Saturday 22 December 2012

Wet felted, wool painting.


Debbie:: Don't read this until after the 25th if you want your wall hanging to be a surprise!
:::
Hello my lovelies. How are you doing? All ready for Christmas? Is the house decorated, the pantry full and the gifts wrapped?
Well I think I could say yes to most of those questions, still a couple of things left to wrap but the job I'm most pleased about finishing is my felt wall hanging, for the very, lovely Debbie.

A rather long one this one. Well longer than I've ever contemplated before. In fact Wonderful Man  had to help me dismantle my work table in the attic and bring it down to the kitchen where we reassembled it end to end with our dining table to give me a work space long enough.
And this is how it ended. Work table dismantled once more and reassembled back in the attic so that I could embroider and embellish in my usual surroundings. Wet felting is an untidy business, well it is the way I do it. I think the whole family is happier when I'm back in the attic, lol.

One of the most difficult parts of this commission was to try and work out how much the felt would shrink. Not enough and I would have to trim it to size, which in turn would mean losing the lovely natural wiggly edges.
Too much and the piece would be too small and I'd have to start over again! God forbid! It took me about seven hours to lay out the Merino wool for this one and then I wasn't sure about it so left it overnight and came back to it the next morning with fresh eyes.

Next what seems like an afternoon of soapy water and much vigorous rolling and roughing up.
Then I have a day or two's break while the felt is left to dry naturally.
Out comes the sewing machine next and my box or should I say boxes of threads. Tricky is a nice word to describe how difficult it was at times to manoeuvre this around under my domestic sewing machine. There are other words but tricky is the one we'll use today.
Hand embroidery and scrummy sparkly bits are next. You can't beat a little bit of twinkle here and there.
One of the good parts follows. Slip stitching the backing fabric and casing onto the reverse. I luuuuurve slip stitching.
Finally, balancing on a chair to fit all of its 62 inches into the viewfinder.
Gloriously happy!
That's how it makes me feel to look at it finished and ready to be carefully wrapped. It's at this point that I remember how much I enjoyed every single moment of making it.

Merry Christmas to you all
and
I hope you'll join me in 2013 to share in each others creativity.

Love Fi x 




39 comments:

Val Reaves said...

Thank you for the lovely pictures...This is lovely! You should be so proud of yourself for the accomplishment!
Merry Christmas to you and yours,
Val in Kansas

French Nanny said...

Simply amazing. A beautiful piece of work!

Noelle the dreamer said...

Beautiful Fiona!
Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year to you and yours!

Miss Holly said...

Oh my gosh!!!!! This is absolutely beautiful!!! You are a real master of this art...I can only imagine how beautiful it is when really seen !! Imjust love where you are going with your art!!
Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones!!!

Claire said...

Hey Fi, that was some commission........

Love reading about all the processes behind the finished piece.
It looks wonderful and I'm sure Debbie will be thrilled with it......

Enjoy the holidays with family and friends.
From a rather warm part of Oz......

CLaire x

Anonymous said...

OMG - just stunning.

You have actually inspired me to have a go at felting and l have bought myself a dry felting kit to play with in the new year.

kathy said...

This is stupendous, you are a true artist. I am sure that Debbie will be delighted by it.
Many thanks for showing us

Carol said...

Wow, stunning. Debbie is one lucky lady to have a piece of your art to unwrap on Christmas Day.
Wishing you and your family a very Happy Christmas and a Peaceful New Year.
I look forward to continuing to follow your creative journey in 2013.
Carol xx

Mac n' Janet said...

Absolutely gorgeous, someone is getting a wonderful gift.

Cristina said...

Muy bello!!! Felicitaciones !!
Felices Fiestas!!!
Un fuerte abrazo

http://cristinalaaldeacountry.blogspot.com.ar/

Wendy, R.N. said...

Gorgeous!!! I would love to learn how to do this.

Amanda S. Hicks said...

This is absolutely breathtaking! I love the colors so much and all the whimsiness. Thanks for sharing this eye candy! Merry Christmas!

Amanda S. Hicks said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Elderberry-Rob said...

It's fabulous - the new owner is going to love it. What a lot of work involved but worth it. Betty

Charlotte said...

You are really amazing. That is beautiful

Jak said...

Wow, absolutely stunning. I'd love to give this wet felting a go, maybe in the new year. Wishing you and your family Joy this Christmas.
Jak x

Anonymous said...

Absolutely beautiful.

Fiddly Fingers said...

Absolutely stunning. Love hearing about how it's put together. A fantastic piece of work and on such a large scale too. Truly wonderful :)

Anonymous said...

What an absolutely wonderful creation you never cease to amaze me
You are a very talented lady.

Have a wonderful Christmas
Hugs Pam

Twiglet said...

Wow!!! I am speechless - what a mammoth task. It is utterly gorgeous! Happy Christmas Fi. x Jo

Chrissie's Crafty Corner said...

You never fail to amaze me! Absoloutely gorgeous! You are one very clever lady. Have a merry Christmas xx

julz spinning & weaving supplies said...

hi - i think your work is really inspirational - I am looking for people to feature on my own blog - julzcrafts.wordpress.com - which is mainly about spinning, weaving & felting - i also have a shop on etsy, and would like to encourage people to be more adventurous about felting - would you like to write a small piece for my blog, or can I use one of your pictures to show people what can be done?

all the best with your work

julz

zooperson said...

Wow! What a beautiful work of art! Thank you for sharing your projects and your life with us. What better gift than to have friends all over the world. Merry Christmas. Sonja. PS: the embroidered bunny sends greetings and loves it here in my studio with all her new friends. : )

Little Blue Mouse said...

Beautiful!

I hope you have a very happy Christmas!

Tilly Rose said...

Hi Fi
How are you my lovely.....

I'm loving spending a few precious moments catching up with your lovely blog!
I ADORE your latest commissions.
Such a talented lady!!!

I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas...
Looking forward to enjoying a little more Blogging time in 2013...

Tilly x x x

Virginia said...

Fi, that piece has taken my breath away! It's Drop Dead Gorgeous! What a wonderful Christmas gift!

I hope you were given something special too - you'd certainly made your friend's Christmas a memorably one.

Do you mind my asking - when you're placing the flower felt, do you wait and use some pre-felt shapes when you have partially felted the background, or do you take a deep breath and place them on at the beginning, and trust your judgement that they'll be in the right places?


sandiart said...

That there is some very serious work, gorgeous to boot. Hope you had a lovely Christmas day, I caught the lovely little bunny you gave me sneaking off with a chocolate on Christmas day, thought I would be too busy to notice, tisk, tisk. Have a wonderful New Year and all the very best for 2013.
xo sandi

MarmaladeRose said...

Hi Virginia.

I take a deep breath and place everything at the beginning.

Anonymous said...

Hello Fi!
I am just playing catch up on all your gorgeous things. As always, I am in awe. So much so that I had to call Hubby in so we could scroll down through it all together.
We are both amazed at your spectacular creations. And we LOVE your doggie :)
With Happy thoughts of you,
Danette

Mia said...

So beautiful!!! What must it be like in the flesh (or felt, I should say). Very talented.

Lyn said...

Gorgeous, so beautiful! Xxx

Annie Jeffries said...

What a gorgeous work. Simply amazinag.

Linda said...

Absolutely stunning. Treasure your talent!

BumbleVee said...

What can a person say about this? .....Wow........ amazing....

Dolunay -Alanayarts said...

enfes olmuş!hayran kaldım.bravo!

Life at Holly Cottage said...

what an amazing piece of work! So intricate and so beautiful

Unknown said...

This is a such a beautiful work of art! Thank you for sharing your process and photos!

Indigo Blue said...

I have only done a little (very basic) wet felting and have seen how much it can shrink so your start size must have been HUGE,
I do not think there are words to describe how lovely is.
Happy New Year and a very successful one too.
X

Anonymous said...

WOW !!! beautiful work, was just surfing the net for embroidery inspiration and come across your page, what more inspiration could I ask for :)