Testing New Fibres – Extreme Nuno-felting with ‘IxCHeL luxury fibres’ (Superfine Merino, Cashmere, Suri, Silk, Angora and Tencel)

I came across IxCHeL Luxury fibres at colleague - Brigitte Haldeman's studio.  With excitement and pride she took out what she called 'bunny' fibre that had been dyed especially for her. I thought I had to get me some of that!

When I looked up IxCHeL Yarns and Fibres I ordered the colourway called The Lady and the Unicorn (after the 15^th century tapestries, currently showing at Art Gallery of NSW).  Charly who owns IxCHeL has a yarn and fibre club and that particular colour was in one of her surprise parcels to club members.  The theme for her dyes at the moment are inspired by paintings, which instantly won me over.

For experimenting with this fibre, I wanted a fine finish with ruching, so chose Paj silk as carrier.  I had 2 metres of grey and another metre in a close enough colour.  So, in all 3 metres, just enough for 1m square for front and back and another 1 metre for 2 sleeves of 50 cm length.  Given the shortage of fabric I opted for a basic t-shirt type top. I had only purchased 100 gm of fibre - so not a great deal with which to play.

I proceeded with one fine layer in multi-directions over the Paj – not taking too much care to overlap the fibres, but on the contrary leaving gaps.  I like this painterly way of laying fibre.

When pulled, the fibres were long and some of it quite shiny and I kept thinking I don’t like this.

When all the pieces had been laid with fibre they were wet down sparsely (I was mindful of my fibres swimming off the Paj particularly near the edges) and sandwiched between plastic. I cut them into 2 lots (one front and sleeve) (one back and sleeve) for ease of rolling on The Gentle Roller.  That way too, I would maximize the time by inspecting one while another bundle was on the roller.  I completed 13000 rolls (6,500 x 2).  The pieces were rolled in a towel to remove the moisture (I never wash my pre-felted pieces) and left to dry.

The pre-felts were sewn together. 

I laid fibre over the seams (which had been ironed open flat) and used a hand rolling tool to get the fibres to settle, then wet down the whole piece (putting plastic between the layers to stop them from sticking, as well as sandwiching in plastic) and rolled the garment for another 8000 cycles using The Gentle Roller.

It was then fulled using the GR's Drum.  I kept the garment in its outer plastic, as well, the inner plastic resists were also retained so the two sides wouldn’t stick together.  I noticed that the fibres were ‘fluffy’ and prone to stickiness.  I used concertina folds according to the direction I wanted the garment to shrink.  I ‘hide’ the parts that I don’t want to shrink inside the bundle, which I then place in the 'fulling bag'.  Half way through fulling, I took out all plastic and continued to rub, scrunch to add shape, particularly around the armholes and bust.  I also paid attention to my edges not rolling in.

It was a long process towards felting but I feel well worth the effort.  I took extra time and extra care when the garment was whole because the seams were still soft and given the fineness and slipperiness of the fibres the seams required lots of rolling to bed into the rest of the garment.

I looked at the fibres under the microscope – well not literally but through Google I sourced photos showing what the fibres looked like up close.

Tencel (not shown in the photo above) – a so-called ‘eco’ fibre is much like silk, even smoother, and so I found it problematic for Nuno felting, as it doesn't have barbs to catch onto the carrier fabric.  Merino wool as we felt makers know has lots of barbs – alpaca, cashmere, and angora less so but still these fibres do have a tendency towards matting.  Using these fibres in a ‘luxurious’ blend does make for exciting felting – as in combination they are all reacting differently when agitated.  It would have been hard going without my Gentle Roller.  But since I have it to tackle the rolling, it doesn’t worry me if I roll tens of thousands to get the smooth and even surfaces I desire.  

A photo album showing my progress

Using the pool sheeting I'm able to pull the fabric towards me to lay the middle areas

I have divided my fibre to ensure I have enough

Laying up working on both front and back simultaneously

I've started to lay up the sleeves

All pre-felt pieces have been sewn together with seams on the 'right' or fibre side

A close up showing the seams (it was a very windy day)

A back view of the garment

The finished top

For a casual look worn with jeans

Close up showing shoulder seam well felted over, and enmeshed with the rest of garment

I love how the ruching appears on the fibre side

Close up of the front - nice edges around the neck

There's a very fine textured finish.  It has that 'boucle' yarn look

Feels lovely on

Three reasons not to use your clothes dryer for making felt

Recently I took umbrage to someone mentioning the dryer method of rolling (as well as giving the website) on one of my Joni Cornell Merino-Silk posts.  Some of you know that I have recently been making felt to promote The Gentle Roller and Fulling Drum – a purpose built wet felting machine. 

To date I’ve kept my own counsel on the dryer method but in the interest of ensuring current and future felt makers are better informed, I’ve decided that it would be educational to make a couple of comments that felt-makers might wish to consider before continuing (or starting) to use this method.

Sustainable making:  Using the dryer is not a sustainable way of making felt. 

According to the Consumer Energy Centre the clothes dryer is one of the most energy hungry appliance in the house.  A usual dryer will use between 1800-5000 watts, say 3000 watts on average.  If you are not using the heat cycle, but just blowing air, let’s say 2000 watts on average.

On average the Gentle Roller uses around 20 watts per hour of use.  Using the electric dryer, you’d be burning at least 100 times the energy of a Gentle Roller. 

Usually, a felt maker will tend not to use the household dryer but an older version, which would be more inefficient and use higher wattage.  Several felt makers who have used the dryer method have commented to me on the very noticeable increase in their electricity bill when they are busy felting.  And it’s not only your electricity bill that takes a pounding.  The environment is impacted also. 

If you are thinking ‘sustainability’, don’t think ‘clothes dryer’.

Safety:  The website which promotes the dryer method advises that for your safety you should mount your dryer upside down, as the electrics are on the bottom.  This is incorrect and dangerous advice. 

Unless you have a wiring schematic for your dryer you simply don’t know where the electrical wires are located, and most will have electrical wiring at both top and bottom.  Here is a Whirlpool dryer with wires in the top and bottom.

Sourced from the internet

Promoters of the dryer method who acknowledge a potential safety issue should not compound their error by giving misinformation that turning the machine upside down makes it safe.  It does not!

Insurance:  If you believe “it will never happen to me” then cancel your house insurance policy and save your money.  But if you wisely have house insurance, you want to make sure you don’t compromise it.

Your felt making bundle probably carries more water than the damp clothes coming from the washer (irrespective of rolling in a dry towel and securing with ties).  If your dryer has a short-circuit, injuring someone or starting a fire, you’ve provided your house insurance or public liability insurance company (if in a rented studio setting) with an immediate excuse to reject your claim outright.

Using an electrical appliance to do something it was not designed to do is a misuse of an electrical appliance and will immediately cancel most insurance policies.  (Of course, you can always lie and gamble on the consequences…)

When I first came across the ‘dryer method’ our instructor was unable to demonstrate it because of public liability issues – the venue managers strictly forbade using the dryer for anything other than its intended use, as they knew their insurance would be in jeopardy.

When I started out felting I was chuffed that I could adapt certain materials, such as a bamboo blind or a piece of dowel – but now that I’m mature in my practice (not to mention my body) it’s time to be more mature and responsible regarding the equipment that I use.  

Using the dryer to roll your felt and then the washing machine for ‘finishing’ is rather like using an iron to char your steak.  

The Gentle Roller and its Fulling Drum have been specifically designed for felt making - to take away the tedium and labour involved in manual rolling.  The fulling drum is the pièce de résistance– as you can use it to full your felt with as much, or as little, hand intervention as you desire to shape your finished piece.

The Gentle Roller is safe, attractive, controllable and, as quiet as a library.  It can also roll felt from super-fine Nuno to carpet runners twice as dense as industrial carpet.  

Oh, and it is not recommended that you use it for any purpose other than felt-making 😉.

The Gentle Roller - for wet felt rolling

The unique Fulling Drum