Working off the Wiggle in my Arms with Nuno Felting

I noticed a slight wiggle beginning in my upper arms and realized it had been waaayyyy to long since I'd Nuno'd.
"Say what?,.. What's a Nuno?"
I hear you ask
....let me explain.

Nuno felting is merging a silk scarf (or yardage) and wool roving and to create a "new" interesting textured fabric. I know I've described it in a previous post, however, this time I've introduced beads onto the mix.

The tools I used are as follows:

· 1 pre-dyed silk chiffon scarf

· beads

· Painters tape (to outline scarf)

· Plastic Wrap

· Assorted colors of wool roving

· Tulle netting

· bubble wrap

· soft soap

· pool noodle

· knee high stockings

· bath towel

· 6 foot table

· kitchen gloves

· distilled white vinegar

· water

  

After I loosely stiched beads to the scarf with silk thread.

I made an outline of the scarf  with painters tape on the table protectors on my dining room table and marked off where the beads were on the scarf (see tape marks on sides)

I then covered it with plastic wrap and started to lay the first layer of wool roving

You don't need much wool, in fact it's better to be on the stingy side.

Once I got the first layer done, I c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y laid the scarf down on top of the roving, making sure that the bead lines and edges matched up.

 I added the third layer of fiber on top of the scarf, they look pretty fluffy at this point

I topped it off with the tulle netting and then laid the bubble wrap next to it to move the scarf onto it.

After you get the scarf arranged on the bubble wrap grab the pool noodle and wrap the scarf up gently and take it to where your 6 foot table is located to wet down the scarf and roving.

I do the rest of this outside since not only are suds heavily created but lots of water and I prefer to not make the mess in my house so I wet it down in the garage and then roll in the drive way.

I fill a container with a mix of 2Tablespoons of soft soap with aloe vera (personal preference of a the teacher who taught me to felt) and LUKEWARM water (1 quart) mix it and take it to your project.

Unwrap the pool noodle and carefully lay the scarf out on the table.

Gently lay your hand (right or left) over the scarf and ladle the soapy lukewarm water over your fingers and pat the water through all the fibers. Do this to the entire scarf.

Take the pool noodle and start from an end and roll the scarf up taking care to keep it as even and tight as possible. When it's wrapped up, secure it with the knee high stockings. (Tie a simple knot and the pull in both direction and it will hold) I make the first ties on either side of the scarf edges and then two more inside the first two. Then wrap the towel around it so you now have traction.

(my devoted Monte Cuddlepup can also be seen in the picture)

(If you don't have music on at this time, I'd get some going on since you'll need something to set a beat)

Start rolling. Push out in the middle and when you pull in, move your arms to the sides of the scarf. Do this 100 times. Light pressure is only required at this point.

After you've rolled it 100 rolls, unwrap the towel, remove the stockings, unroll the bubble wrap and move the pool noodle to the opposite side of the table it unwraps to (if it unwrapped to the right side of the table, move it tot he left side, bear with me I have my reasons)

C-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y- and I do mean C-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y pull the tulle free from the wool and silk. Smooth out any spots that get snagged by the tulle and re-wrap the bubble wrapped scarf from the opposite side you originally wrapped it in. (now you see my reason for moving the noodle to the opposite side you started on) secure it again as before and begin to roll another 100 times, exerting more pressure on the bundle as you roll.

After that 100, un-wrap as before, moving the noodle to the opposite side, and this time remove the plastic wrap and check to see if your fibers are merging into each other. The wool should be forcing it's self through the silk.

Set the tea kettle on in the kitchen, you are going to need some hot, not boiling water pretty soon.

Wrap the bundle up again and do another 100 rolls, you can add more pressure as you go.

After the 100 rolls, unwrap and check out your fibers. if they are merging well then you can stop the rolling here, get your hot water and gloves.

What's also cool is how my beads are coming though the wool!

Lay the scarf out by it's self on the table and pour the hot water over the scarf and with gloved hands rub the scarf to help the felting process.(this is where the wool "shrinks" into the silk) So now you have created a new level of fabric. Below you can see how the beads really jumped out once the felting was done.

Take the scarf into the kitchen or your sink and start to rinse the scarf. You "shock" the scarf by dropping it harshly into the sink. Do this 4-10 times, depending on how much texture you want. When the running clear without suds, fill a container big enough to hold your scarf and add 1 Tablespoon of White Distilled Vinegar and cold water and soak your scarf for about 20 minutes to neutralize the soap.

When this is finished hang the scarf out to dry. The scarf can be cleaned in the future, just don't throw it in the laundry, hand wash in cold water.

The big bonus is the work out your upper arms get when you do this! I completed 3 scarves this last weekend and my arms are now less flabby!

Below is a picture of all three scarves I completed this weekend.