Fibres Archives - Jane Mercer Felt Artist

My first experiments testing fine wetfelt samples.

I want to make some fine wet felt samples. I have successfully made two large fine merino and silk wet felted wraps, but I am not sure that they have the optimum felt thickness. This is why I am doing these experiments. I am going to make white samples. As I think about this I am reminded of the first blog I wrote ' White out ' I was just starting on an online felting course and I wanted to record my adventures. I was a novice felter and blogger and I lost my white felt in a sea of soap on my white table. You can read it here I have a grey table now so that problem will not reoccur! My large wraps were made with wool layout densities of 4 and 5 mg/cm2. Beautifully thin but hard to layout and prone to thin spots. My new samples will be…

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21/02/2021

fibre / Fibres / Wet felting

Can we exploit physics in wet felting ?

The question can I exploit the physics in wet felting has been running through my mind in the last few weeks. I think it was sparked by the fascinating TV series called from ‘From Ice to Fire’ . This made me start to recall the facts I learnt at a highly technical and fascinating felting workshop with Lisa klakulak . Long before I was a felter I was an engineer working on chemical manufacturing processes. What you might ask has that got to do with wet felting . Well professionally as an engineer I was involved with changing the physical state of materials in an efficient and environmentally friendly way. By more fundamentally understanding the physics of the process we could become more efficient. As an example finding a way to keep the water flow turbulent to make the heat transfer more efficient and use less energy. Exactly the reserve of…

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11/03/2018

British wool fibres / Fibres / Natural dyeing / Wet felting

Felt and dye fibre tests

I have had on my to do list for a long time to test soy, flax and jute. By test I mean , felt them and the dye the felt and see what happens. This week I eventually got round to some testing. I actually tested sisal,linen top, flax, jute yarn , cotton knitted yarn and nettle. I am not sure where the soy fibres have got to in the confusion resulting from my move. One day they will turn up. First I made prefelts with the fibres. Here is a sample cut from each prefelts which have been made with Blue faced Leicester fibres. At this stage the different fibres are quite hard to see , but I hoped that with dyeing they would become more visible. I decided to do my test with onion skins. Simple to do and I love the colour . Sisal and linen , still…

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22/05/2016

Fibres / Wool

Counting Sheep

The book called "Counting Sheep" by Philip Walling is a fascinating read for anyone like me who has an interest in wool. Based on some of the 60 native wool breeds that live in the UK it charts their development , their history , and the realities of sheep farming today. Although I cannot convince my family of the fact it is a really interesting read , I recommend it - there is even a chapter on different kinds of sheepdogs . Historically sheep were kept for their wool. Wool was the mainstay of the UK economy for four centuries. Fortunes were made on wool production and export of the wool to Europe. As the demand for meat grew , new breeds were developed , often with an impact on the quality of the wool. Today sheep are almost exclusively bred for meat and the value of the wool although…

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05/07/2015

Fibres / Wool

A rainbow of fibres

For the last two days I have been at Woolfest , soaking up all things related to sheep , wool and fibres , meeting old friends and making new friends and buying a few things too.! One thing that really struck me was the beautiful displays really showing both fibres and colour in all their glory. Here are a few examples: Great event to visit , well organized by the wool clip. I will be back next year. 🐏🐏🐏🐏🐏🐏🐏🐏🐏🐏

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27/06/2015