Wet Felting Surface Design
after FeltLOOMÂŽ Felting Machine by
Laverne Zabielski
Merino shawl Flax and mulberry silk roving on cotton gauze. Pressing is important for finishing your wet felted pieces
Introduction The purpose of this book is to explore wet felting techniques that result in less stress on the body and produce beautiful surface designs. This can be accomplished by creating prefelts on the the FeltLOOM felting machine. I was not a felter before discovering the FeltLOOM. I had taken one wet felting class and, while I loved the increased texture and ruching, the process was extremely labor intensive, I could barely walk from the classroom to my car. My forte is sewing and dyeing fabric using the shibori technique. Shibori is the act of manipulating fabric before dyeing which creates addtional texture. A felting machine gave me the chance to make needle felted fabric that I could shibori and turn into wearable art. I met Lanette Freitag and Don Bowles, the inventors of the FeltLOOM in the fall of 2009. Seeking a wearable art designer that would compliment my shibori art to wear and to share a booth at the next Kentucky Crafted Market, I called Lanette.
A Brief History of My FeltLOOM Journey The first piece I made was a coat. I felted criss-crossed merino batts that were already dyed olive green. I ran it through the loom 8 times, turning it over each time, then lined the coat with shibori dyed silk devore.
My next project was to nuno felt white merino on to 44� x 80� silk gauze which I shibori dye by wrapping the felt around a pole before applying the dye. There is a video of these technique on the process page on my website, www. LaverneZabielski.com
She was thrilled at the opporturnity to share her FeltLOOM® and ideas with another Kentucky artist with a different artistic focus. That winter I began to make weekly trips to their farm to create fabric I would take home and shibori dye. In this book I want to share what I have learned about creating prefelts on the FeltLOOM® for wet felting, a technique that saves you time, and wear and tear on your body. In additon to Lanette, I have had many FeltLOOM® teachers along the way, including Sharon Janda, Judy Petrovich, Georg Palmer and Janice Arnold.
Let’s get started.
(c) Laverne Zabielski 2017
Merino Jacket flax and mulberry silk roving cotton gauze I got carried away making scarves, I decided to sew them together for a jacket
For my prefelts, I use a .25# merino batt, 28�x 80� and 3mm silk gauze or cotton gauze. A prefelt is made by first placing your batt on top of the silk or cotton gauze, add your design elements; silk roving, locks, silk fabric, or other fiber embellishments then run it through the FeltLOOMŽ twice on same side. For very thin prefelts a carrying cloth can be used.
Merino shawl flax and mulberry silk roving on cotton gauze Since the prefelt was run through the FeltLOOM only twice, holes can be created intentionally by gently pulling the fibers apart before drizzling water. This adds more texture and intrigue.
Lay the prefelt on top of a .05 mil plastic dropcloth. Fill a spray bottle with water and add small amount of soap. Spray the prefelt and press the water into the prefelt. If the water is not penetrating the wool, add a little more soap.
The above photo reveals a lovely drape after using a .25 batt of black merino which was gently stretched to cover 36� x 80� black silk gauze, then layered with hand dyed silk top. I ran it through the FeltLOOM once on a carrying cloth, peeled it off the carrying cloth, then ran it through the FL one more time before wet felting.
Fold the the long and short ends of plastic over the prefelt
Wrap the plastic around foam insulation tubing or a rolled towel. Experiment with which one you like best. Take notes.
Tightly tie with t-shirt strips or other material. You can use more than three strips. The goal is to get it tight so that it doesn’t shift while being tossed around in the dryer. Place the bundle in an old stocking.
Tie up each end before placing in the dryer. There can be variations, to this technique.
Place in the dryer. Some say no heat, some say low heat. Some say 20 min. Some say 40 min. The goal is to attain as much felting as possible. Experiment. Take notes.
Unwrap, then drizzle with hot water and toss the fabric against a table 50 times before checking to see how more much felting is needed. If you pinch the fibers you should not be ablt to pick up any fibers. You should be able to see a pucker and ripple effect as it begins to ruche. If more felting is necessary, sprinkle more hot water and toss another 25-50 times. The longer it has been in the dryer, less tossing is needed.
Line dry or over a porch rail, then press. You can see the increase in texture in the photo below.
These pieces were dyed after I followed the FeltLOOM and wet felting process. I use Vinyl Sulphon Liquid Reactive Dyes which I purchase from Dharma Trading, http://bit.ly/2lo2rPd. Tip: If I know that I am going to dye the piece after I have wet felted it, I soaked the cotton gauze in 1 cup baking soda and 1 gal of water and let it dry before using the FeltLOOM. (Coming Soon! Shibori after FeltLOOM)
These photos and instructions are meant to stimulate your curiosity to explore, and get you started on trying more techniques utilizing the FeltLOOM. The most important thing is to try whatever ideas come to you, make notes, and build on each experience. That is what makes all of our work so unique even though we are using similar equipment and techniques. There are many great teachers of wet felting teaching live and online workshops. Below is a link to a very detailed book. https://issuu.com/brc94/docs/creativefelging (I’m sure she meant creative felting, not felging :) Email me if you would like to participate or want a hard copy of this book and I will put one in the mail! $20 plus shipping. If you don’t have a felting machine and would like to purchase nuno felt prefelt let me know and we will come up with a size. Lavernez@gmail.com I look forward to hearing from you. Much love and creativity, Laverne
Notes
Notes
Relax Have some energy left after completing your wet felting project and enjoy the afternoon! LaverneZabielski.com