Merino fibres

Abstraction…..

/ Karen Lane / 10 Comments

Abstraction – 27cm x 14.5cm Mixed Media

This is Abstraction, the finished Mixed Media piece I’ve been working on for the past week.  The theme was set by the textile group Jeudis and my interpretation is purely non-representational.

The shapes, formed by laying out and felting the Merino fibres, fabrics and silks, have been traced with free motion stitching which in turn has produced ridges and valleys, adding to the overall textural effect.

For now it’s got pride of place hanging in the lounge in a simple, flat profile black frame…..

Nuno Felting Workshop…..

/ Karen Lane / 8 Comments

Weve just finished day one of a two-day Nuno Felting Workshop at Simply Stitch, East Keswick and what a productive day we’ve had!  10 ladies are taking part and today they experimented with different lightweight fabrics, combining them with Merino fibres to produce beautiful new Nuno fabrics.

And a few close-ups showing the wonderful textures achieved….

Tomorrow we will be using apertures to identify areas to be embellished using hand and/or machine stitching.

Merino and Silk Collars…..

/ Karen Lane / 7 Comments

Today’s students were Jenny, Felicia and Anne, three friends from the Derby area who travelled up for the day to make Merino and Silk Collars.

As you can see from the photos of their finished work the ladies did a wonderful job and achieved some fabulous textures.  They even got done in time for a quick Tyvek demonstration and each made a Tyvek brooch.

Felicia’s finished collar

Jenny’s finished collar

Anne’s finished collar

Jenny, Anne and Felicia…..all hoping the damp, cold weather continues a while longer!

It was a pleasure working with you ladies.  I hope you all enjoy wearing your new creations and go on to make lots more!

Wall Hangings and Vessels…..

/ Karen Lane / 15 Comments

A quick catch up on the past week’s workshops which included wall hangings and vessels…..

 

Wednesday saw me driving back down to Podehole for the second session of my Wet Felted Wall Hanging workshop with the Spalding Embroiderers.  Last month the ladies created their wet felted backgrounds and added some needle felted flowers.  This week they concentrated on embellishing their work with hand stitching…..unfortunately they are not permitted to use their sewing machines in this particular hall which is something I’ve never come across before!

One or two  of the ladies had done some homework since we last met and added free machine stitching.  This is just a small sample of the wonderful work being produced…..

Once again it was a pleasure to work with such an enthusiastic bunch of ladies and as you can see from the photos the standard of work is terrific!  I’m already looking forward to my return visit in September when we will be experimenting with Lutradur and Tyvek to produce a forest floor themed 3D picture.

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In the studio this week I had a visit from Annie and Marisa.   Neither of these ladies had ever felted around a resist before but both were keen to have a go.   They certainly rose to the challenge and produced two wonderful wet felted Merino bowls with multicoloured necks and embellished surfaces……

On Saturday I was given even more of a challenge when Sue, with daughters Adele and Sharon, visited the studio.  They had said they wanted to make 3D vessels but made it very clear from the outset that they weren’t prepared to settle for something straight forward or easy.  They were only interested in making complex 3D shapes, the sort that require a book resist or differential shrinkage.  When you consider that none of these ladies had ever done Wet Felting, either 2D or 3D, prior to this visit what they achieved in 6 hours was pretty amazing!

 

Experimenting with Nuno Felting…..

/ Karen Lane / 11 Comments

Yesterday I was teaching in Risley, just outside of Derby, working with a creative group of ladies called “Material Girls”.  They had invited me over to spend the day with them experimenting with Nuno Felting.

The ladies all brought a selection of lightweight fabrics ranging from pure silk, viscose and muslin through to polyester and netting as well as Merino fibres.  The idea was for this to be an experimental session making samples which could later be stitched and framed, making a unique piece of textile art.

The results were absolutely stunning!  Depending on the choice of fabrics this process can be very time and labour intensive and therefore I was a little concerned as to the staying power of my group!  I needn’t have worried….there was a lot of coffee, biscuits, laughter and determination to keep us going and the results really paid off.

Once their work was finished the ladies used picture mounts to select certain area which appealed to them for stitching.  Non of this fabric will get wasted as even small off cuts can be used for making brooches or used in card making, mixed media work, etc…..

Once again, it was a pleasure to work with a group of like minded ladies and be able to share my enthusiasm and passion for Feltmaking and Textiles.  Many thanks to Viv and Jenny for arranging my visit and helping to make the day a success.  I look forward to seeing you all again sometime.

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A quick update on the pictures made at this workshop and a big thanks to Anne who has sent me photos of the two pictures she made from her Nuno samples.  Just a little stitching is all it took to transform the fabrics into beautiful landscapes…..