Montana’s latest artistic wonders
That girl is always up to something crafty and miraculous in her little Fiber Mad Laboratory downstairs. She got a new gadget that allows her to take her felting to a whole new level.
Felting takes wool placed over another material (fabric or filling), and by stabbing it repeatedly with a very sharp needle, it physically blends the two materials together, creating a felted area.
When wool is felted over other another fabric, it literally becomes part of the fabric. It is not like an appliqué or embroidery - if you turn the fabric over, you will see what was felted on top. It goes all the way through. It’s quite cool. And it’s a terrific way to use up the large amount of small amounts of different color wools she is constantly amassing down with her fiber adventures. You can also felt over some kind of filling or insert, as she has done below.
The act of felting (stab stab stab stab, over and over and over and over) is monotonous and exhausting to say the least. So Montana found an electric felting device. It has a simple belt that drives a needle - a total game changer! It is not only easier, but it applies consistent pressurefor a better overall result.
She is in the process of felting a giant 3D trout as a test object (as only Montana would think up.) She gave us a little demo - pretty amazing!
These are all pieces of wool that she processed and dyed herself. Most of this felting was done by hand before her little machine arrived.
The back of the trout. Sort of realistic looking!
Just a girl and her felted fish!
