Nuno Felting

No, I am not writing about food, fitness or beauty today. But, I am sharing a bit of creative therapy that I had the opportunity to explore today.

 

I enjoyed a break in my schedule for a class on Nuno Felting....! It is truly a primitive art form, using natural fibers such as mohair, alpaca, silk, wool, etc... I hope you enjoy this brief history of Nuno and some pictures of the scarf I created today.

 

 

"Felted fabric is thought to predate woven or spun fabric. Among the oldest examples of felt are 3,500 -year-old hats found in Scandinavia..." It's not hard to imagine the use or almost necessity of felt in colder climates, but nuno felt was developed with just the opposite in mind. "When Polly Stirling codeveloped nuno felt with her assistant Sachiko Kotaka, her intention was to create a cooler, wearable felt for the warm climate of Australia, where she lives part-time." For me, that was a big draw too. Living in the humid subtropic of southeast Texas.



"Nuno is Japanese for fabric or cloth." It's the word that became associated with this technique during the collaboration of Stirling and Kotaka. "Today they are widely credited with popularizing the technique, although northern Europeans developed a similar technique about a decade earlier. Their term 'laminated felting' is preferrred by some feltmakers, since Nuno is also the name of a textile design company in Japan."

"To create nuno felt, very small amounts of wool are layered on a pre-existing fabric, usually silk or cotton. During the felting process, the wool fibers migrate through the weave of the cloth and entangle, pulling the cloth along with them as they shrink. The result is a fully integrated and highly textural fabric..... Nuno...gathers in all directions rather than just one, making the fabric appear bubbled. ..... Nuno felting strips things down to the bare bones, making use of wool's alchemic power even when using so very few fibers. When we experience the total transformation of so few bits of wool on cloth, somehow the power of the process is more starkly revealed to us. ..... nuno felt is also very practical as a wearable fabric. It is incredibly lightweight and drapes the body beautifully. Not only is it gorgeous, but it also completely takes people off guard when they hear how it's created."

Here is a close up of the laying down or placement of my natural fibers onto my cotton muslin.



(Above is the scarf, before the felting process began) Wetting, soaping, rolling and tossing....it was a workout over the course of this 3 hour class. But the scarf turned out beautifully and I am not sure whether to wear it OR hang it on my wall.

If you get a chance, research this technique.Its so beautiful. I plan to do a larger project for an art piece in my new home and maybe even a few scarves for Christmas gifts. I am hooked!