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Post by pamster on Jan 14, 2019 5:00:49 GMT
I have been asked to make a scarf for a friend of my husband's and he wants red, black and white stripes. My idea to maximise the sharpness of the edges between colours is to make prefelts. I would cut these in strips [stripes across the width of the scarf], lay out the strips, put down a thin layer of fibre and then another layer of prefelt strips. Since I am not feeling particularly confident about this alternatives would be very welcome, thanks.
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Post by lindsay on Jan 14, 2019 8:10:18 GMT
Hmmm. That’s a tough one. A couple of questions while I think about it. Do all the stripes need to be the same width? Do they have to run across the scarf rather than along the length and on both sides of the scarf? Would you be willing to use fabric either as a base or for one or more of the colours?
Nuno and / or prefelt are the two things that come to mind as a way of keeping maximum colour separation.
With the prefelts, is the plan to put a layer of wool which runs along the length of the scarf with prefelts on both sides (to help them bond together)? If so, would that be white or would you try to follow the colours in the prefelts as some colour is likely to migrate through to the top? I’m leaning towards nuno felt with a single piece of fabric to give core strength without a lot of bulk then lay wool across the scarf only - which means you’d have a lot of shrinkage in that direction so you’d need the fabric to be wide.
.....make samples!
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Post by lyn on Jan 14, 2019 10:52:21 GMT
As Lindsay says - make samples! Lindsay's nuno idea sounds good. Lay down pre-felts, top with fabric just slightly smaller all around than the layout (perhaps use a piece of ironed scrim?) then place the second layer of pre-felts, matching the colours, on top, and that should make for seamless colour stripes. If your pre-felts are made from from two opposing layers, then directional shrinkage shouldn't be too much of a problem. Go very gently in the early felting to avoid the stripes moving. If your pre-felt is strong enough, you could use large stitches (use bright green sewing thread so that it shows up) to keep everything in place then once the fibres start to hold together, simply remove the stitches. Another idea is to knit the scarf - using 100% wool, NOT 'superwash' though - then full it. Here's a brief youtube tutorial. Interesting tip in it is to knit your item much looser than you would normally. how to full knitting
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Post by Shepherdess on Jan 14, 2019 11:49:42 GMT
There is definitely going to be migration if you use one of the colours as the background. You could use white( or red or black) silk as the back ground leaving it with no wool for the white stipe. That could give you some interesting texture. It would keep your colours clear. If you are carful and neat you could do that with top instead of prefelts. once its wet you can usually see the stray fibers and push them back to where they belong.
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Post by MTRuth on Jan 14, 2019 13:40:17 GMT
Sounds like you have good advice. Best advice is to make samples first.
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Post by pamster on Jan 15, 2019 4:25:00 GMT
Thanks everyone for all your helpful suggestions/advice. Clearly I will have to make a sample, leaning to the idea of fabric in the core with prefelts either side, I don't think I am careful enough to use top for that. I'll go and look at my fabric stash to see what might work. Cheers
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Post by zed on Jan 19, 2019 0:43:14 GMT
Bands rather than stripes might be a better option - if the bands are roughly the same width as the wool top length, you can use the same colour tops underneath and on top. Like this: Multi-coloured Felt Scarf by zedster01, on Flickr side 2: Multi-coloured Felt Scarf by zedster01, on Flickr It'll be 'sharp' on one side and softly blended on the other
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Post by lyn on Jan 19, 2019 7:29:49 GMT
Great idea Zed! (Love those colours together.)
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Post by lindsay on Jan 19, 2019 7:57:59 GMT
Gorgeous scarf, Zed and it illustrates the point very well
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Post by pamster on Feb 9, 2019 0:37:00 GMT
So grateful for all the advice, so have made a sample using the idea of prefelt strips either side of a piece of ironed muslin:
Can anyone suggest a way of reducing the bleeding that appears on the edge? I don't think I am skilled enough to copy your beautiful scarf Zed
Thanks in advance.
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Post by lindsay on Feb 9, 2019 7:38:00 GMT
Hi Pamster. I like the sample a lot and think the migration is part of the beauty of wet felting. However, to minimise it my suggestion is to make sure that the wool that’s on the top layer of your prefelt is running from side to side of the scarf (so the top hairs aren’t running into the next colour) and that the prefelt is fairly firm then work it gently and focus the rubbing side to side along rather than across the join. That’s my best guess, Good luck.
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Post by lyn on Feb 9, 2019 9:58:37 GMT
It's great Pamster! I like the blending of the black and white and it's just the same as Zed's scarf where the changes between the colours aren't sharp lines, but it looks lovely.
However, if it's sharp lines you're after then Lindsay's advice sounds good.
Please keep us posted on progress.
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Post by MTRuth on Feb 9, 2019 15:48:06 GMT
I think it looks great too! Lindsay's idea is good on reducing migration. But migration is a normal part of wet felting and you will always get some.
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Post by Shepherdess on Feb 9, 2019 16:57:29 GMT
I like it, I am partial to grey. I agree with Lindsay make sure your wool is going across the scarf rather than along the scarf. if you have a woven fabric in the middle you can have all your fiber going the same direction if you like. The cloth with give it integrity. There is some bleeding in Zeds scarf too but the colours are more similar so you do not notice it as much.
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Post by pamster on Feb 9, 2019 20:07:01 GMT
Thanks again everyone, I'll start making prefelts and will certainly show you the end result.
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