The Haunui is such a lovely soft fibre, and once felted it's still deliciously soft to touch but strong and quite structural.. I had been told by the lovely Zara of InnerSpirals that it is excellent for hats! And after talking to Zara at Wonderwool, surrounded by her glorious hats the urge to make full sized top hats hit me strong and hard again.. But they really needed to be as different as possible.
While Heather was here she was telling me about, and showing me pictures of, some lovely hats made at one of her workshops combining brown wool fibre with very bright silk fabrics,.. the resulting hats were gorgeous, the brown fibre really mellowing out the brightness of the silks. And it hit me.. I NEEDED to make a nice and colourful nuno patchwork top hat! And using the haunui it could be my FOM project too :) So.. here it is:
While Heather was here she was telling me about, and showing me pictures of, some lovely hats made at one of her workshops combining brown wool fibre with very bright silk fabrics,.. the resulting hats were gorgeous, the brown fibre really mellowing out the brightness of the silks. And it hit me.. I NEEDED to make a nice and colourful nuno patchwork top hat! And using the haunui it could be my FOM project too :) So.. here it is:
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| My bag of silk scraps.. mostly pure silk sari |
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| Covering the resist.. I laid a few scraps down to go on the inside of the brim followed by 3 layers of haunui |
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| 'Patches' of brightly coloured silk sari fabric |
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| Part way through.. giving it a good throw |
I worked it HARD, rubbing, rolling, pummelling and throwing, shrinking it down and stretching it out, teasing it into the right shape.
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| I LOVE the colour.. the effect of the slightly fuzzy haunui and the textured nuno patches. |
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| Modelled by my lovely little lady :) I pull it down further at the back.. but it looks good on Rachael like this |
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| Side view |
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For comparison to sampling data:
Size of resist: 41.5cm x 40.5cm
Finished size: 27cm x 26cm
Shrinkage: 35% x 36%
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I was delighted with how it turned out.. definitely plan to make more hats from haunui and nuno silk patchwork -got a couple of ideas for other things to make in this combo too :)
16 comments:
This looks amazing ....I love it.
Jacqui x
Thank you Jacqui :) xx
Oh wow, I'm totally taken with your top hat. It looks fabulous!
Thanks Kate :) Just got to try n stop my baby from pinching it now..
x
Beautiful hat - I think you're going to have to get up early to get to wear it (there's a saying "first up, best dressed").
Awesome on your sweetie model. Thanks always for sharing your sampling info such as shrinkage, template size.... You're so generous and inspiring. I followed your sample of Icelandic wool and made very good, firm purses.
Oh, I love the sari silk, it looks amazing! Visiting blogland after 6 months away - nice to be back and browsing favourite blogs, Liz xxx
Deborah-What a perfectly realized project!!! I adore the shape...and R looks so amazing in it, I think maybe it should be hers!! ;)
Thanks Lyn.. never heard that saying before :) x
Glad you are finding the feature useful Terrie :) Icelandic is great for strong bags! x
Good to have you back Liz :) My goodness it's gonna take you ages to catch up on 6 months of blogs :) x
Thanks Heather :) Yes I have a feeling Rachael is going to try and pinch it off me! x
That method is really effective, I have a basket full of sheer scraps, must have a go at this "patchwork" felting in some form or other soon. Thanks for your show and tell, always delightful.
Thanks Elmtree :) Yes, go for it, it's a great way of using scraps!
x
That is the cutest top hat ever!! What a great job using both the wool and silk sari scraps. Fantastic work of art!
OOh beautiful I love it, so wish I could wear hats, Your lovely lady is a sweetie x x
Thank you Nancy x
She is a little darling Ruthie :) thank you x
Amazing hat!
Thank you Kelly :)
xx
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