Technical Eureka moment!

For a while now, I have been wrestling with a conundrum in the making of felt corsages. If I make a sheet of felt, and cut out the shapes I need for the corsages, this leaves me with unfinished edges which, depending on how dense the felt is, can sometimes be prone to fraying. If, on the other hand, I make each component as a separate piece of felt, the edges are wonderfully finished, but I have two new problems - firstly, it takes ages (it takes longer to make two small rounds for one corsage than it does to make a sheet of felt which can yield four corsages), and secondly, because the rate of shrinkage is rather unpredictable, it's hard to get the right size - especially when you are making, for example, a large and a small circle to make a double flower.

So what was my Eureka moment? It came, inevitably, in the shower! (OK, so Archimedes was in the bath, but this is 2011!) What I need to do is to make a sheet of felt, yes - but then dry it, cut out the shapes I want (a fraction bigger to allow for further shrinkage, but at this point that shouldn't be more than about 10%), and then wet it and full it again so that the edges seal! Simple really...but then so was the idea of displacement...

Discovery at Tintern

The day job took me to Tintern at the weekend, and I discovered the Abbey Mill craft centre just along from the abbey - and in particular Sam Taylor, who trades as Taylor Made Beads and has a shop in the Boat House. Sam not only stocks a HUGE range of commercially produced beads and findings for jewellery makers, but also makes the most fabulous glass beads herself - and I can see that some of her statement beads are going to make it onto my felt corsages! She also has a website, www.taylormadebeads.co.uk and will even undertake commissions. Her prices are very good considering the amount of time and skill involved in the creation of these artisan-made beads.

Rothko and inspiration

I was rather pleased with the felt wall hanging which I made for a friend's Christmas present - she loves Mark Rothko, and I made an interpretation in felt of one of his paintings. It was quite a technical challenge, working with three pre-felts with their differential shrinkage rates, and roughly a dozen colours of merino wool tops from Wingham Wool Works to get the subtleties of Rothko's colours. It took three attempts, but in the end it passed my quality control, and the recipient expressed herself delighted with the result, which is now hanging in her home, so it must be ok...I will upload a photo on here some time, although I don't know how well the subtle luminosity of the colours will show.


Also - recently went to see the exhibition Warp & Weft at Craft in the Bay http://makersguildinwales.org.uk which was excellent although there was less in it than I had expected. And I am so looking forward to Wonderwool Wales at the Royal Welsh Showground in April! http://wonderwoolwales.co.uk

Current projects

The current project are various - small scale and practical is the production of lots of fingerless mittens, which have re-connected me with knitting - I bought some lovely ones in the artisan market at Frome in September and then shrunk them in the wash because they got in with some towels which I washed at 60 degrees - I was very upset, but thanks to the lovely people in the Online Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers http://www.onlineguildwsd.org.uk/ I found some patterns for mittens, adapted and merged the patterns and techniques to get exactly what I wanted, and have been knitting furiously ever since - every time a friend sees my mittens, I get another order! I am now mostly using Debbie Bliss Donegal, which is wool and mohair and wonderful marled colours - the present pair I am knitting are deep brick red, gorgeous.

The other project is BIG - I am testing the capabilities of the Brinkley loom which I acquired from Jane Meredith http://www.plantdyedwool.co.uk/ in the summer by attempting a tapestry wall hanging. With my partner and friends I went on the Balmoral back in July, sailing from Penarth to Padstow, and had plenty of leisure on the way to muse on the shades of blue, grey and white in the sea and skyscapes. Inevitably this has ended up as a tapestry design, and I have been sampling to learn what effects the different yarns and locks I have been hoarding can achieve. My favourite yarn is some indigo-dyed silk from Anne Campbell in North Wales - she works a day or two a week as resident spinner at Trefriw Woollen Mill, and a friend brought back a sample of her yarns from there a while back. The lustrous blue marled silk was just too good to miss out on, and so I asked Anne to dye and spin me some more, which she duly did. It is stunning, and now that I have sampled it, I can't wait to get on and weave! But I am being disciplined, and making sure I am 100% happy with the design before I warp the loom and commit myself!

New improved blog

As part of the re-launch of the textile side of my life (which has been somewhat eclipsed recently by the day job) I have created this new blog which replaces my old one - for anyone who wants to look at it still, it is at http://themichaelmasgalleryblog.blogspot.com, although frankly I was so bad at keeping up with it that there's very little on it. Must try harder... Part of the re-launch is a new name for the business - I am half-Dutch, and 'fabrikant' is Dutch for manufacturer, maker or mill-owner, so it seemed appropriate for one who is completely obsessed with all things textile, and the process of making. My eBay shop has also been re-named and can be found at http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Fabrikant-Online and I hope soon to have some stock in it!