Gloriana: Shawl Wool and Silk Nuno Felt Gold Orange Pink

Description

Gloriana is a fabulous collage of richly coloured sari silks and fine merino wool and silk fibres blended into a warm textured shawl. It features circles of silk and gold lace and a turmeric yellow border on one side with ombre dyed silk on the other. Warm and luxurious in amber, coral, fuchsia, gold,  for women who enjoy standing out from the crowd. My inspiration is the fabulous sky paintings of early sunrise or late evening sunsets when the clouds are ablaze.

Measurements: 160cm x 124cm

Fabric Care: it is best to wash this shawl by hand if you can, or use the handwash setting on your machine with nothing else in it. The process of making felt involves warm water, soap and agitation. This is exactly what your washing machine does. There is a risk of further shrinkage if you agitate it further in hot soapy water. Using natural soap also helps it to keep its lustre and drape.
It can be spun to extract most of the water, or rolled in a towel and pressed (stand on it or ask the kids to jump up and down on it!) before hanging somewhere warm to dry completely. Finish off with a gentle steam iron to restore its shape and lustre.

My process: I create pieces inspired by my local environment and love to play with combining colours. I choose the silk fabric and complementary wool colours first based on my inspiration. In the process of felting, the wool fibres penetrate the silk fabric and hold it in place, so that it softly ruches and gathers as the wool fibres shrink and mesh together. The whole process takes several hours and a whole lot of energy to agitate the wool fibres until they mesh together as a piece of fabric.  It has a lovely drape and feels soft against the skin.