Thanks be to Washing Machine

Felting with Advanced Structures is the course I had to skip out on, and thank the Gods the studio's been empty the past couple of weeks. It's nearly impossible to accomplish anything with a studio full of adult-aged hooligans who don't clean up after themselves and talk and take up space. It's the end of the semester, they SHOULD be in the studio, but aren't. As a result, I'm able to work freely and without interruption. Ah, solitude feels so good. 

Drafting a pattern for the Luthier mask

My two pieces for this felting class are nearing completion, and I've (with suggestion from Monica Lacey) decided to make a little roll up tool kit, a la Russian Torturer. Creepy? Yes. But it completely solves my problem with the apron pockets: they ended up being really huge channels through the felt layers, and any little thing put inside them for safekeeping would rapidly migrate to the bottom of the apron and fall out or get stuck in an awkward place.

So that's coming together nicely. 
The mask is a fish of a different colour (or horse of a different breed? What IS that expression? I know I didn't get it right). 
Here's a list of the problems:


1. Seams are falling apart. 


2. Wool won't felt. Faaaaaaaack!


3. Wool STILL won't felt.


4. Seams are falling apart. 


Now, I'm a patient woman, but I spent almost two hours felting a section of the beard no larger than a sheet of paper, and it just wouldn't stay together. My problem being a thick layer of wool from the Shetland sheep. It's coarse, pube-like hairs don't felt. As a layer between Icelandic wool, which is also difficult but not impossible to felt, and black Merino, it kept the two far enough apart so they felted on their own, but not together. GAAAH! I worked so hard to get that beard to look just right, but in the end, I cut it off. Not worth the heartache. 

The fleece laid out and ready for felting. Little did I know the trouble that awaited me...

After the Luthier got a shave, I started felting the seams. They fell apart. No matter what I did, those seams would not stay together. Angry, frustrated, and without any other option, I tossed the mask into the Washing Machine of Fate. Now, the Great Washing Machine will either fix your felt object and render it more pleasing than ever you could have anticipated, or it'll ruin it and you'll be left with a sad, soggy, unusable lump of wool. 


The Felt Gods were smiling upon me, and the mask was saved. Not just saved, but significantly improved as well. The mask requires a little bit of shaping on the nose, a beard extension, and a hat, et c'est fini!