Wind and Sea Nuno Felted Shawl

The weather is warming up and I suspect that we're in for a hot summer.  None the less, the southern California evenings are cool and a wrap is almost always necessary.  This shawl is perfect for those crisp evenings when you want to keep warm but still look summery. 

I started with a large piece of hand dyed silk and then added roving, more silk fabric, silk fibers.  I embellished it with nuno inclusions of mirrors, beach glass, cocoons, yarns, sari silk ribbons, pearls, crystals and more.  I created craters, spikes and holes and used a closure of the mirror through a hole.  This piece can be worn so many ways and inside out looks great too.

I hand dyed the silk fabric and the cocoons using acid dyes and the microwave dyeing process.

I laid out my design on bubble wrap (bubble side up), wet it out using a ball brauser, covered it with another sheet of bubble wrap and started the agitation process with Heartfelt Silk's beautifully hand made Palm Washboard.

Anatomy of a Nuno Felted Jacket

This nuno felted collage jacket was quite the undertaking but I am pleased with the results.  It's reversible and looks great on either side. I dyed all of the wool roving and a lot of the silks used in the project.  It's an upcycled garment for sure since it includes fabric from cast away clothing, ties, a vintage obi and recycled sari ribbons.

The front and back are made in one piece from a piece of black silk chiffon 78" long by 39" wide.  I folded the fabric in half lengthwise and then again horizontally from the folded edge.  I cut the neck opening from the folded corner.  I then opened up the fabric, laid it flat and cut all the way down to make a front opening.  I then made a collage of my wool roving and fabrics.


I covered up the collage with a cloth and then wet down the whole package with cool, soapy water.


I used an electric sander to get the wool to adhere to the silk fabric.

 Once the fibers got to the pre felt stage,  I took it out side to dry.

 I then started the sleeves by cutting two pieces from the black silk chiffon each 36" wide by 18" long.  I prefelted the sleeves just like I did the body.

I put the sleeves outside to dry with the body.

Once the pieces were all dry, I sewed the sleeves to the body, wrong sides together.  I then stitched the front to the back, wrong sides together.  That's all the sewing there is on this project.

 I covered up the seams with more wool roving.  Wet it out and again used the sander.  I put plastic in the sleeves to assure that they did not felt together.

 I added a little wabi sabi by placing a piece of red velvet inside the jacket and felting it in.





And now for the fun part - the slamming session to felt and full the piece.   Hot water, soap and slam away!  I do this in my kitchen sink.

Finished nuno felted collage jacket

Back of the jacket 

Close up of the pocket and the cording

It's reversible too and looks great on either side.

An afternoon of batiking

My girlfriend Antoinette and I just realized that we've known each other for almost 18 years already.  Wow, where does the time go!  Antoinette is an artist who excels in everything artistic from painting to sculpture to interior design to creating the most spectacular awarding winning cakes you've  ever seen.  Click HERE for a video on a DeLorean car cake that she did for a fund raiser.  Recently she taught her grandsons how to batik on muslin which made me think that there would be a lot of synergy between batiking silk fabric and then nuno felting it.  So we made a date to spend the day batiking and will soon follow up with a day of nuno felting our batiked fabrics. 

 Stay tuned for a possible workshop combining batiking and nuno felting.

Here's a video of us batiking our hearts out.  Click the button on the bottom right to view it full screen.

Here are a few of our finished batiks on silk fabric  - china silk on the left, silk organza on the right.

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!