Fibre of the Month July - Swaledale Project

Just about scraping in for July!

I brought 300g of Swaledale to play with.. but when it came time to decide what to make for some reason my mind just filed up with vessels...

I used 3 fibre layers to make a simple 'pot'

Some lovely dyed silk hanky 

with a tiny resist placed over
(I added a couple of layer to form a patch over the resist)

First 2 layers were perpendicular, 3rd layer radiated out from the centre

simple design elements
merino fibre and prefelt

And some lovely Wensleydale curls placed so they would fringe the opening when cut.
The resist on top was just to stop them felting in
(it was too thick really, bubble wrap would of been better)

After cutting the opening & leaving a tab -
I worked the edges well with soapy fingers

This spot marks the resist over silk - to remind me where to cut

Again, I worked the edges really well with soapy fingers

 And then in TRUE FeltersJourney style I forgot to take photos for a while!  I worked the felt really well, rubbing and rolling, pummeling and throwing.  Using lots of very hot water to felt it as hard as I could.

Finished pot standing on the resist I used

With one of my smallest branch button sewn on

Unfortunately some of the water I used was SO hot (boiling in fact)
that it has faded the silk a little.. still pretty colours though I think

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For comparison to sampling data:

Resist size: 25cm diameter

Finished size squashed flat as possible: 17.5cm

Shrinkage: 30%

Weight: 50.1g

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It's made a nice little pot.. Though I think using 5 or 6 fibre layers instead of 3 would of made a really nice sturdy little pot.  Think that's what I would do next time.. but you know how much I like my thick felt :)

Next time: Even more Swaledale..