felting workshop

[Shepherdess]

Zed when doing felt( not nuno) I have my students use bubble wrap. I do it to slow them down, they tend to want to go at it too fast and put too much pressure on at the beginning. The bubble wrap helps that not be a problem.

[zed]

When the felt is first wet down, Ann?

[luvswool and dyestuff]

I also use the bubble wrap technique like Ann, from the beginning. Only tried a sander once and the noise drove me crazy. I prefer loud rock music.

[Shepherdess]

Yes Zed when they first wet it down I have them rub for a while and then roll in the bubble wrap. They usually want to roll fast and hard. The bubble wrap helps prevent that.

[koffipot]

Oct 30, 2015 23:26:30 GMT luvswool and dyestuff said:

I also use the bubble wrap technique like Ann, from the beginning. Only tried a sander once and the noise drove me crazy. I prefer loud rock music.

I'm with you there Cathy! Prefer the 'Good Vibrations' from the music !!

[jwugg]

Teri, I tried the 20 rolls away only & Yeay it *DOES* work to tighten up the bundle... then I went to normal to & fro rolling & my bundle stayed nice. I've added this into my rolling routine, thanks.

I'm teaching a nuno-scarf day workshop next week, for 4 people, it's their 1st ever felting experience... gulp... wish me luck

[MTRuth]

Good luck Jill - you'll do fine! Let us know how it goes.

[lyn]

Once you get going Jill I'm sure you'll enjoy the class as much as your students!

[Pandagirl]

Good luck Jill!

[maisie]

I was just surprised (and disappointed) because I thought the workshop was something different to what it was. I do actually enjoy doing different things in workshops, Teri, but this was unexpected. A Learning curve, yes but not what I was expecting or wanted. It has been nearly impossible for me to find fellow felters where I lived, both in France then when I moved here and found out about the occasional workshop,
I was very pleased. This is the first one I could afford and probably expected too much! Also the other participants had never felted before. Yes the rolling was a lot but it took that amount before the scarf was anywhere near felted.

[Pandagirl]

Maisie, it was an anomaly. You learned something, just not what you expected. Hang in there and keep learning.

[Teri Berry]

You learned something Maisie and that's a good thing

Where are you living now? There may be people on here who can point you to local felting groups rather than taught courses, they tend to be much less expensive and provide a wealth of different experiences with people working on their own projects or the group following a theme.

[maisie]

I am in Kent, near Ramsgate.

[viltmaaraan]

Oct 28, 2015 23:29:34 GMT MTRuth said:

As Ann says, there are many ways to felt and nunofelt. People have different ways of working. I don't use much commercial prefelt because it is expensive. I also don't roll that much either. Usually when the wool starts to penetrate the silk, I stop rolling. Then I full in a different method. I also do a lot of rubbing on the silk side to encourage the fibers to migrate through the silk.

But it is nice to try different ways and see which you like and which you don't.

Hi MTRuth, you say : I full in a different method.  What do you mean by that, I thought it is always just throwing ?

[MTRuth]

Fulling can be any kind of agitation to the felt that causes further shrinkage and tightening of the felt. You could full by throwing but there are other ways as well. You can also full with continued rolling. You could rub against an uneven surface whether that be bubble wrap, pool cover, washboard, stair tread etc. You can rub the felt against itself. You can use an object to rub over the felt such as a marble board, the top of a tupperware lid or other "felting tool". You can hit the felt with something such as a wooden spoon or other utensil. You can put your item in the dryer or use a handheld sander. I'm sure there are other methods but I can't think of any more off the top of my head.