an embellishment on some sari silk. I found it very difficult to get the wool to penetrate the silk. In Part 3 I experiment with different ways of creating a nuno felt sample using black muslin cotton and Merino wool top. The idea was that using an open weave fabric would make it a lot easier to get the wool to go through the fabric. I got lost in my own enthusiasm and 'bull in a china shop' approach. So I reworked the same piece using a slower and more deliberate approach to see if that would work ... and it did.
About 30 years ago Judith Shaw , a Western Australian felt maker, made me a beautiful shawl/wrap . After much use , it is still great to wear. It always amazes me how much warmth can be found in a cotton that has even just a little wool embellishment. My aim in part 5 was to work out how Judith got the wool fibres to penetrate the fabric so effectively. This time , Judith has contributed by reminding me how she found that sometimes leaving a project wrapped up to rest overnight or even just a few hours can speed up the felting process when you get back to it. So there is no need to rush. Take your time and enjoy the journey. Judith also suggested that putting the work in a warm sheltered environment ...like your car on a warm or hot day can also speed up the felting process.
Here are some brief notes based on what I have learned over this year , working on the youtube videos.
Fine Merino wool works best if you want to make a garment.
For Nuno felt you need a fabric you can see through , breathe through (Polly Stirling)
It is good to have some old towels to go under your work ( and also protect your surface).
Shelving plastic or rubbery underlay is a good base that can also help your felting work.
Bubble wrap to go under and over your project is also really good.
Once the project has been laid out taking into account the need to balance your design so that the whole piece shrinks evenly It is common practice to lay down a piece of old net curtain that will hold down the design in the early felting stages.
Lightweight thin, smooth plastic can also work.
You will need a container of soapy water at room temperature . I highly reccommend that you dont use hot water until the work is already well attached and felted.
Any , some or all of the following can be useful: massaging tools, A simple piece of polystyrene wrapped in bubble wrap, a hand held massage tool, light weight plastic bags that can be crunched up and used for massaging the work. Various dowels, pool noodles, rolling pins are all useful when you are up to the rolling stage. In this video, you will only see me rolling from one direction. In fact this video is 6 minutes condensed from more than two hours of footage. I actually worked the piece from every direction and both sides. You certainly do not have to use all these tools and techniques . I am just showing you how they might work. It is also ok to use nothing but your own hands which might just be the best felting tool ever.
I also could have maybe should have stitched down my design to make it easier to felt. Even just a few stitches here and there would be very useful. Do ask lots of questions. I would love to hear from you
Best wishes
Christine The Weekend Artist