Materials: Preparing your materials: Use your towel to protect your work surface. Layout one length of bubblewrap, bubbles facing up.

Transcription

1 These instructions show the layout and techniques for making flat circular art pieces. Follow these basic steps used to create a strong, even, wool felt surface. This is the base or canvas, open to embellishment in your own style, with your own favourite materials and techniques. Be as creative as you wish while working with the size range, and engaging with the theme: stella motus: movement of the stars. We know you will amaze us with your diverse and gorgeous creations! For full information about this project visit: Materials: Preparing your materials: 0.5 ounce (15 grams) wool fibres, (roving and/or batting) You may want to use two or three colours to create a more interesting base. 2 pieces of bubblewrap about 18 inches (45cm) square warm water natural dishsoap foam pool noodle, wooden dowel or rolling pin embellishment materials Use your towel to protect your work surface. Layout one length of bubblewrap, bubbles facing up. Divide your wool fibres into two piles. One for the bottom layer, that will become the back of the piece, and one pile for top layer or the front. The rovings can be easier to work with and lay out as thinly as possible if you divide the rovings along the length. This gives you more of a hand sized amount to work with.

2 To shingle your wool in your layout, gently clamp with one hand and with the other, pull out a staple length of fibre. The staple length of your fibres will determine how far apart your hands need to be: if you can t pull the fibres out easily, your hands are too close together. The closer your drawing hand is to the end of the fibres, the fewer fibres will be in each shingle and therefore the finer the shingle, and the finished felt. Layout a 12 inch (30cm) circle, laying out this first wool layer in a fan shape, with one end of the tips towards the centre of the circle. Overlap the wool shingles by about 1/3 their length. There will be more wool towards the centre of your circular layout. Try to keep your layout well spaced, even in weight, and not too bulky. This will give a finished felt of about 7 inches (18cm) in diameter Lay out second layer with the fibres perpendicular to the first layer. Carefully look over the surface for any holes, gaps or thin areas. Check particularly where your shingles overlap. This is the area most likely to have thin spots or gaps. If you have more thick or bulky joins, spread the fibres out a little with your fingers. Add more wool, in thin wisps, as required.

3 Add some embellishment fibre to add some richness and depth to your piece. In this sample we have added highlighting wool lines and silk fibre. If you are making a piece with more elaborate embellishment, wet out and compress your piece first and then apply your surface design. Your design elements will stay in place better when your wool base is wet and flat. Mix about 1/2 teaspoon of dish soap with 2 cups of warm (not hot) water. You may not use all of this felting solution. Apply this mixture evenly over the surface of the wool using a watering can, a plastic sports bottle or ball brause. You can also pour the water slowly over the back of your hand to wet out the wool. We want to have the effect of rain falling over the wool- evenly distributed. We want to lightly water the surface without moving our wool designs; just enough for the surface to be wet, but not sitting in a pool of water.

4 Cover the wool with the second piece of bubble wrap and press down with your hands. Keep your hand flat, using a compressing motion. Our finger tips tend to move the wool fibers underneath. flattens the wool fibers and distributes the water and soap mixture. Press down times in one spot to thoroughly wet out the fibers before moving on to the next section. Work over the whole piece in this way. Lift the bubble wrap and check that all the fibers are flat and wet. Add more water if necessary, and repeat the compressing in that spot. With the bubble wrap cover in place, add a little of the felting solution to the top of the bubblewrap. This allows your hands to move easily and lightly over the surface, gently creating the agitation needed to form a felt skin on the surface of the wool. You can also roll over the surface, very lightly, applying no pressure, using a length of PVC pipe, rolling pin, or a pool noodle. This helps to evenly wet out the wool fibres. With the bubblewrap in place, both top and bottom, Flip the felt work over to finish up the back of the piece and add a felt hanging tab. With back of work facing up, fold over all thin edges. Add a thin layer of wool around the outside edge, to reinforce and strengthen.

5 To make the back hanging tab: cut out a piece of bubble wrap about 6 inches long by 1.5 inches wide. at the centre top of the felt piece. P Add a narrow band of wool from one side of the resist to the other. The resist should extend out top by at least 1 inch (2.5cm) Add a little extra wool along the sides of the resist material to ensure a good join between the loops and the base. Wet out, cover with bubblewrap, compress. Now add some of the felting solution to the top of the wrap and gently work over the whole surface with your hands flat, paying extra attention to the wool at the sides of the resist, to ensure a strong connection. Roll up all the layers of bubblewrap and wool around the pool noodle, dowel or pipe. We all have different felting rhythms, so you may roll up tightly and roll vigorously for minutes total, or roll more gently for minutes. Periodically open the roll, check the felt surface by rubbing your finger over the surface to see how much the fibres are moving, or by pinching to see how much the fibres lift. Rotate the felt by 90 degrees or a quarter turn, and re-roll. This allows you to work in the felt in all direction. The shrinkage happens most in the direction we roll.

6 To finish the felting we will alternate between these three techniques: Toss the balled up felt down hard onto your open bubble wrap. This really helps to shrink the wool felt very quickly, but we have no control over where the shrinkage happens. Fold up the felt and roll it on itself. This gives the felt a tight even surface. The felt will shrink most in the direction in which you roll, use this to control the shrinkage and shaping of your finished panel.

7 With hands flat on the surface of the felt, rub the felt over your bubblewrap surface. With this technique you are shrinking all of the felt, but can focus the shrinkage in particular areas, like corners, edges, or thin spots. Too much rubbing will create a slightly balled or fibrous surface. This is why we alternate the three techniques as they each have drawbacks and benefits. Use this surface rubbing technique to work around the edges with your finger tips. This will tighten up and strengthen the edges of your felt. Continue until the wool is quite well fulled, and feels firm. Check your measurements to see if you have reached a 35-40% shrinkage rate. If not continue felting for just 5-10 more minutes. This is all it will take to get a well finished, durable felt! Rinse well in warm water, spin out any excess water and while still damp, Run an iron over the surface. Steaming the felt like this will tighten up and refine your felt surface. Lay flat to dry. Your felt is can now be embellished further with some simple stitching, by hand, of machine, beading or needlefelting.