Art Jewelry Elements: Painting with.... Fiber? Felted Tapestries!

Felt. Fiber... Not my usual materials...but its so much fun!

I am always looking for ways to evolve my work, and creatively challenge myself. And as an artist/business person I am also thinking of ways to offer my pieces to consumers in a new and enticing format. These felted tapestries hit on all marks, in my opinion. My pendants are the star, yet showcased in a non jewelry fashion. I can satisfy my Muse's love of color and touch on my painting background - in a fast and immediately satisfying genre. Here - let me show you...

I often start with a shape cut from an up-cycled felted sweater. It's a great cost-friendly canvas. Here I am needle felting with wool roving, onto a navy sweater piece. I plan to pair this with my mermaid ceramic pendant... and a few curly locks were the right "splash" of accent color.

Felting, finishing edges, and embellishing...

I also use "pre-felt" as a canvas. I like to use the focal as the starting point for the wool palette. Here the focal is a polymer and resin mixed media piece with a vintage Art Nouveau illustration. (Please note: I am not going into the HOW of needle felting here. That could be a topic in the future. I will list resources below.)

Felting the tapestry, folding and felting the edges.

The joy to me is adding beads! But hang on - lets get the focals in place... I use waxed linen and a tapestry needle. A few simple stitches and done. They disappear into the felt texture... Or you can leave the waxed linen ends on the front of the piece and embellish with a few beads there too!

Waxed linen to attach the piece to the felted tapestry.

Here is this batch ready to go - but the larger rectangular pieces need something else...

Waiting for bead embellishment...

Excellent! Stamping blanks from Nunn design are the right size and scale.

A little word play...

Alright - time to bead. I'm off. What no bead pictures? Here let me tide you over with this one until next time - when I will talk beaded embellishments and framing/presentation for these lovelies.