Collage Nuno Felt Tutorial

This is a piece I finished this week using a collage felting technique.  I turned 60 in January and am finding these large felted pieces to be more of a challenge.  So I have been doing the work in stages.  The first day was spent planning and gathering up all the wool, silk, and bits of yarn that went into the piece.  Day 2, ironing, cutting, and laying out the piece on my work table.  Thinking about the final shape of the piece is important at this stage  I wanted a rectangle and didn't want wool around the entire perimeter of the piece.  I used the serged edges of some of the silk and the selvedge of others for parts of the outer edges, this creates a ruffled edge without having to seal the silk with wool.

 Day 3, the beginning of the layout with a little wool added.  I start with the silk pieces face down and layer bits of merino over all the places the cut silk comes together and along any raw edges on the perimeter.  The layout is on a piece of white plastic over a piece of pool cover.

 More wool added.  I think about the placement of the wool fibers because the shrinkage affects the shape and size of the finished piece.  I used merino wool, mostly ugly stuck together bits left over from other projects.   The fibers were pulled apart and I ran the mix through my drum carder, creating a nice multicolored batt that drafted easily.  When enough wool has been added to the back side of the scarf I wet it with warm soapy water and cover it with a sheer curtain, rubbing all over to begin the felting process.  I use the lid of a tupperware container, the kind with the push button handle in the center and a ridged inner surface.  It works like a felting stone or one of those wooden felting tools, only plastic and inexpensive.

When it starts to stick together a bit it is time to remove
the curtain and cover with another sheet of white plastic.  I rolled up the pool cover and gave it about 800 rolls.  Unroll, and flip over to start laying wool out on the top side of the scarf.  I use white plastic so when I flip it over I still have white underneath the piece, makes it easier to see what you are doing.

The picture on the right shows the front side with all the wool added along with bits of novelty yarn, torn strips of silk, locks, and a contrasting silk wool blend fiber.   Wherever there is wool on the back side, I add more on the top.  This will cover your seams and ensure that the piece is structurally sound.  Wisps of fiber will secure your embellishments.

After all the pieces were in place I re-wet the scarf, covered it with the curtain and rubbed it all over for about 10 minutes, removed the curtain and covered with clear plastic.  Rolled back up in the pool cover for another 800 rolls.

The  picture to the left shows the piece after rolling, with the clear plastic still in place.

Details of the layout below.  I used hand dyed silk chiffon, and silk from three blouses.  An iridescent silk, crinkled print silk, and a silk rayon devore.

At this point the wool had felted enough so my designs were no longer able to move around, so I removed the clear plastic and began re-wetting with warm soapy water and rubbing gently by hand on all the wool sections.    I use a piece of plastic canvas under the piece and rub some of the detailed areas more aggressively. When the piece started to pucker up a bit I moved to the fulling stage, throwing gently at first, then harder, making sure all the seams are stable and all the embellishments are fully adhered.  I added wisps of silk to the back side to control the shape and the amount of pucker in the silk, particularly behind the circle designs to make sure they gather up evenly and don't bubble out from the surface.  I had hoped to finish the scarf, but Downton Abby was on so I quit and went up stairs to watch tv.  Day 4, fulling completed, the piece was rinsed and given a mild vinegar soak to restore PH.  I like to soak my pieces in Eucalon as a final treatment, they seem softer and it helps to keep the static down in the winter.  Day 5 will be cleaning up the mess in the studio, when I get around to it.

Find this scarf or other felted confections in my Etsy Shop