Monday, August 2, 2010

New Nuno -- Habotai Scarf with Self Fringes

A customer sent me a photo last week of a scarf she had seen and I just had to try it. (Thank you Julia!) It took two tries, but I think I got it! Here is the finished product -- it is a habotai scarf with self fringes. Very cute!

The main trick to this scarf was getting the fringes cut so they didn't look awkward. In my first attempt I cut the fringes in an angular manner at the top. The finished piece was spikey and not attractive. So I tried again, this time curving the top area. That worked! I made sure that the roving covered and extended past the edges of my fringed ends.

I also pushed the roving apart in several areas in the body of the scarf to allow some change in texture on the silk side when finished. You can see that in the second picture.

I wet out and sanded my piece to finish. Does anyone want to learn about using the sander? Leave me a comment here!

Cheers you guys. This was fun! Oh, and this is the canyon fabric with the purple roving. Sometimes I forget these things, sorry!

13 comments:

  1. Suzanne,

    What mm was the habotai? I decided to try a heavier sillk gain recently but after 1.5 hours of rolling it still didn't adhere the way it should. It was 8mm.... I only used it because I got it for free so I thought I'd experiment.
    Back to gauze and chiffon for me :)

    Hey, btw, how come feltinglessons.com isn't on your list?!

    Terri

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  2. Hi Terri,

    The habotai I use is either 4.5 or 5mm depending on who I buy from. I wouldn't go any heavier or if I did use the 8mm I would use very fine roving. The scarves are prettiest when rolled, but it can take a while to get the wool through, so I opt for the sander. The chiffon or gauze is pretty foolproof, although even the 8mm gauze takes a while!

    I will add feltinglessons.com. thanks!
    Take care,

    Suzanne

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  3. The scarf is beautiful as are the new colors.

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  4. Thanks Connie! I hope you are doing good. We need a play day soon!

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  5. I have ordered beautiful silk twice from you. I really want to know about the sander! Which sander did you use and how did you go about it? I do quite a bit of nuno felting and would love a way to give myself some relief.

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  6. Suzanne - Is the silk part of the fringe so that you actually cut the silk? I would love to know about the sanding?

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  7. HI Guys,

    I hope my latest entry helps with the sanding questions. Mine is a Black and Decker finishing sander which I understand you can buy at Wal-Mart for about $20. It only takes about 10 seconds in each spot to get the roving to adhere. Then I turn the piece over and sand from the back as well. You still have to full the piece.

    Hi Kate, how are you? Yes I did cut the silk to make that fringe. They sort of looked like arches to start. I tried to cut different lengths so they would look interesting.

    Cheers -- the sander makes things much easier but you need to take care of yourself!

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  8. Hi Suzanne,
    I've heard mixed opinions about using the sander. I've never used one because I had been told the finished product always looks better if hand rolled. Could you please speak to this issue? You know I value your opinion.

    Many thanks,
    Victoria

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  9. HI Victoria,

    As with all things there are trade offs! You can especially tell the difference between the techniques on the habotai -- the way the wool connects and the texture is prettier when hand rolled. The difference is pretty minor on the chiffon -- almost not noticeable. The trade off is everything is connected uniformly when you use the sander -- the habotai is sometimes hard to get everything down when you hand roll. And the time is really shortened when you use a sander. So for me, sanding is a viable option! I don't like the noise and the vibration, but I don't use the sander often!

    Hugs to you!

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  10. When combining silk with the roving, use cool water. Don't use hot as the roving will felt before the silk has had a chance to adhere to the roving. I've tried this and it worked much better the second time around

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  11. Suzanne, thank you for the wonderful instructions that came with the scarf size silk and color coordinated wool roving. I revisited your blog about fringing a scarf but am sill not clear what you mean by "curving" the cuts. do you mean the space between fringes on the body of the silk?
    And can you explain what the different effects are when one or both sides of the silk are felted? thanks

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  12. Hi Nancy,

    I cut the fringes in the shape of an arch. Really sharp fabric scissors help. Then roll them between your palms when fulling to get the finished shape.

    On this scarf I've put wool all over one side of the silk and none on the other side. I know some people use wool on both sides, but it is not necessary. It would add warmth. Where ever there is wool the fabric puckers up, so by having it on one side you get texture all over the piece.

    Hope that helps!

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  13. You guys, you could also cut the arch shapes out after you'd rolled or sanded the piece -- it might be easier that way! I learned something!

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