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Post by jwugg on Sept 20, 2015 7:22:24 GMT
Still too hot for felting here, but it won't be long, I'm getting itchy felting fingers again.
Yesterday I found a big bag full of (badly) knitted yarn in a 'boot fair' (yard sale), the seller said it was Rowan Biggy, so I nipped home & googled it - yes, 100% merino, super chunky, variegated, couldn't find any mention of superwash, in fact I found a couple of blogposts about how much it pills when knitted - YES, Perfect for felt then! So my Daily Dose has been unravelling her knitted lumps. Of course it's useful for the inside 'surface decoration' between silk & fibes, as it's variegated thick & thin, but I'm also planning a scarf made from lots of lines of the yarn with a thin layer of merino fibres - anyone tried this? Will let you know the result.
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Post by lyn on Sept 20, 2015 7:39:25 GMT
Rowan Biggy is great for felting. I've used it a fair bit as embellishement. There are thin parts of the yarn that are tightly packed so tease them open a bit with your fingertips to help the felting in or you can always repair afterwards with a felting needle. I think your idea of laying lots of lines with merino will work well - are you going for a cobweb effect? Here's a scarf made with merino and Rowan Biggy - the yarn is on both sides of the merino. I laid out bits of yarn diagonally in a row, covered with merino, then laid out bits of yarn diagonally (and in between the other bits of yarn) on top so that both sides of the scarf look similar.
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Post by jwugg on Sept 20, 2015 16:48:34 GMT
Thanks Lyn, great tips. Love that scarf, may steal the diagonal idea, as I'll have plenty of yarn for several scarves. Hope I don't need the needle-felting tip, as I can't get the hang of it, stab myself mostly. Glad I took the risk now, I'll keep unravelling
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Post by koffipot on Sept 21, 2015 13:52:24 GMT
Thanks Lyn, great tips. Love that scarf, may steal the diagonal idea, as I'll have plenty of yarn for several scarves. Hope I don't need the needle-felting tip, as I can't get the hang of it, stab myself mostly. Glad I took the risk now, I'll keep unravelling I try to steer clear of felting needles too!
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Post by zed on Sept 26, 2015 14:45:10 GMT
My dad called not so long ago with some 'salvaged' fabrics to see if I wanted any. I said no, but I'd have the muslin sack he'd packed some in. It was printed and I thought it'd make a nice nuno piece. It turned out that the ink wasn't colourfast and ran when I felted the piece, and the printing faded, but it's alright, it's different Printed Muslin par Zedster01, on ipernity
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Post by koffipot on Sept 26, 2015 17:47:09 GMT
That jogged my memory back a few decades - more than I care to think of! Flour used to come in muslin bags which had some sort of coating and printing. My mum used to wash them to remove the coating and use as straining cloths amongst other things.
Do you know what was in the bag originally? I can see 'Style' and 'Print', so remembering your dad was a tailor, perhaps fabric?
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Post by luvswool and dyestuff on Sept 26, 2015 18:01:51 GMT
American women used to make their quilts out of old flour and bean sacks. Talk about being thrifty! I’ve read that manufacturers of foodstuffs began printing attractive patterned sacks as an incentive for folks to buy their products.
Good find, Zed.
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Post by lyn on Sept 26, 2015 21:14:32 GMT
Interesting piece of nuno!
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Post by zed on Sept 26, 2015 22:23:13 GMT
Thanks It says 'Style Boy's Pyjama Set', Judith. I should have photographed it first. Flour Sacks were used to make dresses too, weren't they Cathy?
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Post by luvswool and dyestuff on Sept 27, 2015 15:11:11 GMT
Oh, yes, sack dresses. Those were the days of waste not, want not. You can still find vintage and antique quilts that have those scraps of food sacks, which are a bit coarse, but filled the need at the time.
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Post by MTRuth on Sept 28, 2015 2:52:03 GMT
I really like it Zed - even the fading of the colors,
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Post by carole aka craftywoman on Sept 28, 2015 8:17:51 GMT
Lyn I love the scarf, the diagonals give it a quirky look, that together with the glass pendants - what a match :-)
I really like the faded sacking too Zed, so much history - good on you for exploring ways to keep it
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Post by jwugg on Sept 28, 2015 20:14:41 GMT
Love that piece, Zed, would be great as part of a larger mixed media wall- hanging or similar, any artwork with a theme of historical, trade, social statement, globalization etc.
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Post by zed on Sept 29, 2015 9:22:51 GMT
That's a great idea, Jill
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