Nuno Felting
Nuno Felting is a way of creating garments, sculptures, hats and art pieces using the interlocking trait of wool fibers laid over silk. The fibers bond to the silk, creating a lightweight felted fabric that can be used in many ways. The technique was developed around 1992 by Polly Stirling, a fiber artist from New South Wales, Australia. The word “nuno” means cloth in Japanese.
Teacher Lyndy Pickens plans to teach three classes in Nuno felting, allowing participants to dig deeply into this technique.
In the beginning class, students will learn to design by layering different wools and synthetic fibers over a thin silk fabric to produce a piece that can be used as an accent to other garments, a purse, wallet or hat.
About Lyndy Pickens:
Falling in love with fleece while growing up, Lyndy Pickens learned to spin as a teenager. During her evolution with fleece she was introduced to felting when her favorite sweater shrunk in the wash! Eventually, Nuno felting became her passion and interfaced well with her Clothing and Textile background. Her felted garments are works of art and an inspiration to anyone who loves working with fiber.
Beginning Nuno Felting: one, two-hour class. $150, all materials included.
Minimum of two students, maximum of six.
Wet Felting
Wool fibers have tiny scales that stick out from the hair shaft a microscopic bit. When wool is shocked by dramatic changes in temperature or by rubbing (especially with soap), those scales lift up, then lock down the nearby fibers into a dense mass. That’s felt. If you’ve accidentally put your wool sweater through the hot wash cycle and/or the dryer, you have intimate knowledge of this process.
Not all felting, however, is destructive. You can use the same process to produce some wonderful wooly art.
In this class you’ll use Scottish Blackface wool from Petaluma. These are the most common sheep you see on the hillsides of northern England and Scotland, where the wool often becomes part off Harris Tweed. The wool is quite coarse, but it still felts beautifully and the coarseness adds an additional textural element to felted projects.
You’ll leave with a finished piece and the equipment you’ll need to create more at home.
One, one and a half-hour session. $60 Minimum of two students, maximum of eight students.
Instructor: Melanie Perkins Register now