***Vertical Garden Wall Hangings***

I recently became intrigued with vertical gardens...this got me thinking and gave me the inspiration to make my own vertical garden incorporated in a felted wall hanging. The perfect plants would be Tillandsias (Air plants), a member of the pineapple family (Bromelaid). They grow on rocks, trees, shrubs, etc. without soil and receive their water and nutrients from the air through specialized leaves. They are utilized in terrariums, glass globes, drift wood or just sitting on the table...and now my felted wall hangings. The plaints do require an occasional misting or soaking (depending on the season and house temperature) and like to be near a natural light source but not direct sunlight.

 

Here are my first two felted wall hangings/vertical gardens...

Wet/needle felted vertical garden wall hanging using Tillandsias (Air plants)

I made this wall hanging with a wire design for hanging.

 

Wet/needle felted vertical garden wall hanging using Tillandsias (Air plants)

The following photographs show my pattern for laying out the wool to create the wall hanging.

Four layers of wool with a vine design on top

I utilized two bamboo mats to roll up the project during the wet felting process

This shows the vine wall hanging before adding the needle felting embellishments and plants. 

Wet felted vine wall hanging prior to needle felted embellishments and plants

Following are some photographs showing the needle felted embellishments and close-ups of the Tillandsias.

Two Tillandsias (Air plants) &
needle felted vine edges and border

Blooming Tillandsia

Felted wall hanging/vertical garden

Felted wall hanging/vertical garden

It was fun designing and making these wet/needle felted wall hangings. It was also fun picking out the Tillandsias at Home Ec in Chico. They have quite a variety of Tillandsias and it's a fun place to shop for unique home, kitchen and office items.

I look forward to hearing what you think of my vertical garden wall hangings...

***Felted Vessel***

I continue to be amazed at all the things that can be created using wool. My latest felting endeavor is this vessel...

Wet felted vessel with needle felted embellishments

 

Wetting down the wool fibers (resist method).

Adding embellishments.

It's starting to take shape.

Shaped and ready to dry.

 

Added needle felted embellishments.

 



Wet felted vessel with needle felted embellishments

I love that every felted project is a unique artistic creation...no two are exactly alike. Currently, I'm working on two wall hangings...stay tuned....

Thanks again for checking out my blog.

*** Valentine's Day Scarf ***

Valentine's Day has always been special to me... a time to give that little something special to your loved one that tells them you love them and hold them dear. I know, for some people it's just another day of commercialism - business for the candy, flower and card industries, but for me it's the act of giving that token of love and affection that brings a smile to my face.

My eye is drawn to hearts...I love them. So, in honor of Valentine's Day, I designed a wet-felted heart scarf.

  



Valentine's Day wet-felted scarf



It still amazes me to watch how a scarf (or any other project) changes as it goes through the various steps in the process of wet-felting. For this particular project, I wanted the finished scarf to be a thicker felt, so I laid out three layers of thin pieces of wool, plus the hearts and a variety of small pieces of various colors of wool.

Wool roving in thin layers and design

View of hearts design

Close-up of hearts

I used a lavender scented soap in the hot water to start the felting process, so the room was filled with the lovely aroma of lavender...

Working the wool pieces together

After completing the felting, rolling and fulling process, I re-shaped the scarf and laid it out to dry.



It being winter and the felt being a thicker, it took a little longer to dry. As it was drying, the colors of the scarf started to come alive. It's like magic!



I designed the scarf so you can fold over a portion of the top to create two rows of hearts. I am very happy with how it came out.

Showing the top of the scarf folded down to make two rows of hearts
 

  

Valentine's Day wet-felted scarf (front)

Valentine's Day wet-felted scarf (back)

I hope everyone has
a Happy Valentine's Day and remember... 

 

A bell is no bell 'til you ring it,

A song is no song 'til you sing it.

And love in your heart

Wasn't put there to stay -

Love isn't love

'Til you give it away.

 

-Oscar Hammerstein, The Sound of Music

*** Nuno Felted Scarf ***

Nuno felting is the blending of wool and light weight fabric such as silk chiffon or gauze into one fabric using a variation of the wet felting process. The result is a beautiful, soft, light fabric that can be used to make a variety of things including scarves and clothing. The process takes a little longer than regular wet-felting depending on the type of fabric you use for your project. I wanted to find some natural silk chiffon fabric but, unfortunately, I could only find synthetic "silky chiffon" at the local fabric store. From my research on nuno felting, I knew the process of incorporating the wool roving into synthetic fabric would take longer than if using natural fiber fabric and even though the nuno process did take longer than regular wet-felting, the result was well worth it...



Nuno-felted scarf

The process involved five layers; a bottom layer of bubble wrap, a layer of plastic wrap, a layer of very thin pieces of wool roving, a piece of silky chiffon, another layer of very thin pieces of wool roving, and a piece of tulle to cover the top. As I did not hem the edges of the silky chiffon fabric, I used the wool roving to finish the edges.



Top layer of wool roving pieces with a layer of silky chiffon and another layer of wool roving beneath

In order to not disturb or move the very thin pieces of wool roving, I used a ladle to gently pour the lukewarm soapy water over the tulle to begin the felting process, periodically lifting up the tulle to adjust the wool pieces. Once all of the wool and fabric was saturated with the soapy water, I used a pool noodle and rolled up everything to begin the rolling process. I rolled the project several times, alternating the direction each time. About halfway though, I checked to see if the wool was felting into the fabric. It was, so I removed the tulle and continued the rolling process several more times.

Halfway through the felting process

When the felting was complete, I began the fulling process, which is done by thoroughly wetting the project and throwing it into the sink, over and over, and then alternately rinsing it with hot and cold water. The process of throwing the project onto a hard surface shocks the wool fibers, which draws them closer together. In nuno felting, when the wool starts to shrink it causes the fabric to gather in places, resulting in a wonderfully textured light fabric. The more you want your project to shrink  or have more texture, the more you throw it. It was like magic watching my project take form. When it was the size and texture I liked, I thoroughly rinsed it again and then soaked it in a water/vinegar solution to make sure all the soap was out. Making sure all the soap is out protects the wool fibers from becoming brittle and shortening the life of the fabric.

After rinsing the scarf thoroughly one more time to get all the vinegar out, I reshaped it and set it out to dry. I was very excited to see the final project after it dried.

I think the scarf turned out very pretty...not only do I love the colors, but it is soft and light. I'm really looking forward to making more nuno felting projects.

Nuno-felted scarf using silky chiffon fabric

Thank you for checking out my blog. I'd love to hear your comments, tips or suggestions.

*** Felted Purse ***

I am having fun being creative with wool. I've spent a lot of time watching felting videos and getting ideas for projects to make. One of my latest projects was a wet-felted purse. It was amazing to watch a fluffy pile of wool pieces shrink together to make a fun shoulder bag. I used the resist method in order to make it seamless.



Several layers of wool on the top and bottom with a design and a piece of cardboard (resist) in between

Wool covered with tulle and beginning the wet-felting process

 

After the fulling stage of wet-felting



Soaking in a water/vinegar solution in order to make sure all the soap is out

Seamless wet-felted purse

Now to add a wet-felted strap, button and loop

Finished wet-felted purse...another fun piece of art!

My next project was making a scarf using the nuno-felting method. More on that later....