Tuesday, January 26, 2016

FELTING BOWLS

More than a week has passed since I got rear ended on the interstate. I begrudge missing so much studio time, but am thankful things aren't worse. It's still slow going with an arm/hand/fingers that are tingling and have periods of numbness, and unfortunately, my hearing is still causing issues....but.....I started working a little bit...
 The 'crater' method of wet felting open holes - with rims to reveal another color beneath the outer layer of wool has always intrigued me.  Beginning with a dyed pre-felt batt positioned on a circular plastic resist, tuffs of white wool roving were added, covered by a small resist circle.
 That layer was covered with an additional layer of pre-felt batting....and little white dots of wool to guide me where to cut the holes later in the process.  I've worked with pre-felt batts in the past and continue to experience the same problem.....it's difficult to utilize all the small scraps....see how lumpy this is where I've tried to fit them in?  Felters use this product so successfully, I'm sure it's a matter of experience and not trying to glob on so much fiber at one time....practice, practice!!
 Here's the nearly completed felted bowl after cutting away the top layer to expose the white areas.  What I learned when applying this technique to a bowl = increasing the size of those areas would be helpful.
 The uneven layers were worked out (and worked out and worked out) during the felting, yielding a thick sturdy bowl.

Wet felted bowl - 6" base x 3.5" tall  -  $40 + shipping
FYI - it will fit in a small USPS Priority box @$6.80 ....slightly squished...but wool bounces back OR a medium USPS Priority box @ $13.45.

You know me.....I can't leave well enough alone. The beaded rim took hours to create...but whose counting?? All but one bowl is left after my last felting marathon, I plan to offer more soon, but if anyone is interested in this one now.....email me...link on right side bar.

2 comments:

The Idaho Beauty said...

Yup, that beaded rim is a fantastic finish! I'm impressed that these are selling well. Granted, they are lovely little things that you always add your distinctive touch to, but that doesn't necessarily mean people will do more than ooh and aah and move on. So gratifying when all your effort (and these definitely take effort) is rewarded with sales. :-)

margaret said...

a lovely bowl and the beading adds to its beauty