AustralianKnitting 31piecesto ensurethattheyareflat,
andremoveanycreasesfromthe
spincycle.Alternatively,thedamp
woolcanbeshapedontoa mould
suchasa kitchenmixingbowl(for
a roundshape)or stuffedwith
waddedpaperto helpit holdits
form.Orthepiecescanbecutinto
squareor circularshapesas‘beads’
forjewellery;madeintobags;or
stitchedtogetherascushionsor
patchworkblankets.
Feltcanalsobemadebyusing
‘justthefibres’,frombattsof wool
fleece(rawwoolthathasnotyet
beenspunintoyarn)suchas‘wool
tops’whichcanbeboughtpre-dyed
or rawsothattheycanbecustom
dyed.Somefeltersarenowusing
‘pre-felts’suchasFelbiwhichare
battsofwoolwhichhavebeen
createdthroughanindustrialneedle
feltingprocess.
In thisprocess,layersoffleece
arelayeredin a cross-hatchpattern
androlledupintoa sausagethatis
theneitherhandrolledor beatento
encouragethefibresto mesh.This
methodis generallyconsideredto
bemoreintricate,soattendinga
workshopto beguidedthroughthe
techniqueis oftenrecommended.
Dimensionalfeltedarticlescanbe
madewithmoredetailedtechniques
suchasNuno,Shiborior layered
methods.Theresults,however,
canbeamazingwitha varietyof
textures,coloursandformspossible
fromsmallpiecesofjewelleryto
softdrapingscarvesandgarments
andevenfullyformedvesselswith
distinctiveformsandshapes.
Whatevertheresultthough,
wheneverthereis moistureand
motiontheresultis feltedtextile
artistry. ■Texturedfeltscarf fromGillBrooks
http://www.handmadefelt.com.au