I can’t decide whether to call my latest pieces, made from World of Wool Superfine Merino and Viscose fibres, a collar or a necklace? Weighing less than 1oz they are my lightest yet, and I really don’t know I’m wearing them, but they are perfect for dressing up a plain outfit.
The grey/pink version is held in place with a hand painted, embroidered and beaded Tyvek brooch while the grey/yellow has a matching felted flower (with a nod to Pam de Groot’s “splash”)
Last week saw eight members of the Belchford Felting Group come together for a Nuno Felted Collar Workshop.
Using the “tile” technique we combined superfine Merino fibre with silk fabrics, most of which were bought from local charity shops. All of our collars were backed with Uzbek silk for a wonderful, soft feel against the skin.
Jacky has her tiles laid out…..
…..and after Felting.
Margaret working with beautiful, bright colours…..
……and working on the other side
Alison chose a warm, Autumnal colour palette…..
…..and Alison’s finished collar
A close up of the beautiful Indian Silks
Robyn’s Collar is ready for fulling…..
…..and the finished collar looks great!
A close up of Carols work
This one is Sheila’s
Close up of Yvonne’s Collar
Val’s finished collar
Everyone did a terrific job and took home something that’s not only unique and beautiful but very practical too!
Today I joined a small group of ladies for a wet felting workshop in the Thomas Garrett Rooms in Heighington near Lincoln. The ladies meet once a month for felting and they were all keen to learn how to make Merino collars. The group all had specific ideas of how they wanted their collar to look and everyone was thrilled with how their work turned out.
It was a lovely day and thanks go out to Joan and Janet for inviting me over. I shall look forward to seeing some of you for felting in Belchford on the second Wednesday in December.
I was pleased with the shape and size of the grey merino collar I made recently so thought I would stick with those proportions to make an Autumnal Nuno Collar using the “tile” technique.
Colour scheme based on a Charity shop silk scarf.
A shop bought yellow/orange/purple silk scarf formed the basis of my colour scheme. Using a set of Colorhue silk dyes I mixed a yellow and purple to use on Uzbek silk to tone in with the patterned scarf. The colours were incredibly vibrant and brighter than intended but the “Dune” Superfine Merino from World of Wool has knocked it right back and it looks very subtle in the finished scarf.
Uzbek silk painted with Colorhue silk paints
All together there were tiles from four different silk fabrics, this close up shows some of the wonderful textures that have resulted from them.
Nuno felted collar, still wet but looking lovely!
Tomorrow I will post a photo of the finished collar……once it’s had time to dry out and show its true colours.
My latest Merino wool collar has been created using 23micron wool tops from Bronte Glen. I love greys and neutral shades so was automatically drawn to this particular blend called Storm. It’s made up of Raven, Granite, Mocha and Champagne and, although it turned out darker than I expected, I absolutely love it! The circular brooch is made from the same wool and machine embroidered using Madeira rayon threads.
I can’t believe it’s been a month since we started the felting group in Belchford. Where does the time go…..
Once again we had eight ladies gathered for a felting session. Val and Karen couldn’t make it this month but we welcomed two new faces, Ann and Sheila. Sheila brought her current project to work on which is a very handsome needle felted owl…..
Sheila and her owl.
Adding feather detail on the back.
Ann began working on a needle felted landscape and I’m loving the colour scheme…..
Rosie was busy with her beautiful new wool making more vegetables (we’re starting to suspect an obsession here!)…..
Looking good enough to eat!
Olga was working on her sketchbook ideas for new projects…..
Olga working on ideas in her sketchbook.
Pat was busy with embellisher…..
Pat busy on the embellisher
Janet made a wet felted bowl and then did some more work on the lovely picture she started last session….
I started another Merino collar which will get finished at home…
Fibres laid out ready for felting.
All in all another enjoyable day in Belchford.
Earlier this week, under the watchful eye of internationally acclaimed Feltmaker Annemie Koenen, I learnt to make felt “with patience and love”. The workshop in Suffolk was hosted by Region 7 of the IFA and I had a wonderful 3 days in the company of Annemie, Sally, Rachel, Jenny and Gaye.
Annemie demonstrates how to make felt “with patience and love”.
A few photos of work in progress…..
Everyone looks to be concentrating hard!
I took my own Merino wool to the workshop but once I had seen the beautiful hand dyed Merino with Tussah Silk that Annemie had brought with her I just had to use it!
My collar is taking shape
Annemie’s approach to teaching this workshop was to ask each of us in turn what we would like to make and then ensure that we were guided and supported at every stage to accomplish our goal. Annemie has a very relaxed and approachable style of teaching but that doesn’t make her a soft touch! She watched us all like a hawk and kept a very strict eye on timings and on the quality of our work. As a result I came away with a stunning collar and a head full of tips and inspiration for future projects.
My finished Autumnal collar
A big thank you to Annemie for a wonderful workshop and to the ladies in Region 7 for making me feel so welcome.
The ladies with their finished projects.
Lincs In Stitches 
