Nuno Felted Collage Shawl

Darling Karen is modeling one of my latest creations. It's really a collage using nuno felting as the medium. I am in my element making collages whether I'm working with paper, Photoshop,textiles or whatever.

 I dyed the silk organza and the blue/peach wool roving which is the base for this shawl.  To that I added taupe and brown roving, hand knit pieces donated to me by my friend Laurie who is a fabulous knitter, (she was actually tired of some of her hand knit sweaters - lucky me, huh!!), other hand dyed silks, vintage sari ribbons, yarn, Tilly Thomas beaded string, repurposed fabric and what ever else was lying around!

If you are interested in purchasing this or any of my other work, please email me by clicking HERE. Thank you for your interest.

Laying out the wool roving, silk, and other goodies.

Making an Upcycled Nuno Felted Shawl

I feel like I'm helping to do my part for our planet when I can use recycled materials and take something old and repurpose it.  In the case of this nuno felted shawl, I started with a gauzy, oversized blouse that my girlfriend was throwing away.  Oh no you don't girl...that blouse has way too many possibilities!  And even though it had a few snags and small holes from being tenderly worn over the years, it's nothing that a little wool roving can't hide.  So I cut the blouse to form a large piece of fabric for the main portion of the shawl.  From my stash, I pulled out several types of white silk along with some old tee-shirts that I had received when signing up for the 5K races that Joe and I used to do.  My running days are over but the tee shirts abound.  Actually I was never much into running anyway and always preferred a clipped walk to a run.  I can walk for miles and miles but felt like I'd croak if I had to take one more stride after I crossed that finish line.  But I digress...click HERE to see how to cut the tee shrts into stretchy circular strips.  The wool roving I use is white superfine merino which felts like a dream.  


After I got all my materials together, that being the blouse, the various silks, the tee-shirts and the roving, I dyed them using acid dyes and although acid dyes are supposed to be used for dying protein fibers like wool and silk, I also used it to dye the cotton tee-shirts.  So even though the cotton didn't come out with the vibrancy of the silk and wool, I felt the muted colors would be a nice compliment to the other dyed fabrics.  Click HERE to see my dying instructions. 


I laid down towels and bubble wrap on my big table and spread out the blouse fabric as my base fabric.  I was ready to get started now that my roving and fabric had dried naturally for a day or two.  I create organically and add fabric and wool as the design dictates; I have a rough idea of what I want it to be but I literally let the piece take on a life of it's own. It's so exciting to see how it will evolve and what it wants me to add or not - color, texture, shape, size and negative space all play an importance in the design. Once the design is complete,  I go through the felting process to bind the wool to the fabric and finish it off by slamming it to shrink the wool (I love that part of the process!).  I am always surprised and mezmerized by the magic that happens when the wool and the silk marry and create their own beautiful texture.

And wearing these nuno felted garments is so fun.  Again their organic nature comes to life whether you wear it upside down, right side up, inside out, sideways, tied, untied - whatever suits you, your mood or the outfit you're enhancing.  The drape is unparalleled and the silk and wool is a great warm weather combo.  Plus what an inspiring statement you make when you wear art, i.e wearable art!

If you are interested in learning more about nuno felting or purchasing a shawl from me, click HERE.  If you're interested in taking a class from me in Los Angeles, click HERE.  Thanks for your interest and hope to see you.

Finished upcycled nuno felted shawl

My acid dyed fabrics and wool roving

Design layout in progress

During the felting process

Below are just some of the ways to wear the shawl.  Right side out (which ever side you consider the right side), inside out, closure in the front, closure on the side, upside down...you get the picture!

Upcycled tee shirt

Great rainy day to stay inside and do some DIY projects, catch up on reading and recorded TV shows such as Smash which I am really enjoying and relishing that I have four to watch.  It's so much fun to be able to watch more than one episode at a time.  Anyway... thought I'd try my hand at making a scarf out out an old tee shirt.  Have you seen them?  I have some pinned on Pinterest and here is the link the original DIY video.  http://studio5.ksl.com/index.php?nid=61&sid=14428842&s_cid=E0002

 I decided to make it my own by dying both silk and the tee shirt cotton fabric and combining them together to make an original funky no-sew scarf.  Here's my DIY instructions and my first finished scarf...voila!

Hand dyed silk and cut up cotton tee shirt

I gathered different kinds of white silk like china, gauze and chiffon and a bunch of old tee shirts that I saved from various 5K fund raising races where I got so called free tee shirts when registering.

White vinegar is the mordant I used.

I soaked all the fabric (silk and cotton tees) in a mixture of vinegar and water for 1/2 hour

I tied up some of the fabric and others not.

I mixed up acid dyes and put it in a gallon size zip lock baggie along with the fabric.  Acid dyes are best for silk and wool which are animal fibers; you really should use protein dyes for vegetable fibers like cotton.  But acid dyes were all I had so the dyes did not take to the cotton as intensely as they did to the silk.

Make sure that all the air is out of the baggie, zip it and put it in the microwave for 1 minute.  Check it and push the air out of it.  Repeat 4 or 5 times.

Rinse the fabric in cool water and use some Synthropol which is a gentle detergent.   I then put everything in the dryer.

various shades of gray

Cut off the hem of the tee shirt and then cut horizontal strips about 1" wide .  Stretch the strips to make narrow bands.

Assemble the scarf to your liking.  Enjoy.