Sunday 10 January 2010

My first Nuno

Tomorrow I travel to London to visit my friend and newborn fairy god daughter, Mia. I wanted to make something bright and cheerful that could either be hung on a wall or used as a little cosy blanket to give as a gift. I had intended to make a picture with elves and toadstools with maybe a rainbow in it, but instead i found myself dreaming of bright suns, Mediterranean skies and beaches, so that's what I made.


Here you can see a pile of ten sheets of prefelt made from my lovely Christmas wools and fabulous washboard (everybody should have a washboard!)


The laying out on silk prior to nuno felting

I literally cut out pieces of prefelt like jigsaw pieces to fit the design I wanted.

The finished piece after nuno felting (wool side up)

And again (silk side up)

Its been quite an educational piece for me. I have not made nuno felt with silk gauze before. It behaves very differently than cotton gauze. For a start, the cotton nuno gauze is very similar to bandage lint, which is good for reinforcing large pieces of felt that you wish to keep thin, but in practice, the wool is felting with itself and not migrating through the gauze.

I made a couple of mistakes with this. I've been reading so much, and asking questions on the felting forum, but in the end you learn most through trying it out yourself. Only then does the advice given and techniques read make full sense.

With this piece, I wrung the reed mat I was rolling it in. Big mistake. I also used boiling water. I later read that this is a mistake too as using hot or boiling water causes the wool to felt with itself and not to migrate through the silk.

I managed to salvage the piece, and I can see the wool hairs poking through the silk when I hold it at eye level. All in all I am pretty pleased with this as a piece of felt. All of the rolling done to make the wool migrate through the silk produces very soft, compact felt. Much better than I usually make it.

I now also have an understanding on how to make my Tiffany designs work best, so all in all, a very productive day.

If you are considering making nuno felt, I found this very good online tutorial.

I would also like to thank Dorie for advising me on another method of nuno felting x

18 comments:

Lickety Splitter said...

That's beautiful Jasmine. I know she will love it! You were my first realization of the beauty of felting. So imagine my surprise when one of my friends felted another of my friends a beautiful bag for Christmas! My friend is very talented, but I had no idea she felted. She says she is just learning, but it was a stunning piece of functional art!

Crazy Ass Beastard said...

I'm no expert on baby blankets but that may be one of the more colorful and interesting ones that I've seen.

My aunt would luv your blog but she doesn't have computer access.

Manon said...

This is sooooo beautiful Jasmine!! What a terrific gift!!

ArtSparker said...

I can understand why you are dreaming of warmth. Lovely colors.

Joei Rhode Island said...

Your design is lovely and the colors are yummy. For my quilt I have been using commercial prefelts (from Jill Gully). They are generally more even and thin than I can make. I also used thin (4.5mm) Haboti silk that I dye. You are on the right road, Jasmine. Keep experimenting...your work is gorgeous.

Ginga Squid said...

Brilliant felting! And I love those colours. They are very bright & tropical and probably a real contrast to the weather you are having over there at the moment?

dorie said...

you're so right you will learning the most by experiment. Your first nunofelt looks very well. The colors are lively and although its about sun and see, I can see the rainbow..XXXd

Delwyn said...

Hi Jasmin
I know nothing about felting but love what you have created . What a special gift.

Happy creative days

Caio Fern said...

Jasmine , your work is beautiful .... did you Matise'S work ?
isn't rare i remember him when i look to your images .

all the best .
Caio

Harnett-Hargrove said...

Something beautiful and bright for a young one's eyes. -J

Crafty Green Poet said...

what a gorgeous colourful piece, so summery in feel...

Twiglet said...

Thanks for commenting on my blog. Lots of interesting stuff here Jasmine - I will be back!!

Titus said...

Oh, that's just gorgeous! Fabulous combination of colours and design.

patricia said...

the piece is really beautiful, and it was very interesting for me to read about the process of making it. And it´ll have a lovely destiny. I do like the way you´re working, always evolving and changing. Those colours are so lively!

Celeste Bergin said...

a perfect present to welcome a baby..what is more beautiful than the ocean, the sunshine and a rainbow? Great job--they will really love this!

rose AKA Walk in the Woods - she/her said...

What a sweet image and a very thoughtful gift!

Clasheen said...

Hi Jasmine, Great work and I just LOVE your gorgeous pile of prefelts!! Thanks for linking to my nuno felt tutorial. I will be uploading another tutorial about how to create a simple pair of felt slippers from a piece of flat felt tomorrow in case you are interested. X Nicola

Debrina said...

Oh you poor thing! I get allergic conjunctivitis - it's hideous!!! I will gladly wait to hear from you my dear, but just can't wait to chat!