Astounding, Remarkable, Brilliant! Sonja shared in our fb group how she made this INCREDIBLE hat!!! It took a lot of finagling, but she really pulled it off!
“So i made a hatter jacket to go with the hatter hat. Nuno felt and i have a love hate relationship.
I love the potential but never seem to have enough control (or space). This uses silk chiffon dyed with coffee, asparagus merino, merino luxury batt in forest, and the Autumn leaves artist pack. I adapted the pattern from a Russian dress pattern. Please excuse my sad hatter makeup and selfie timer portrait session.”
Sammie Choy in Honolulu shared her super fabulous nuno felted neck warmer following our free video tutorial. Look at all of the texture in this beautiful piece and how wonderfully her chosen colors play together.
“I really enjoyed watching your tutorial and decided to follow your color scheme. Here’s my version.”
mahalo, Sammie Choy, Hawaii
If you prefer written instructions, this is the same process outlined in detailed photos and written direction for 3 different wraps in our PDF tutorial available here.
We had a lovely time meeting and visiting with Maria Cohen from Florida. Maria came in to hang out for a while and work on a felt painting. She brought with her this awesome “show-n-tell” that really impressed us.
Joni Cornell first discovered felting in the year 2000 while studying at the Steiner School Seminar in Melbourne to become a Steiner teacher. It was a two year course, and year one involved self-development through arts. Joni shares that Steiner saw art as spiritual activity, and her introduction to the craft came about like this, “…one sunny warm afternoon Jillian Somerville-Finch came in and got us to make a felt ball, using fleece, yarn and stuffing it all into a stocking to ‘felt’ using warm water and soap. I wasn’t quite sure what I was doing but it was a great excuse to be outside. I finished the exercise and found that my ball had a major crack in it like the fault line that runs under California.”
While the teacher’s course did not include any more felting in that year, Joni was able take more classes with Jillian over the next few years. Rather than continuing on the path of becoming a Steiner teacher, Joni decided to retrain in the use of arts in the applications of education, research and therapy.
photo courtesy of Barbara Oehring
What Joni enjoys most about felting she summed up in one word, “Colour.”
“I like being in the fields of colour and just playing with the roving and silk fibres. So when working on a big piece the laying out is the most fun for me. But also in the early years, when I was studying to be a therapist, I found comfort in felting on the few occasions when I did a workshop with Jillian, to make a wrap, a pair of slippers, a skirt. Joseph Beuys (the ‘social sculptor’, who incidentally was influenced by Rudolf Steiner) used industrial felt in his happenings and installations and he suggested that there was an element about felt that was ‘warmth’ and this warmth is spiritual or evolutionary. I tend to agree. Beuys used felt as a magical and symbolic substance.”
Joni is particularly fond of Nuno Felting, she calls her nuno felt
“a strong yet fine laminated fabric using superfine merino and silk fibres.” She also feels the finer felt suits the more temperate climate in her home of Australia.
Joni does not resort to the use of powered equipment such as an electric sander, washing machine or clothes dryer because she does not believe in highly distressing the felt. She also does not thump, or shock her fibers during the felting process. As a result, her process of making nuno felt is all work by hand, rolling and rubbing – quite a labor intensive process.
After exploring eco-dyeing with the abundance of eucalyptus leaves on her property – she has concluded that she prefers the bright colors she gets from acid dyes and this year will return to producing more colourful felts again.
“In making the ‘Battlecoat’ in 2010 when I called on 5 other artists to send in a depiction of a ‘scar’ or wound that I would felt into a coat, I was drawn to making something with meaning and with the participation of others. Working with felt for me is more than about ‘fashion’, or beauty, or churning out fast ‘little’ pieces as though in your own personal sweatshop to stock an Etsy store…the work can be therapeutic (even when the intention is not therapy) and it can be done as a participatory inquiry, where we come to know certain things about ourselves and the life world of others.”
Joni suffered an injury in 2013 that not only made it virtually impossible to sit or stand for several weeks, she was also unable to felt for over four months and the road to recovery has been slow. As a result, she is pacing herself and now making smaller pieces. She shares, “I’ve also resolved to restrict my output this year and make work which will make me happy.”
Joni’s first creative passion as a young person was print-making, she shares that she has always drawn and loves using pastels.
She also creates in collage and water color.
For those just getting started with felting, Joni offers,
“Enjoy the process, even though sometimes it may feel that you’re a launderer ;-). When I first started to make felt and even now I treat it like playing with colours and textures, and it’s always a thrill when it all comes together. Find those artists who inspire you and look at what it is you like about their work. One always needs somewhere to start and art begets other art. You may think you’re copying but there’s always an aspect of your work that becomes entirely ‘yours’ – your signature, because your touch will be different. Take a workshop, even from a maker who is not your idol as a felt maker. Take your time to learn, experiment and explore.”
Sound guidance, indeed.
Joni is part of the Open Artists’ studio program in the Dandenongs where she lives, about 40 km outside of Melbourne. This involves opening her studio to the public for one weekend in April/May. In 2013, 35 studios participated in the event which also includes a group exhibition held at Burrinja Cultural Centre which sponsors the event.
For the 2013 event, Joni decided to videotape the making Semi Circular Nuno Felt Shawl that
she was creating for the exhibition; the piece was eventually entitled “Ten Fabrics Gathering”.
She posted the series of videos to Youtube, “as a kind of peek-a-boo” into her studio before the big event , and to share with others the process of this very labor intensive art form. This is a multi-part video that is a treat to watch. It will especially be interesting for those new to felting to see the size variation from start to finish to accommodate for shrinkage as a result of the felting process.
YOU CAN WATCH THE ENTIRE NUNO FELTING PROCESS VIDEO HERE:
photo courtesy of Barbara Oehring
Joni has also shown at the Victorian Feltmakers Inc., and she participated in the Felted United virtual show in 2010,
when she made the collaborative piece entitled Battlecoat.
You can see lots more from Joni….but grab a cup to tea and get cozy. ….oh, and maybe grab your journal…and prepare to be INSPIRED and ENTICED!
We fell in love with the felted scarves, wrist warmers, jewelry and more by Angela Shannon!
Join us as we visit with her and explore more of her exquisite yet elemental felted apparel.
Approximately 8 years ago, Angela discovered felt making through her love of trying new craft techniques She shares she is currently trying to teach herself micro macramé.
“I enjoy coming up with new designs, and so I tend to take an experimental approach, and I am not always certain of what I will make until I get started. I am very happy to combine materials I have to hand such as cotton fabrics and pieces of vintage lace into my felt work. I also like to try out different kinds of fibres to see what changes they make to the texture of the felt. I hand dye my fibres using acid dyes which is a process I also very much enjoy.”
“I love the way that felt can mimic nature. I was very surprised when I first discovered this aspect of felting, and it is the main reason why I enjoy working in this medium.”
Angela says she loves felting scarves and shawls “because there is an infinite variety of possibilities, whether that is the colour combinations, shapes or textures. I also love making my forest cuffs because there always seems to be a new colour combination to try.”
For her delightful felted pieces, Angela likes to work with merino tops, Wensleydale and Teeswater locks, and she also enjoys using Alpaca and silk fibers.
Where does she get her magical ideas? “The woods and forest is where I derive my inspiration.”
Angela’s WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT to fellow artists and craft persons: “Find something that you love creating that comes from the heart and others will love it too. Be prepared to work very hard and never give up on your ability to succeed.”
Joely Rogers shows off her pre-felted piece and models her wonderful nuno felt scarf! (
“Hello, I just wanted to let you know how impressed I am with your company. I purchased the Wet Felting Tools Bundle and the Nuno Felt Scarf Kit Deluxe in Emerald Forest last week. My order arrived promptly and was beautifully packaged. I love the color instructions and the little personal touches like “Pack with Love, Shipped with Joy!” on the box and the words of artistic encouragement on the sales receipt. This was my first time felting and I will be purchasing supplies more this week! 🙂
… This was my first try at Nuno Felting and I loved it! My one deviation from the instructions – I am an experienced baker, so when I first started rolling the scarf I decided that a rolling pin might make it easier. I tried it and it worked great! “
