Working with animal fur

[cali6920]

I am new to this forum and was hoping for some advice about felting with animal fur.

I would like to create a portrait of my dogs but using their fur. Do I need to treat the fur so bugs don’t go in? As we have had a bag of their fur (as I trim them myself so keep the bags for the next time) and when we came to it there were holes in it like bugs have been in.

Has anyone used animal fur for felting and is this a problem?

Many thanks for any advice you can offer me.

[Shepherdess]

Well, there are bugs to eat everything. A moth proofing spray will battle most bugs. The friends I have that spin and knit with dog and cat fur don't treat it with anything and don't have problems.

[lyn]

I saw an interesting tv programme 'Home is Where the Art Is' - one participant was a textile artist named Charlotte Ashley. She needle felted a picture of two dogs incorporating a lot of hair that she scissor cut from the dogs.

Here's the link to the programme:
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000426g

The only photo I could find on the internet has been posted from Instagram. I hope this link works. Scroll down to the 8th line of photos and it's the photo on the right (it's a collage) in the bottom right corner I hope you can see two black and white dogs.
www.instagram.com/charlotteashleyart/

Her website is:
www.charlotteashleyart.co.uk/

[cali6920]

Lyn, Home is where the art is, is what inspired me to do the portrait. I was planning on doing felted 3D sculptures of my dogs, inspired by another great crafting programme (the name escapes me) but when I saw this I thought how gorgeous it looked. And I was planning on felting in their collars and adding names tags onto the portrait too. I have my backing material which is dark grey which will be a lovely contrast to the red fur of one dog and the light apricot of my other. I have thought of putting the finished portrait behind glass, therefore I might not need to treat the fur and risk loosening the texture as I’m hoping to keep it looking curly.

[lyn]

Putting felted work behind glass can be a good idea - it doesn't get dusty for a start! Although ordinary glass can be a nuisance for reflections sometimes, it's still better than non-reflective glass that seems to dull the felt.

Edit: I haven't investigated modern non-reflective glass - my opinion is from using non-reflective glass from the dark ages. If anyone has found a good one please let me know.

Good luck with your felting!

[MTRuth]

Have fun with your project. I don't have any further advice but I hope you will show us the results.