Fooling Around with Fiber - An Adventure in the Wet Felting Process

Today we have a guest post from team member Kathryn Luciana of Huzzah Handmade sharing with us her recent visit to White Barn Farm and Fiber.

White Barn Farm Shop

Spring was barely in the air when I returned to White Barn Sheep and Wool near New Paltz, N.Y.  I'd visited this lovely shop and farm last year and signed up for a couple of lectures, but this time, I was there to immerse myself in a process called Wet Felting. I have always been intrigued by this process, and although I've been knitting and felting my work for years, Wet Felting is very different, and I wanted to learn more about it.

Paula Kucera, owner of the farm, welcomed us to her studio and shop, which is housed in part of the white barn for which the farm is named. The shop is cozy, very well stocked with a wonderful variety of fiber, books, tools, and a nice selection of local handmade items. Featured is a good selection of locally sourced fibers in addition to her own luscious yarns from her herd of mostly Cormo sheep. She recently remodeled the "knit lounge" and the workshop area of the barn, so we had lots of light and space to work. She described the process, showed us various examples of finished pieces, books about wet felting, and described the materials that we would  be using.

Merino wool batts, and coils of roving

Very simply stated, Wet Felting is a process by which various fibers are arranged on a fiber background creating a design. Then the substrate and fibers are covered, and warm, soapy water is gradually poured over the piece. By rubbing gently with your hands, and adding water as necessary, gradually the fibers start to meld, but that's just the beginning! Several more steps and several more hours later, you have your finished piece.

In preparation for the day, Paula suggested that we find something to inspire our project, like a photograph, scrap of fabric, an image or anything we might find helpful as a jumping off point. I decided to choose one of my photographs. I found several that I thought might work, and manipulated them in Photoshop to make them more abstract. I took four or five with me, but finally ended up with one from part of my garden.

My batt and my inspiration photos

Paula was kind to us. She chose 100% Merino 19 micron wool, because of it's ability to felt more easily then other fibers. A great choice for newbies. The "canvas" on which we worked is called a batt. We had chosen our batt colors in advance, and Paula had a nice variety available when we arrived. The batts are basically soft, rectangular sheets of wool, and since we were going to be making purses or tablet carriers, the color of the batt would become the inside of the bag. I chose gray/brown, but more adventurous students chose lime green or turquoise. Other than that, our tools were humble: a towel, plastic bubble wrap, synthetic organza fabric, a plastic sheet, rubber stair tread material, a scrap of non-slip rug material, and a piece of a foam "noodle" like kids use in the pool.

Our tools

The "paint" we used on our "canvas" was Merino wool roving in an amazing variety of colors,  yarn, and various other fibers. We set about pulling off sections from the roving coils to create our designs. With my photograph nearby, I started creating my scene. As well as the wisps of roving, I also used a couple of colors of merino yarn for texture. Once our bag front was complete, we flipped the whole piece over and repeated the process for the back and flap. (Notice the piece of plastic inside the bag to keep the back and front from felting together). With step one, the bag front and back completed, we moved on to step two. Time to get wet! If you like getting messy, you'll love this process.

Step One, complete

Step Two is where the magic starts to happen. The front of the bag is covered with a scrap of organza fabric. Then, warm, soapy water is dribbled over the fabric gradually. It needs to get really wet. Squishy wet. As you add water, you start to gently rub the fibers with your hands, eventually covering the entire piece. This abrasion will start the felting process. Rub, add water, rub, check your progress by lifting the fabric. Finally, the fibers will be adhered to themselves and to the batt, so that you can lift the organza and flip the piece over to repeat the process on the back. I wanted to make a messenger style bag with a cross body strap, so I had an additional step. I selected a length of roving, allowing for shrinking, and using the rubber stair tread, I rolled the wet roving back and forth on it until it felted into a solid tube. As I worked on the bag back, I attached the strap to the inside, felting it as I rubbed the outside of the bag. The side seams are turned under and felted closed securely. After that, time for a quick lunch and a trip to see the sheep down at the barn.

Recently sheared Cormo Sheep

Organza fabric layer

Back to work, we now started the labor-intensive part of the process. Our pieces were sandwiched between two sheets of plastic, and one piece still remained inside. We placed our work on the bubble wrap, rolled them around our foam noodle, and tied the ends tightly. On top of our towels, we started rolling the package back and forth on the table, 50 times one way, then flip the package around and 50 times the other way. There is a stance one must assume to do this, and you quickly learn the meaning of the phrase "put your back into it." Using our forearms, we rolled and flipped and rolled and flipped. Paula assured us that it would only take and hour or so! I soon realized that I didn't have to worry about working off the calories I ate at lunch.
Every couple of hundred rolls, we had the chance to peek at the progress of our work. They were getting smaller and denser, little by little. Finally, we were ready to move on, but we were not done yet! 

Checking the progress

Rolling, rolling, rolling!

After deciding that our pieces were sufficiently felted, Paula led us to the sink, where we scrubbed them vigorously in a basin of hot water. After wringing out most of the water, we then got to use our rubber mats. Now, at this point, if you have any aggression to release, go for it. We grabbed our bags and threw them down on the mats repeatedly to finish the process. Wham! We were done!! Our bags were felted, but there was still opportunity for further experimentation. I took my bag home and threw it in the dryer on hot, so that it felted even more, and the strap was then the perfect length. My bag ended up being about and inch or two larger than an iPad, all around. I will add a lining and a closure. Other students were considering adding needle felted decorations, beads, leather handles or other adornments.

Hot water "shock"

Throwing down!

So, after 5 hours, lots of elbow grease, and three cups of Yogi Energy Tea, I have a small insight into the ancient process of Wet Felting. It was a great day, in good company with a patient teacher. A very satisfying experience.  White Barn Farm and Fiber Shop is located at 815 Albany Post Road, New Paltz, N.Y. You can visit Paula on the web at: whitebarnsheepandwool.com

My bag, with felting completed

Story and Photos by Kathryn Luciana of Huzzah Handmade

Holiday Gingerbread from Mohonk Moutain House Resort

The beautiful Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, NY has revealed their 2013 Gingerbread House creations for the season. This year’s gingerbread house takes it inspiration from Candy Land, the classic family board game first released in 1949.

Mohonk's professional chefs used a rainbow of luster sprays, candy rocks, fruit stripe gum, and chocolate kisses to create this year's sweet vision. The house took more than 300 hours to craft at Mohonk's historic New York Victorian castle resort, an effort accomplished by Executive Pastry Chef Eric Smith and his talented team.

Creating this wonderland requires no short list of ingredients! Think 325 pounds sugar, 100 pounds of flour, 100 eggs, 100 pounds of four, 60 pounds of egg whites and 30 pounds of candy!

The folks at Mohonk would like to share with our readers a special recipe on their take of healthy Ginerbread cookies.
 
Mohonk’s Healthy Gingerbread Cookies

½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
¾ cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves
½ tsp. salt
1 large egg + 2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
¾ cup molasses
3 ½ cups whole-wheat flour
White frosting (optional, for decoration)
Almonds, pine nuts, dried cranberries, and raisins (optional, for decoration)

In a large bowl, mix butter and applesauce until blended. Add sugar, baking soda, spices, and salt. Stir in egg and egg whites. Mix in molasses and add flour. Cover and refrigerate dough for 2 hours. Preheat oven to 350°F. Mist 2 baking sheets with canola oil spray; set aside. Remove and roll out dough to ¼” thick. Use a 2” to 4” gingerbread cookies cutter to make shapes. Re-roll scraps of dough as necessary. Place cut-outs on prepared baking sheets 1” apart. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 20 to 30 minutes and decorate with frosting, nuts, and dried fruit, if desired. Makes 48 mini-cookies.
The annual gingerbread house is just one of many special holiday traditions at Mohonk Mountain House, located about 90 miles north of New York City.

Meet our new members! October 2013 part 1

Hope you're ready for some great new member shops!  There were so many great ones that I have to split it up into 2 posts.  We certainly don't want to overwhelm our readers with so much wonderfulness at once!  As always, our members are artists, crafters, and creators from all around the Hudson Valley and I hope you'll give them a warm welcome.

Made with Love super sampler by Made With Love

First, I've got for you a member who actually joined a few months ago but sadly got left out, Made With Love.  Michele Tomasicchio creates scrumptious body lotions, potions, and butters in New Paltz.  All are made with natural ingredients and without chemicals that could cause harm.  A very welcome (if belated) hello to you!

Navy waxed canvas tote with leather by Lark Practical

Lark Practical makes some wonderful leather creations in Rhinebeck!  They have everything from bracelets, wallets, to that lovely tote you see.  All made with high quality materials that will age wonderfully as you take them through life with you.  Great to have you!

Moonbeam Blue Pendant by RGClayDesign

Roberta Green of RGClayDesign fires and assembles her work in Warwick.  She specializes in wearable art making them in clay along with fused glass and other beads.  Each creation is one of a kind and truly lovely.  Welcome to the team!

The stargazer's mirror by hArtandSoliMprints

hArtandSoliMprints is run by Vito and Claudia, who also work in Rhinebeck.  They paint and charge unique abstract paintings with healing as well as other intentions to help whoever receives one of their art works.  This truly one of a kind process has created some gorgeous artworks, if I do say so myself!  Much light and love to you, too.

Organic Romance Tea by TeaandSensibility

TeaandSensibility is possibly my favorite new member in this batch (what can I say? I adore tea!).  Jules blends her creations in Maybrook.  She offers Organic teas and all the accessories you need to enjoy it including teapots and infusers, I can almost smell it from here.  Hope you like it here!

Well, that's all I've got for this round, check back for part 2 where I'll feature 5 more awesome new member's.  Until then, I hope you'll stop by some of these shops and welcome them. Hey, they might just be your neighbor!

Enjoy!
Amber

Secret Shopping Destinations

Recently, Refinery29 published the article 5 Secret Shopping Destinations Less Than 3 Hours From NYC which included towns like Hudson, Rhinebeck, Saugerties and more.  For each area they include several links of small businesses to check out.

Personally speaking, exploring towns like the ones listed in the article is one of the reason why I am happy that I moved out of the city.  Unfortunately I still have to commute to Manhattan daily but it's nice to know that there are so many more wonderful options to enjoy outside of the five boroughs.

Meet HV Mama - WrenWillow

Mother's Day is coming soon (May 9th) and the Hudson Valley Etsy team wants to share some motherly love with all of you. Here is the first of a series of entries from our members.

One of the mom's on the team is Marla from New Paltz. Marla makes hand-painted and silk screened children's clothes for her shop Wrenwillow, named after her daughter and who's adorable face you'll find her shop.

"Wren, who was also the inspiration for my shop has been a fabulous model. She really enjoyed watching me work as a younger baby and loved seeing the photos of herself. I like to imagine what kind of designs she'll come up with as a kindergartner."

"Lately she has really gotten into art and we recently began working on a painting together. I never showed her how to hold the brush or anything, she just took to it naturally. I'm including photos of her working on her first painting. I had just unwrapped the supplies and she dove right in."