July 2017 Toss ‘n Tell
Needlefelt Demo by Kerry Bertucci
Kerry set up a beautiful display of samples of work that she had made which demonstrated the the process of needlefelting . Some items were made combining needlefelting together with wetfelting. Many of the 3D forms were started by making the base from foam or an armature for support and form. Other shapes were made using a resist which was then stuffed with wadding or wool or a combination of both.
Natural wool (with lanolin) could be used if you want a hard base shape. Combed and cut wool was then applied to the base shape for building up the surface detail. Kerry had various small embellishments , tools and tips to achieve the detail of the finished items including ways to display them. She also had a selection of reference books on the subject. Judith Shaw complimented Kerry on her most informative demonstration.
Toss + Tell
Alison attended the workshop at the Fibreswest where she learned various techniques of folding felt. She showed us her blue ribbed nautilus shell.
Sue Eslick showed the delightful and practical oven mits and gloves that she made at the Muresk Retreat. Her little granddaughter was the lucky recipient of a charming hat. She stitched a band inside to make the hat smaller to fit properly. The felted jacket that she wore was also much admired.
Vimon brought some unique needlefelted pieces that she has made. Her attention to detail and form are most impressive with a sense of fun as well. 1. Female warrior 2. Dog 3.Acrobatic doll ( wire armature), Love Doll with gold thread embroidery and wet felted dress.
Liz Odd made a man’s scarf in tones of midnight blue. Lesson: Because she had laid her wool so finely it shrank to half the starting length, but the end result was a very fine product. She also made a black frill scarf using black silk, textured fabric and black wool.
Pat attended Sue’s Bag Workshop and made a charming wine/red bag with black embellishments and handle.
Karen Wood made an elegant shaded brown/lilac scarf with silk wool felby scraps.
Vera brought photographs of various lamps and lampshades that she has made recently. The lamp bases are custom carved by her husband. She also made an orange mohair and silk knitted scarf. She then tied numerous balls at each end, after which it was washed twice in the washing machine to create a shibori effect.
Stacey attended Sue’s Bag Workshop and brought her bag made in shades of natural wool, finished with an artistic embellishment of contrasting natural wool and cord handle. She also showed us samples, creating undulations, that she had made during an online course run by Pam de Groot including a shibori experiment.
Kerry attended the Fibreswest felt folding workshop where she made samples of various techniques incl. bracelet and “waterbomb” using different thicknesses. She also showed us 2 of her curved wool felted scarves in shades of blue denim into which she incorporated silkmesh and cotton fabric. 4 layers of wool were finely laid and the end product was light and draped well. Tip: she applied masking tape to the tassels that she did not want to felt in.
Jill made a beautiful nuno felted orange structured jacket . She first made the fabric of cotton voile and wool and then cut it to her pattern and tailored and stitched the garment.
Juliette showed us her “Grass teapot” that she had made at Pam Mc Gregor’s workshop. She used Finnish wool and silk lap Unfortunately the silk lap got lost in the wool which was disappointing but a good lesson all the same.
Liz Owens attended Sue’s Bag Workshop and made a delightful bag with gussets and handle all felted in 1 piece.
Judith Shaw made her scarf using butter muslin and fine quality white Alpaca wool on both sides. She subtly incorporated small coloured flower shapes which were embedded in the wool .
Sara Quail also attended the Fibreswest felt folding workshop where she learned techniques and made a “waterbomb”, a bracelet/ toggle , a “ kaleidocycle” and a scarf = 5 days of hard work !
Kerry Bertucci wore a fine red shawl that she made with merino wool and drafted silk. She also displayed a shawl/wrap in shades of red that she had designed by 1st drawing her pattern on an old discarded blanket to ensure that she got the correct drape that she wanted. She then enlarged the pattern according to the expected shrinkage. The end result was a reversible garment made of wool and silk fabric.
Vimol showed us 2 beautiful framed pictures. “The gum tree” was done with needle felting on a wool blanket and machine embroidery. “The Pom Pom tree” was done with wet felting and then hand embroidered. Her work was finely executed and most attractive.
Kerry Grove showed us all the items that she completed at our recent Retreat weekend. She made samples, a phone bag and cord, a sari silk runner and a beautiful shawl. She certainly was busy at the Retreat!
Liz Odd showed us 2 silk and wool scarves/collars that were made using masking tape as a resist in order to curve the fabric to fit correctly around the neck.
Alison Gomes made a fine merino wool scarf in an autumn rust colour. She applied black wool prefelts to the one side and discovered that the edges were drawn through the rust and created a lovely black line on the reverse side.
Marie M made a stunning Opal coloured wrap at the Retreat using silk lap and wool. Because she was concerned that the colours were too bright she used black wool which toned down the colours. The colours ran and stained her hands. Very helpful to have made a sample before. Luckily she was using black wool so disaster was averted!
Toss n Tell
Alison showed her latest project that she has just completed. She explained her procedure of work from concept to execution. Her colours and design are quite unique and admired by those present. Although it is a large wall hanging she only used 250g wool for this project.
from Soosie’s online workshop.
Nancy showed her blue striped nuno scarf using silk mesh as well as a fine striped one in neutral shades which she used when teaching her Stripe Sequencing workshop.
Susan Sheppard ( visitor) had made a lovely wrap in blue and brown.
Sue Swain showed us a very sculptural piece of sea sponge that she found on the beach.
She accessed a website : Redbubble.com that will print any designs you submit. She printed her “synchronised fish” design onto a bag, a scarf and another design onto her mobile phone cover.
Vimol used a combination of wet felting, needle felting and embroidery to make 2 wonderful, whimsical hats, 1 with a face of a cat in relief. She also needle felted a head with a face in relief for a hat to be displayed on.
Kerry had attended the Pam McGregor workshop and showed her finished teapot that had delightful little birds nesting on the branches of the “treepot”.
ne of her fabulous bags.
