A felt mask: suggestions

[caterina]

Hello!
I would like to ask you all for suggestions on how to go about making a good wet felted mask.

I had some hazy ideas, and wanted to try them in the weekend, but the results are poor: I used 21micron merino wool and a resist, but could not really get the rounded 3D shape that I was aiming for.

I made my usual mistake of not adding enough layers, but I think the resist was not the right choice..or maybe my resist shape was not..? I cut a kind of face shape, but bigger, to allow for shrinkage and because I wanted it bigger than life size.
Do you need a rounded object to shape it on, like a hat, or something? Maybe I should buy a plastic mask shape to help me, but I would not like to buy more stuff unnecessarily, especially plastic. How do you shape it so that it is properly 3D mask shaped?

I am still working on this project, but I do not really know if I will be better off starting a brand new mask and use the failed one as scrap felt for other projects.

[MTRuth]

One of the ways to create shaping is differential shrinkage. Laying your wool in certain directions and using heavier layers of prefelt in certain areas so that area will shrink less/differently than the thinner layers of wool. I did a series of posts on the blog. feltingandfiberstudio.com/ Use the search function using "differential shrinkage" and you will see the posts.

[Ann @ frabjous fabrica]

You can of course use needle felting to add the 3rd dimension. It's best to make sure that your base is fully fulled and fairly rigid, but depending on what you are trying to achieve you may need to make the base larger than the final size required, because quite often needle felting will make the base shrink a bit. It all depends on what you are trying to achieve. Perhaps combine the two - differential shrinkage and needle felting. Do you have a picture or drawing of what you want the finished mask to look like?

[caterina]

Sept 14, 2021 15:16:48 GMT MTRuth said:

One of the ways to create shaping is differential shrinkage. Laying your wool in certain directions and using heavier layers of prefelt in certain areas so that area will shrink less/differently than the thinner layers of wool. I did a series of posts on the blog. feltingandfiberstudio.com/ Use the search function using "differential shrinkage" and you will see the posts.

Very interesting, Ruth. Thank you, I will check it out keeping in mind my goal.

[caterina]

Sept 14, 2021 15:36:23 GMT Ann @ frabjous fabrica said:

You can of course use needle felting to add the 3rd dimension. It's best to make sure that your base is fully fulled and fairly rigid, but depending on what you are trying to achieve you may need to make the base larger than the final size required, because quite often needle felting will make the base shrink a bit. It all depends on what you are trying to achieve. Perhaps combine the two - differential shrinkage and needle felting. Do you have a picture or drawing of what you want the finished mask to look like?

Yes, Ann, I wanted to add some needle felted bits, like horns and teeth, to the wet felted base. Or do you mean actually needle felting whole parts of the mask and adding them to a basic base?

Now that ypu mention it, I guess a drawing or picture of my idea for a mask would be very useful: I should always plan my felting, instead of rushing ahead with only vague ideas in mind! :-)

[MTRuth]

Also, try some small samples of say the nose or the eye area so you have an idea of how it will turn out without doing the entire mask.

[caterina]

Sept 14, 2021 17:35:02 GMT MTRuth said:

Also, try some small samples of say the nose or the eye area so you have an idea of how it will turn out without doing the entire mask.

Thank you, Ruth. That is a very intriguing suggestion, I feel it would help a lot.

[Shepherdess]

You say you used a resist. Is this a mask that goes over your head? I am trying to figure out why you want it to open or to be hollow.
Having something the shape you want will help you do the final shaping and allowing it to dry on the form will also help. Wet felt is often heavy and it flattens the felt out. Sewing with large basting stitches you can remove later may help you hold the shape you want while you are working on it.

[caterina]

Sept 16, 2021 1:12:58 GMT Shepherdess said:

You say you used a resist. Is this a mask that goes over your head? I am trying to figure out why you want it to open or to be hollow.
Having something the shape you want will help you do the final shaping and allowing it to dry on the form will also help. Wet felt is often heavy and it flattens the felt out. Sewing with large basting stitches you can remove later may help you hold the shape you want while you are working on it.

Thank you, Ann, all good advices.

I mean for it to be an ornamental mask, like the wooden, carved ones that one may put on a wall or a stand. It is important for it to be substantial and it does not matter if it is not wearable or comfortable, it is meant to be displayed and not put on. That, of course, all in my mind :-)

[MTRuth]

I just remembered that I made this mask a long time ago (2009). Here is what I wrote about it at the time:


I decided to try a shibori technique to make the wrinkles in the face. I sewed the wrinkles before fulling and then pulled the thread out after completion. I then finished it with needle felting. It was an interesting way to add more texture and I’m going to experiment some more with this technique.

[Ann @ frabjous fabrica]

That looks interesting Ruth - a bit like Treebeard from Lord of the Rings. Did you do any more experiments?
I once had a go with a sort of shibori - I used some smocking stitches, the sort that makes the effect of tyre treads, with prefelt. It did work, but I ended up shelving the idea for some reason I now forget.

[MTRuth]

Thanks Ann, I have done some more shibori but since it was so long ago, I can barely remember what I did. 

[caterina]

Sept 17, 2021 15:21:37 GMT MTRuth said:

I just remembered that I made this mask a long time ago (2009). Here is what I wrote about it at the time:


I decided to try a shibori technique to make the wrinkles in the face. I sewed the wrinkles before fulling and then pulled the thread out after completion. I then finished it with needle felting. It was an interesting way to add more texture and I’m going to experiment some more with this technique.

Your mask is so very suggestive, Ruth: I really like it. Thank you for sharing it.
That is in the same direction I wanted to go, so it is particularly useful to me. So, I should learn about shibori technique: exciting! :-)