a life of felt

Posts Tagged ‘3D’

Reject? – Not any more

Sunday, April 4th, 2010

A little while ago I was busy making felt Marsh Harriers for a commission. The black bird below was a prototype to allow me to assess the shape and how well the finished item would stand up to the proposed educational use.

I thought it seemed a shame to hide it at the back of a cupboard and had the bright idea of recycling it into a decorated bird. As I’d already wet felted it there was no chance of adding more fibres on that way so I have been busy with needlefelting.

I’ve really enjoyed playing with it. The lines of pink I adore and over all it has something of an indian influence I think. When I have more time it needs to be mounted or hung so it can be admired from all angles. There are still two more rejects to play with but it may be some time before I get to them.

Tags: 3D, bird, felt, needlefelt
Posted in Felting | 1 Comment »

Obsessed with birds

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

I’ve been working away on the marsh harriers for the last few days and I’m defnitely getting obsessed. I made the prototype in black to help me see the shape and practice my technique. Then I did it in browns with wire in the wings. If that wasn’t enough I’ve done the female twice more since then. Nothing wrong with the finished items I just couldn’t get the size small enough.

On Saturday, I started the birds again. One of my main worries has been the shade of brown to use, every image I look at seems to show it differently. But, at long last, I decided on the shades and got on with it. I cut the wires, blended the colours and needlefelted the shape ready for wet felting. Yesterday I wet felted and finalised the shape of the birds and left them to dry.

This morning I should be attaching them to gloves ready for presenting tomorrow. So, do you think I’m doing that? NO. Instead I’m needlefelting the male some more as I’m not happy with the head shape. I really hope this works because I don’t want to start again. Any more practice runs and I’ll have a flock. Plus, it really does need to be finished and dried today or I’m up the creek without a paddle. Wish me luck, I’ll show you the pictures later.

Tags: 3D, bird, felt, marsh harrier, model
Posted in Felting | 4 Comments »

Harrier’s Progress

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

I decided to have another go at a Marsh Harrier model with wire in the wings. There was no suitable wire in the house so I went to the local florists and chose from within their stock. It’s not a covered wire so the fibres might have slipped off it whilst I was trying to wrap them around. To counteract this I covered the wire with masking tape after twisting them together, it gives the fibres a little grip.

bird 001

I used a mix of norwegian and merino fibres. the norwegian is very easy to needlefelt and the merino wet felts well. Ths may be the best combination of fibres for me to use as I intend to use both dry and wet felting techniques. Needlefelting allows me to sculpt the shape and place the markings exactly whilst wet felting will consolidate and strengthen the felt.

bird6

The wire in the wings has worked very well and shows no signs of piercing the felt, which had been a concern. I’ve improved the shape and the size is right. I need to fatten the body out and shape the beak more but I believe the next bird might be a finished article.

Tags: 3D, brid, felt, marsh harrier, wet felt
Posted in Felting | 1 Comment »