S20C 409120813433

appendix

Lechnical Shibori Fetting Concepts

lmportanl generał diaracterishcs of shibori fclling:

1.    Garlcr stitch shrinks moro in width Lhan height.

2.    Slockinette stitch shrinks moro in height tlian width.

3.    Felting fi bers generał ly shrink and nonfelting fibers gen-erally grow during shibori fclling. The fini.shed result will depend on the proporlion of each type of fiber worked togethcr in a single design.

4.    The goldcn rulc: You can always folt morę, but you can never undo your felting. So ei*r on the side o: undcrfclting and chcek on the felting process often!

5.    Most felted pieces will expand bcforc llicy shrink. Keep this in inind as you check your fclling process every five minutes.

NOTF,: Ali gauges givcn in ihe book aro pro felting only.

Tre- and posl-fclting measurements and schematics are given for cach piece, w hen applicable.

Washing machinę felting

I iccomuiend a top-loading machino scl al ihe Iowest water set-ting, hotte.st temperaturę, tire gentlc cycle (Iowest agitation), and adding a tiny bit of quality liąuid detergent. Place the i tern to bc felted in a lingerie bag or siir.ilar washer-friendly Container, il desired. Differcnl fibers fclt at different rates. After 5 minules, if no felting progress has been madę (or morę likely, if your piece has aclually grown significantly, which is normal for the first cy-clc), reset the machinę and repeat the gentlc cycle for 5 minutes. If tłiere is still no change, repeat a third or fourtli time. Tremen-dous change can happen in a vciy short time. Switch setting to a regular cycle (heavicr agilalion) outy if four gentle cycles do not ren der a fuscd fabric. Continue to check everv 5 minutes

j

until the desired rcsult is achieved. The lingerie bag is espccially help ful when felting I-cord in the machinę. When I-cord is long and Icfl lo beat aimicssly about in the felting process, it will knot Tliere will be a discernable diffcrcncc in the knotted and unknotted I-cord (usually, the knol acls as a bit of a resist).

When you are satisfied willi ihe felting result (or are not surę if it's felted enough and want lo scc :l dry), take out the gar-ment, rinse il in cool water, press il between a couple of towels to biot, and let it air dry. Bc surę to lay it on a fiat surface or as described in Ihc pallern (around a bowl tor a hat, for instancc). i place my drying felts near a floor furnace vent (in winlcr) or ouldoors (in the summer).

Also, try a pracfice run if you havcnY felted much before or you don't know your washing machinę well. Set the machinę as recommended, and leave the top open. The water Ievel will be set Iow, so you woiTt make a splashing mess. At the end of the gentlc cycle with the top open, check to see if the machinę stops ilsclf before going to spin (my machino won'l spin if the lop is open). This is a great tool in monitoring the length of felting time your piece experiences. If your machinę docs proceed directly to the spin cycle, bc prepared to stop it, as spinning is not a tri end of shibori fclling.

I recommend tracking the time your piece spends in the felting process willi a por labie kitchen timer. This is an indispcnsable tool for any kind of felting, and it frees you from hovering over tlić machinę during the felting period.

One last word about machino fclling: While it is not impossible to felt in a front-Ioading machino, it is messier and can be moro tricky. Ali my friends who own front-loaders eonie to my housc when they want lo felt!

Hand felting

Tliough nono of the projects specifically cali for hand felting, there are times when it is helpful lo know this is an option. Smali things—I cord details, oi perhaps if you want to be cer ta i ii of a be!t's fil, or ensuring something is the exact Icngtli desired—can bc moro easily eon troi led when hand fclling.

I don't rccommcnd it for larger pieces, but for smali ihings, it's great.

118 shibori kKir*