Wearable Art…..

One of my favourite pastimes has to be creating wet felted jewellery. I love the sculptural aspect of felting and when this is combined with small wearable items like necklaces and bangles, each one becomes a miniature piece of sculptural, wearable art.

These pieces were created early on during the lockdown when I came to realise that I was never happier than when I was working with lots of texture and a very simple monotone colour palette. In truth I’ve always known this but somehow it’s been amplified with spending much more time in the studio and noticing that the more colourful work was jarring with me!

The Superfine Merino necklaces are embellished with stitch, beading and tiny pieces of Nuno and finished with metal chain fasteners. The great thing about this technique is that each piece is totally unique, you could never have two pieces alike.

Jeudis at Manchester…..

Yesterday I travelled over to Manchester’s EventCity with fellow Jeudis member Christine Plummer for a day of stewarding at the Creative Craft Show.

We were there as members of the mixed media textile group Jeudis, to promote our group and our most recent body of work on the theme of Abstraction.  The work is very varied and include 2D and 3D pieces, wet felting, quilting, collage, hand stitching, machine stitching, etc, etc.  My main piece was inspired by rockpools and made with wet felted Bergschaf fibres,  found shells and pebbles, hand and machine embellished.

Rockpool on display at EventCity, Manchester

I took this theme further, making several items of felted jewellery for the sales table, and was delighted with the response these brought.  The rock pool bracelets were particularly popular and the grey necklet found a new home with a lady who looked absolutely stunning in it!

Rockpool Brooches

Rockpool brooches made from Bergschaf fibres

Rockpool inspired Necklet

The following photos show more of the groups work…..

…..by Gill Green

Close up detail of Gill Greens bowl

…..by Jean Baker

…..by Sue Lewis

…..by Cathy Ball

…..by Linda Settle

…..by Elaine Winterton & Sue Lewis

…..by Christine Plummer

…..by Hazel Brewer

Our next Exhibition will be at Birmingham NEC and I will confirm dates nearer the time.

Mixed Media Necklace…..

This week I came across a fabulous Mixed Media Necklace tutorial by Australian feltmaker Wendy Bailye in Felt magazine.

I love “statement” jewellery so couldn’t resist having a go at this project.  I’ve used a combination of Merino and Bergschaf fibres with found items, perle thread and black annealed wire.

This one is an Autumn themed choker necklace combining one of my Lutradur leaves with Merino fibres…..

Wet Felted Pendants…..

During a (rare) tidy up in my studio last month I came across some sample pieces of coloured acrylic paper with wonderful textures.

Acrylic Papers

The reason I had hung on to them in the first place is because they are so beautiful, but I couldn’t see the point in putting them back in the drawer if I didn’t have a use for them……so I needed to find one!  The result is this collection of wet felted, hand embroidered pendants with acrylic inserts.

Wet Felted Pendants

I’ve also been making solid necklaces and chunky bangles, again incorporating the acrylic papers.

Necklace and Bangle with acrylic paper inclusions

I’m a big fan of recycling, rather than throwing, and I’m now on a mission to find more things I can use as inclusions in my felting.

Merino Necklace and Cuff…..

Back in May, inspired by the work of Lisa Klakulak, I designed and made a Merino necklace and cuff.

Necklace and cuff set made from grey Merino

My first Merino necklace and cuff

Last week I was spotted wearing them and commissioned by a lovely lady called Katie to make a similar set as a birthday gift.  Katie called by to collect the jewellery today and I’m pleased to say that she was absolutely thrilled with it!  I hope the recipient will be equally happy and will enjoy wearing it as much as I enjoyed making it.

Necklace and Cuff set made from grey Merino

Commissioned Merino Necklace and Cuff

Wet Felted Jewellery…..

A couple of days ago I discovered a wonderful American felt artist by the name of Lisa Klakulak.  Her work is incredible and you can see her website here.  After seeing her wonderful wet felted jewellery I was inspired to have a go at making something for myself.  My first attempt was a bangle made from grey and yellow Merino wool tops.  I was disappointed with how it turned out, bulky and crude looking, so stripped it apart and started again.



The second time round I free machined the felt using grey and copper coloured metallic thread and replaced the yellow felt ball with a silver metal button.  I used the second strip of grey/lemon felt, again with the metallic stitching and metal button, to make a matching asymmetrical necklace.  This time I’m happy with the result!

Jewellery created from wet felted Merino wool tops

Wet felted Merino jewellery