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Post by Cheryl on Apr 15, 2014 15:18:40 GMT
Hi everyone, I'm so glad to have found this forum! I'm a needle/wet felter in Carlsbad, CA, and I'm lonely - There seem to be very few people interested in wool in the southern California area. I wonder why...  I've been using artfelt paper lately, and I absolutely love it. (I hope that's not considered cheating!) I'm experimenting with coasters right now (preparing for a class I'll be teaching soon), and I'm having so much fun. I'll take a photo to show you a few of them. I'd like to incorporate nepps into my work, and I'd like to dye my own. I'm a complete newbie when it comes to dyeing. Can anyone tell me how to dye nepps without having them felt? And also I've heard it's hard to get nepps to take up the dye because they're so hard. I've heard adding some vinegar and/or soap to the water helps, but wondering if any of you have any other brilliant ideas? Please let me know. Glad to be part of your group! Cheryl p.s. I'm a mother of 3, Nana of 4, married for 35 years, work for a property management firm, and love to spin yarn, make mosaics, collage and stitch postcards, felt...etc.  |
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Post by MTRuth on Apr 15, 2014 17:48:44 GMT
Welcome Cheryl - I'm glad you joined us. It might be good to post your dyeing question in the dye section of the forum. But it's not a big deal, we can answer it here too. Your coasters look nice. I've never used the artfelt paper - just usually do the standard wet felting without it. I have found that dyeing nepps in a baggie and pouring the dye in over the nepps works OK. The nepps are contained and then you can steam them still in the baggie. You do need to soak the nepps first in vinegar water and adding a little bit of soap helps the wool to take up the water. Have you tried using nepps before in felting? I haven't had a lot of success using nepps but I know that Lyn has done a wonderful piece of felt for the Australia challenge that had tons of nepps on it. I hope you'll join in our conversations and show more of your work. Even though you can't seem to find too many people to join you in southern CA, you'll find a world wide group of friends/felters here.  |
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Post by Shepherdess on Apr 15, 2014 18:13:17 GMT
Welcome to the forum. Ruth's baggies work well especially when you want to do a bunch of different colours. You can just keep adding baggies to the steamer. I think you need to put a really thin layer of wool over nepps to get them to stick.
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Post by Pandagirl on Apr 15, 2014 18:26:11 GMT
Welcome Cheryl! You've come to the right place. We love to share and problem solve here. We have a lot of experienced felters/dyers from around the world. Check out our dyeing section. I have dyed nepps successfully with acid and Jacquard green silk dyes. I believe I posted some pictures in the dyeing section. If you have more questions, please let us know.
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Post by Teri Berry on Apr 15, 2014 18:44:02 GMT
Welcome Cheryl! I'm sure you will find plenty of like-minded people in here What is artfelt paper? Is it a variety of needle-punched prefelt? |
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Post by luvswool and dyestuff on Apr 15, 2014 19:27:25 GMT
Cheryl, welcome to the Forum! We have a great group of experienced and newbie felters as well, all happy to share our adventures.
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Post by Pandagirl on Apr 16, 2014 0:32:01 GMT
Cheryl, I forgot to mention your coasters and your avatar are really cute!
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Post by carole aka craftywoman on Apr 16, 2014 8:18:55 GMT
Hi Cheryl, you'll find loads of answers and support on this forum, everyone is so helpful and inspirational :-)
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Post by zed on Apr 16, 2014 10:09:35 GMT
Hi Cheryl, welcome to the forum I remember a flickr contact a few years ago used artfelt to make scarves. I hope you enjoy it here. |
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Post by Cheryl on Apr 16, 2014 15:02:44 GMT
Oh hi everyone! Thanks for the warm welcome from all of you! Teri, artfelt paper looks like a sheet of Bounce dryer fabric softener, but it's made of potato starch. You use it as a base for your flat needle-felting, slightly felt your piece, then roll it up in bubble wrap and throw it in the dryer to bounce around and agitate it to felt. I'm still getting used to how it responds, and not sure I'll use it in the long haul, but we'll see. Anyway, I"ve got to run, babysitting this morning! Wishing you all a happy day, and thanks again for your sweet comments!
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Post by Pandagirl on Apr 16, 2014 16:08:42 GMT
Hi Cheryl. I've seen the art felt paper online, but wasn't sure what it was. Thanks for explaining. Hope to see you back soon!
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Post by Teri Berry on Apr 17, 2014 18:16:55 GMT
Thanks Cheryl - the art felt paper sounds really interesting, like a dissolvable base or needle felted pieces that disappears as you wet felt the piece? Definitely not cheating, sounds very innovative to me can't wait to see some of the pieces you have been making with it |
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Post by lyn on Apr 19, 2014 22:48:15 GMT
Hello Cheryl - love the avatar and the coasters are beautifully designed. Welcome to this lovely forum.
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Post by rather be felting on May 13, 2014 12:20:39 GMT
Hi Cheryl,
Your coasters are beautiful. I have never heard of felt paper. I am going to have to check that out. Welcome to this wonderful forum. I am new here too, and I am learning so much here.
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