Nuno Felted Belt

I have not done a Nuno Felted piece since March. So today, since I had the house to myself, I wanted to do a Nuno Felted Belt. Unlike my other Nuno Felted projects, this time I wanted to try using cotton scrim. So I hand dyed two long pieces of scrim in a deep teal and a deep orange/rust color the night before. Teal and Orange is another color combination that I really love. I was going for an rich earthy color scheme but with lots of color.

The hand dyed scrim will be the base for my belt instead of silk chiffon. In the pictures, the orange looks really bright orange, however it is not (as you will see at the end). The sun was not yet around the back of the house to provide proper lighting in order to capture a better photo.

So here is how it went. For more detailed steps of Nuno Felting you may visit an earlier blog post on making a Nuno Felted Scarf.

First I placed my long belt fabric out my hand-dyed cotton scrim over my bubble wrap. (ooops, forgot this picture).

Next, I added my wool colors in the design of my desire. I just chose a random design with no set pattern. My colors were rust, gold, turquoise, black, and teal. Since cotton scrim is so delicate I wanted to cover just about the entire scrim and only leave little exposed. I like the beautiful affects that result when you leave the base fabric exempt of any wool in some areas. I also left the very ends free of wool so that I can later embellish some ribbons and that is the area of the belt I would like to hang down the hip/leg.





Once my design with the wool is complete I covered it with my tulle. Then, wet it down with the hot soapy water, sprinkling it on to soak the entire design. I begin my agitation process of the wool through the tulle. Once I see the wool fibers started to show through the tulle, I slowly remove the tulle.



I check to make sure the wool fibers have started to felt. Once the tulle is removed, I sprinkled more hot water and soap and agitated some more. I then cover the entire project with the nylon curtain.



It is now time to roll! Yeah! love this part, I put on some good tunes and off I go! Who needs the treadmill. I roll the project with the pool noodle inside. I band it with my lycra and ready to roll!



After about 200 rolls I check it. I like what I see and the fibers are starting to show through the back. I remove the nylon curtain from the top completely and I take the scarf to the sink for a nice dip into very hot water and more soap. I gently agitate more with my hands and palms. I repeat this process alternating hot and cold water as I like to shock the wool which helps me move the process along. Then I very gently squeeze the water out and begin the fulling process.



I hold the belt up and drop about 2 feet on the work surface. I continue doing this until i begin to see some shrinkage and the cotton scrim starts to bubble with luscious texture. I really enjoy this part as I just love seeing the transformation and how my colors will appear. I continue doing this process until I see it has completed the fulling process.

I then rinse in cold water again to remove soap and then soak in a vinegar water bowl to rid the piece of any remaining soap. I hang to dry. When it has dried, I wanted to add beautiful embellishments to the ends. So a quick visit to my sewing machine completes the belt. I am very pleased with the rich colors. The deep orange and teal together worked so beautifully.