Quick Nuno Felted Scarf

Over the summer I've gradually built up a larger supply of felting supplies. I've always sold fibre to felters, but felt making isn't something I have much of a background in, so hadn't ever focussed too strongly on that usage of fibre. 
However, I've now done a few workshops on felt making, and done more experimenting at home, so am now a bit more confident about sounding like I know what I'm talking about! 

Bias cut silk chiffon

19 micron Merino Pre-Felt

One of the new products is bias cut silk chiffon. This is 10cm wide, and because it's cut on the bias it doesn't need to be hemmed to stop it fraying. There's also 19 micron Superfine Merino pre-felt, that's also 10cm wide. 
Combined together they make a really lovely nuno felted scarf, that's very easy to make even for a non-felter. 

Because felt is slightly stiff the narrower width means it sits around your neck without feeling like you're wearing a mask. The low micron count means even the most sensitive skinned people can happily put this next to skin and not get prickled. I added some embellishments using some Tussah Silk and some hand dyed Silk Laps. 

If you're an experienced felted then you won't need much more information on how this scarf is made, but if you're not, it's still a perfectly achievable first felting project.

Just in case you don't fancy following the super speeded up time lapse video, here's how I made this scarf.

You will need-
2m length of 10cm Superfine Merino Prefelt
Matching length of 10cm bias Silk Chiffon
Small oddments of fibre to embellish
Plastic for rolling
Towel
Slightly soapy water

I started off by putting the scarf on a strip of bubble wrap, but then I remembered one of the things I learned on a felting workshop this summer, and that I discovered I can felt things much better just using plain plastic sheeting, and no bubbles to cushion the rolling. I used the plastic sacks that my fibre is supplied in, but any plastic would work. 

Lay out the pre-felt, then add a sprinkling of water. This holds the silk chiffon and the wisps of silk in place.  The more you overlap the chiffon and pre-felt the narrower the scarf will be. Your embellishments need to be very fine wisps, big clumps won't stick down properly!

I use a plastic drinks bottle with a sports cap, and just a slight squirt of washing up liquid. Don't use too much soap... or you will be battling a suds mountain when you start rolling!

Once you have a rolled up parcel just push up and down on it for a couple of minutes. You don't want to start rolling until the whole thing is evenly wet, otherwise you'll rub the silk off the surface of the wool. 

After this nothing will be stuck in place yet, but the water will be holding it in position. 

You can now roll the whole thing up more tightly and start to roll the whole bundle backwards and forwards under your hands. Do this roughly 100 times, then unroll, and roll in the other direction.  Occasionally I used a scrunched up plastic bag and rubbed along the length of the scarf on the back, focusing on the part of the merino that overlapped the chiffon. I particularly focussed on the middle of the scarf, because that's always the bit that is most cushioned in the bundle.  Normally when felting you'd turn the project 90 degrees to roll in the other direction, but that's not really possible on a long thin piece. 

After a while you'll start to see the merino changing structure, and the silk will begin to stick in place. 

Keep going until the chiffon has meshed in to the surface of the merino, and the silk embellishment is thoroughly stuck down. 

Rinse out the soap, roll up in a towel to squash out most of the water and leave to dry. I gave mind a quick press with an iron just to smooth down the silk. 

Cough, Christmas is coming.... these would make excellent gifts, certainly quicker than knitting! If you know someone crafty why not hand over the components, and let them make their own present.