Monthly Archives: June 2011

More dying and Horst style felting!

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I got a bit sidetracked yesterday, having mentioned that I was going to felt 100s of attachments for a new wrap I decided instead to adapt and finish a Horst style jacket and matching bag!  This jacket was another ‘blank’ which Horst was good enough to leave with me to do as I wished with, the second of 2 demo pieces from our workshop.  I decided to keep things simple and wanted something that I would wear for everyday use in colder weather, this meant adding a couple of pockets, adjusting the collar to frame my face and decorating the pockets and framing the edges with black merino thereby adding some depth of colour.  In addition I wanted to practice using Horst’s method of felting bags again, it’s not a method that I’m going to use for all my work but I do find the pebbly texture interesting, the layout very quick and I wanted to experiment with dying again and end up with a piece to compliment the jacket.

Bag prior to dying and jacket prior to dying and fulling

At this stage I think I have a confession to make, my name is Nicola and I am addicted to acid dying!!!  OK, only half joking, but I can’t believe how Horst’s recent workshop has totally demystified the process and allowed me to just throw things into the pot and watch the magic occurring.  I’m not scientific about it at all, not measuring the level of the water versus dye powder etc. (Jacquard acid dyes I bought with Heather at the Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival last year) but for me this adds to the experience, instinctively I appear to be getting the result I am looking for so onwards and upwards!  My only reservation about the dye pot yesterday is that although I used ‘olive’ as my deeper colour I didn’t think that the powder looked olive at all in the packet and it certainly wans’t olive when I added it to the dye bath, rather a nice deep rust colour, complimentary but not my original intention.  Talking to experienced dyers I know that the powder doesn’t necessarily look like the resultant liquid but I do wonder if this was mispackaged???  I’m not a bit concerned however, I love the results, more pics over on Flickr!

Graduating colours on the bag

 

 

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Dye bath on the cooker, felt almost ready …..

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My new HUGE dye bath is on the gas cooker, pot and cooker both purchased in advance of Horst’s large felt garment workshop and now taking pride of place in my kitchen for the last few days!  I’m not 100% sure whether I like the nuno felt I was working on yesterday but I’ve decided to go ahead and dye it anyway.  This morning I have made a new Horst style bag as well as adjusting and redesigning a long sleeveless jacket.  These are both spinning at the moment and as soon as they are done I’ll take pictures prior to dying all the pieces and a couple more once I am happy with the colours achieved.  I’m going to use up the last of the pumpkin/gold mixture from the other day and then add olive to the pot hopefully giving me nice graduation of colour.  Fingers crossed …..

Nuno felting today!

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I’ve been to the library, discovered I’ve won some gorgeous hand spun from my buddy Heather, run a wash, stocked up on brown soda bread and milk as well as 100 dressmakers pins this morning (more in a minute) and now I’m ready for a FULL DAY felting and possibly dying too, woo hoo!  I still need to catch up on emails, paperwork and many more other household tasks left over from the manic last weeks but for today that is it, no more procrastinating but rather creating and playing with fibre!!!

Nuno texture and merging colours

On Friday I shared with Gerda an experiment in nuno felting using a technique I hope to offer in workshops this Autumn.  Basically it involves using a tumble dryer for some of the steps therefore meaning that anyone with physical limitations or a tendency to get tired rubbing and rolling will have this stage of the process either eliminated altogether or cut down to no more than ten minutes in total!  Chrissie and I will be publishing a new book prior to Christmas (click here to check out a preview of our first book From Felt to Friendship if you are interested in what we have been up to so far) and this time concentrate on simple ideas for designing and felting your own clothing with a view to flattering your personal shape, not that ‘perfect’ shape we all aspire to but most of us never achieve!!!

Anyway, back to Friday and the nuno top I made.  Working in white ponge silk and undyed 26 micron I laid out a front and back side of my top basing the design on a scaled up version of a favourite wardrobe staple.  By using only white raw materials for the main layout area I was able to lay out the fibres really quickly, get on to the felting, piece my top together (thanks Gerda, you kept me sane, bought more much needed pins this morning!) and then have great fun dying using Horst’s wonderfully simple method of achieving graduating colours with no stress at all.  Having the correct equipment now for my studio and working with Horst again over the course of our large felt garment workshop as well as observing friends Jan Durham, Dawn Edwards and Sharon Costello from The Tin Thimble in action during my US trip has given me the confidence to set up my dying station in the kitchen and just ‘get on with it’ myself.

My plan for the next few days is to felt and dye at least two pieces to be used for the fashion show at Felt in Focus next week, I leave for Copenhagen on Friday so I’m off now to get started!!!  Thanks Cristina for house sitting while I will be away, Rex will be thrilled.

Felting and dying fun with Gerda!

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After Horst’s workshop Gerda had a few extra days to stay over in Ireland before flying home to South Africa on Sunday so I invited her to stay at Clasheen for a couple of days, boy did we have some fun felting and dying Horst style!!!  It’s going to take me about a week to finally unwind after all the excitment of the last few weeks but for now check out the sleeveless vest I felted and dyed with gold and pumpkin acid dyes in my kitchen.  It’s great to finally have a HUGE dye pot and the confidence to actually try some experiments out for myself!  ‘Till tomorrow …..

Graduated colour from gold to pumpkin

Sleeveless vest prior to dying and fulling

Does it look as if we had a fun time felting with Horst???

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Pics up on Flickr now, more to follow over the next couple of days.  Do you think it looks as if we all had a  fun time with Horst this weekend???

Delicious food produced from Cristina's kitchen!

Horst and Kirsten at the end of a very successful and creative workshop!

Horst captures Tricia ..... or is it the other way round?

Happy, happy faces at the end of our amazing time with Horst!!!

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I think that the faces say it all!!!  Safe travelling to Horst, Gina and Kirsten, all heading for mainland Europe first thing tomorrow morning allowing me time to upload ALL the images of our amazing workshop!

Me, Lorraine, Horst, Tracy, Kirsten, Gerda, Natasha, Sigrid, Kirsten and Trisha!!! Ness and Niki completed the group but had to leave earlier.

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So sorry not to be getting a minute to update you yet about all the wonderful designs in progress and about the fun and the inspiration abounding in Horst’s large felt garment workshop. Incredible work has been taking place but by the time we are getting home every night food and bed is the only option. My computer is in the area I put aside for Horst and Gina and I don’t want to disturb them at the crack of dawn but I promise a full update and pictures tomorrow as soon as the workshop is over and we all get a minute to catch our breaths!!!

It’s 12.30 at night ….. and surprise meeting this afternoon!

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It’s 12.30 at night and I have finally made Horst and Gina’s beds, Kirsten’s will just have to wait until tomorrow evening!  I still have about another hour of organising/tidying to go but I must say that Dawn’s ultimate method of shoving everything into a closet or chest of drawers when you run out of time is getting more appealing by the minute, my only problem is that I don’t have enough storage to hold everything, pity, hmm!!!!!

I did get to have a lovely lunch and chat with Cristina earlier in the day (lunchtime I think but the hours are now blurring into one) and then had a surprise phone call from the wonderful Australian felter Pam de Groot.  Would you believe that Pam was at Cushendale Woolen Mill in Graiguenamanagh at the same time that Cristina and I were sorting out a lot of the logistics for Horst’s workshop?  We did manage to meet for a coffee and a chat however in Kilkenny and discovered that we are both booked in for Lisa Klakulak’s workshop at Felt in Focus!!!

Preparations ramped up for Horst’s upcoming large felt garment workshop!

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WOW, it’s all go here trying to get everything organised for Horst’s workshop next weekend, big dye pots, cooker, sanders, plastic, tables, you name it and I’m trying to track it down!!!  Cristina is being great as usual and I am heading over to the studio on Tuesday to deliver the wool and equipment needed, go through the daily menus and make sure we have as much as possible sorted before I pick up Horst and Gina on Wednesday.  Sigrid (Germany), Gerda (Portugal) and Kirsten (Denmark) are all arriving at various stages on Wednesday too so it is going to be pretty hectic if I don’t get myself into gear and sort out my house pdq!  Off now for another bout of tidying ….. I’ll leave you with a picture of Horst’s garments from last week’s Sheep and Wool Festival in Kilkenny.

Horst's wonderful garments caused a big stir in Kilkenny!

Pictures from the wonderful Sheep and Wool Festival, Horst at Clasheen and Pam de Groot in Kerry!

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Today has been another exceptionally busy day so far, shortly however I am off for a relaxing bath then heading in to Borris for the opening of the ‘9 Stones Artists’ current exhibition.  I am really at the pin of my collar trying to get everything organised for Horst and Gina’s visit to Clasheen (Gina is his youngest daughter), find the sanders, plastic, dye pots and other stuff for the workshop, sort the house out, unpack from both my US trip and Enniscrone, unload the truck after the Sheep and Wool Festival, prepare for my Danish buddy Kirsten to arrive (can’t wait Kirsten!) plus 100 other every day things that have been totally neglected in the mad whirl of the last week or so!

AAGH, seem to be having problems uploading images to WordPress this afternoon, wouldn’t you know it?  I do have a selection from the weekend up on Flickr now (titles and descriptions to follow later I’m afraid) so pop on over there if you want to have a look, will try to upload them here again tomorrow but for now I have run out of time yet again!

Lastly, I am SO EXCITED that Horst will be arriving in less than a weeks time.  Sharon Crandall is feeling the same way too I am sure because amazingly she has organised super felter Pam de Groot to facilitate a felting masterclass in Kerry the very same dates we will all be enjoying Horst’s instruction in Bennettsbridge!!!  There are 2 places left for Sharon’s workshop with Pam so please check out this post on her blog if you are interested in booking.  For those of you attending Horst’s event I promise to be in touch over the nexgt day or so just to confirm everyone knows exactly what day they are arriving on and where exactly they will be staying!  It is truly going to be an international event because we have participants arriving from Denmark, England, Portugal and Germany not to mention those of you attending from Ireland, Irish or otherwise!!!