For my last City and Guilds assignment I needed to work with a client to develop a scarf to their specifications, in true Teri tradition I didn’t stop at the one scarf needed to complete that assignment, I ended up creating 3 scarves for different people, all with very different results but interestingly very similar colour schemes. This has been a brilliant journey, and a lot of fun working with some good friends to develop their ideas and realise them into felt and fabric.
The first one was for a good friend, unfortunately she’s a bit photo-phobic so I don’t have any photos of her in her new scarf but I was so pleased with how her scarf turned out that I sought out some more “clients” to work with, and found 2 more willing guinea-pigs.
This is the first scarf, it is a reversible snood with a button to help mould the hood to the head when up. She wanted something warm that would offer some protection from wind and rain in purple / fuchsia pink.
This is the silk side:
This is the felt side showing some of the silk hanky decoration:
A better photo of the silk hanky decorations, these catch the light beautifully:
Having enjoyed the process of working with someone else so much, I went in search of my next victimclient, Juliet, a friend from work volunteered her services.
She wanted a floaty, decorative scarf. After looking at some samples and finished scarves she selected nuno-felted silk. After lots of discussion (and I think some influence from Tam) we settled on an infinity scarf design.
This is Juliet wearing her new creation:
My third guinea-pig was Tam, another friend from work. She was quite clear from the outset that she wanted an infinity scarf, after looking at a selection of dyed fabrics she settled on the purple stripy cotton scrim (visible as the lowest fold in the photo) with wool in purples and reds with some orangey-red silk hankies for decoration.
I’m really pleased with how they all turned out, all very different and hopefully a reflection of their new owners’ personalities! Thank you all for helping me to complete this assignment, it has been a lot of fun.
Linking up to nina-marie, off the wall Friday
I'm not sure if my comment went through or not but it seems to have disappeared. Looks like you learned a lot and they look happy with the results 🙂
I'm afraid this is the only comment I can see, looks like blogger might have gobbled your first attempt 🙁 Yes it was really interesting working with others and bouncing ideas off each other.
I like all three of them and think you've done a fantastic job! Apart of colour scheme all scarves are very different and very beautiful!
How long are you infinity scarves? I've never made one…
I like all three of them and think you've done a fantastic job! Apart of colour scheme all scarves are very different and very beautiful!
How long are you infinity scarves? I've never made one…
Although the name would suggest otherwise they are actually fairly short!, Juliet's was just over 2.5m circumference and Tam's was 2 m once felted. They're not really much more difficult than a straight scarf but do require a bit more effort to stitch the ends together and stop them felting to themselves during fulling.
You've been a very busy lady 😉 (and now have happy friends)
For the stitch-and-burn work, there are very many steps to be
taken before you have a finished piece.
When you look at Susan Lenz (Google or "art in stitches" in my
sidebar) you will find a good tutorial for these burned pieces,
though she starts with polyester felt instead of "lutradur" and
does more with a heat gun instead of a soldering iron in the end …
The basic trick is : use all polyesters and COTTON thread to
stitch. Have fun exploring!
Beautiful scarves – the first is my fave!
Beautiful scarves – the first is my fave!
Thank you for the advice Els, I am also an admirer of Susan Lenz's work, they look so delicate and intricate. I hope to have a play in the next couple of weeks….
Thank you for the advice Els, I am also an admirer of Susan Lenz's work, they look so delicate and intricate. I hope to have a play in the next couple of weeks….
Thank you, I love them all but the silk decoration and the button on the first probably pips the other 2 to the post in my eyes too 🙂
I love the texture in these pieces, particularly the first one. It looks like it would feel wonderful to wear. Your friends are lucky!