Silk and Wool Fibers
from
Treetops Colour Harmonies
(800) 276-5015
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Silk and Wool Fibers (800) 276-5015 |
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Contents
Special Products
Tussah
Silk Harmonies Superfine
Mixed Bags--NEW Nuance Spiral Dyed Silk Spiral Dyed Roving Wool
Felting
Batts Feltmaking Kit Color Palette Take a look at the entire color
palette of our 100% merino roving Mixed Bags Wool
Scarves Needle
Felting Outback Fiber Names Sheepskins
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Main
Silk Page felting
a silk lap scarf
The
following instructions are for felting a two-sided silk scarf from a
silk lap. You will need a silk lap, or two pre-cut scarf lengths.
Each scarf length should weigh approximately 25-30 gms, measure
25 – 35 cm wide and its length will be naturally determined by the
width of your lap. The
finished felted measurements will be approximately 18 cm wide x 130 cm
long – a nice sized scarf that you can wrap around your neck once
and have the ends resting above chest height.
If you want a longer scarf you will need four scarf lengths,
these will have a join at the back of the neck (see options section). CUTTING
THE SCARF LENGTH Begin by cutting your lap into a scarf length (see photo), or purchase one already cut from us. Cut across the lap, so that the width of the lap becomes the length of the scarf. I usually cut a section 25 – 35 cm wide for a scarf, before I cut I am careful to create a nice thickness of silk by scrunching it up as needed (pull along the sides of the lap where its edges are thick and it will pull the silk in to adjust to your desired thickness). I am also careful to cut along the length of the fibres without cutting across the fibres too much (this will make more sense when you begin to cut). The length of the scarf is predetermined by the width of the lap. You will be amazed when you begin to stretch out the thick ends how much silk there is bunched up. It will usually stretch to 140 – 150 cms.
STRETCHING
OUT THE SCARF I
work on top of the smooth side of bubble wrap with tulle (or netting)
on top of this. Lay down
one of the scarf lengths and begin to work at stretching it out.
This takes me nearly the most time of all the procedures.
Be patient, have a friend help if possible.
Thoroughly stretch out its length and arrange the thickness of
silk that you are interested in having.
For a sensational silk look you shouldn’t be able to see
through to the bubble wrap very much, just occasionally in small
areas. Pull thinner if a
more “cobweb” effect is desired.
When
you finish the first layer I usually stretch out the second layer next
to the first. I like
getting it prepared before I lay down the wool. LAYING
DOWN THE WOOL First you need to decide on the “look” for your scarf. If you lay the wool perpendicular to the length of the scarf (sideways) then the scarf will pull in more from side-to-side and make the silk look more solid (as in the scarf on the left in the photo below). It will also be slightly more stable, and appear less fragile. If you want a more “cobweb” effect, lay the wool parallel along the length of the scarf and the fibres will separate more and appear more gossamer and fragile (shown in the scarf on the right). Its up to you…
Lay
down a thinnish layer of wool over the entire first scarf length.
By “thinnish” I mean you can just see through the wool to
the silk. I usually use 5
– 10 gms of wool. My experience has been if the wool is too thin all
the silk will not be caught by the wool, which is OK to a small
degree, but eventually the silk will not wear well if it is not caught
by the wool. Ultimately
the scarf is very strong because you are working with one staple
length of silk running along it’s
entire length. Which
ever lay-out you use, I always add a bit more wool along the side
edges, along the bottom edges, and up an inch or two from the bottom
edge of the scarf. I have
found these to be consistently weak areas that need re-enforcement. Now
that you have laid down all the wool, it is time to sandwich it with
the other stretched out scarf length.
Best if you have a friend to help.
Otherwise, start at one end and work slowly matching the ends
and sides as you go – you really only have one chance.
FELTING Cover
with tulle (netting). Wet
out thoroughly using cold water and olive oil soap.
I rub a bar gentle around on top of the netting after spraying
it with water. That way I
have control over how much soap I put into the piece.
Roll up in the bubble wrap with a pole and roll till it starts
to stick to the netting. This
indicates that the wool has migrated through the silk.
I work with cold water because I want the wool to have a chance
to migrate before it felts to itself – with so little wool, you need
to work slowly. TOSSING Next,
I toss the scarf. Gently
at first and with enough water for it to have some weight.
Once again don’t heat it yet.
It’s the tossing that develops the holes (or cobweb look) –
the sooner and harder you toss it the more holes that develop.
If you don’t want holes, go back to rolling and do very
little tossing, only near the end.
Toss and roll (change back and forth) according to the
“look” you are after. Also
during this process be sure and stretch your scarf a lot in
between tossing and
rolling. This will ensure
that you retain as much length as possible and you will create a
better felt. FULLING
When you feel your piece is holding together well you can heat it up in the microwave and toss some more to allow the piece to “full” – this is where the real shrinkage and firming up happens. If your silk doesn’t have a “bubbled up” look to it, chances are it hasn’t been fulled enough. My preferred method for fulling is to use a glass washboard. I gently glide it across the washboard using A LOT of soap and warm water so that it swims across the glass (do not scrub it!). It may only take a couple of passes until the wool has fulled sufficiently, the wash board is very efficient. Sometimes I then quickly toss it a few more times to get the silk to bubble. FINISHING Finally
rinse out the soap using luke warm water.
Place in the spin only cycle of your washing machine to get rid
of the excess water. For
a more “organic” look, lay flat to dry.
If you want to bring up the luster of the silk, use a dry iron
on silk setting, and iron the scarf until dry.
I usually iron on top of a towel. OPTIONS It
can be really fun to add decorative yarns along the length of
the scarf after you have laid down the wool and before you add the top
layer of silk lap. The
yarns can hang out the ends as fringe (see photo).
On that note, all sorts of things can be added to this in
between layer…. If
you want a longer scarf you will need to piece two scarf
lengths together, end to end. The
area where they are pieced will fall behind your neck, however, it
won’t show much anyway if you take the time to thin the ends right
out. Possibly even trim
off the very end little edge bit and then interlace the ends of the
two laps nicely. Lay wool
over this and then sandwich with another two laps which the ends have
been interlaced. Felt as above. Here are more examples of some wraps made from our silk laps
Phone orders: (800) 276-5015 The Wool Shed |
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