New Nuno

Hi sorry to have left you all mid way through the new top but have been laid low with a virus which is just what I did not need prior to my surgery so have spent 2 days lying down jsut imagining felting.Next we lay the 4 main pieces next to each other and after tacking them together and tacking the 35cms piece on the bottom edge centrally .The aim is then to look at your silks you have dyed and the felting pieces and by placing them in differing arrangements ie silk on feltside and felt on silkside  you can make all 5 pieces blend together.see pics

More with the Top

fabrics ready and drying stitching prefelts in a row with an overlapped seam of about 5cms –place them to suit you remembering the ones in themiddle will be at your backall now done silks drying in chosen shades

needlefelts dyed and drying ready for the next stage need about 5 in differing colours about A3 size.

the corals all done

Next Nuno Top

 This is going to be a sleeveless top hopefully made to wear 4 ways ,inside out,rightway,upsidedown,and rightwayup  so here we go

4 pieces of silk 80cms by 75cms lay on top of 4 pieces of needlefelt and felt to prefelt stage —silk just holding the fibres–then we dye by which ever method you want to use –those needing to know how to dye leave a comment  and I will do a piece on dyeing in more detail

These are the silk and needlefelted sheets felted together lightly, then dyed .I used the arashi method with the wine bottle,and string  icecream containers and 3-4 mins in microwave.I hasten to add I only use this microwave for dyeing not cooking .

More tomorrow as we look at assembling the 4 sheets made with the overlays -I would like to make good progress with this before my op next Friday then I have something to playat topstitching and embroidering whilst I recover trying to find a good novel to carry me through a week of pain and fed upnesswithout resorting to the chocolate box .Happy felting

Felt covered buttons for Nuno jacket

1.cut circle of felt large enough for button front                                                                                      

2 gather  around edge and pull up

 

3gather tighter .

4. gather tighter as you place it over buttonfront ,then click back on and push hard

5 .button ready to sew on    ——-you could embroider on this or stitch beads etc

Buttonholes

Binding buttonholes on Nuno

I do like bound buttonholes on garments especially on Nuno jackets so theChrissie Day felt BOUND BUTTONHOLES PDF‘  is here if you do not know how to do it –it really is easy.

silk colours sampled with fibres

needed to see colour design felted down to check —quite pleased with this, maybe needs more blue for me
after an afternoon spent dyeing and splodging (like a child) I use a dye that I can set in the microwave (the non cooking one).silk wrapped around the wine bottle and set for 3mins splodges take abot 4mins and plain about 2mins .Most of the silk is silk chiffon but I do have some tussah I have daubed with toning colours plus a big contrast of raspberry.

Now silks laid onto the felt just as prefelt is happening then whisps of fibre place d over ,rewet and rolling begins.

Splishing and sploshing

lovely messy dyeing day==== look under tutorials under nuno– under silks –trying to be organised for now .

I will have to have help when my shoulder is healing so have been forced into tidying up my drawers etc as no-one else could ever find a thing .Nigel will cook so I know weight loss will happen for  as a scientist he is very exact and I will not be in the kitchen to nibble .What can I do while this right arm heals I cannot crochet with my left–triedcannot embroider with my left– tried,so its down to dyeing painting or weaving or sleeping.I will go crazy I know.One of my publishers suggested writing a novel on the laptop.hahahah

Thank you

A big thanks to my darling husband who not only ordered the spare keyboard for my water sodden one but fitted it as well oh I was so happy,so have spent today trying to get up to date and here is the pdf to continue with the jacket and how to measure for your template and resist .I am still toying with releasing this as a template to purchase in my etsy store for a nominal charge ,it would be in brown paper for you to trace out onto your resist material –let me know what you think  

For now Jacket calculations b

new jacket

Pattern is cut and ready to come on the site but this is my husbands computer as stupid me poured a glass of water over mine —so all pics and files stored on mine and backed up on mine are unavailable to me so have to learn to use this mac for now and redo my files and piccies—bear with me will get sorted.

want to get this done for you all before I have my op on 5th Feb .

Felting Thoughts

So whilst clearing fibres and silks away today I find a surplus of large piecesof silk, and I must use these and not waste them,with that in mind I think the next project has to be a seamless nuno jacket.Aquick sketch tonight and I will try to draft tomorrow and resize  after I have swatched the fibres and found my shrinkage percentage  ratio.MyDH has just seen my sketch and thinks with better weather due to come some time why do I not give the choice of sleeves or no sleeves .With that thought in mind would sewing 1 seam around the sleeve be ok for some (will not mention who)who dislike sewing .It will make for a better fit. Hmm will sleep on this will stitch buttons onto cut face flap on the trapper hat tomorrow