Felted blossoms

In this article we would like to introduce you to the different kinds of 2-dimensional felt-flowers for nuno-felt-scarves.
The techniques  described here are part of the 25 tips and tricks nuno-felt-scarf.

The impressive stylized felt roses on chiffon, as seen in the first three examples, can be created in just a few steps. Use preferably thin, different colored strands of FLYFEL^®-tops, approximately 20-25cm long. These are twirled around themselves and then later twisted to a flat rose.
Make sure that the wool is not twirled too much, otherwise the flower will only felt with itself but not to the surface. The leaves are created out of 10cm long pulled woolen strands in different shades of green. These are partially folded and placed under the flowers before the felting process is started.

Dyed or natural white FLYFEL^®-sliver silk threads create impressive gloss effects on the rather flat woolen surface.
 

In the beginning, felt every flower separately and very carefully under a thin foil. That way nothing can move out of place, especially not the tips of the leaves. As soon as the fibers have started to connect to the chiffon, more pressure can be applied and the back can be worked on too. Only a couple of minutes are needed in order to felt on a rose made out of super fine chiffon 3,5.
Not a lot of room is needed for this technique because every rose can be felted separately.

Play around with bright color contrasts or discreet color harmonies: our huge color choices make for never ending combination possibilities.
 

Here, different colored woolen strands were slightly put together and in contrast to the earlier examples, barely twisted. Through that, very loose and open blossom are created.
 

An overview of the 40 colors for never ending combinations.
You receive 40 color coordinated FLYFEL^®-tops in 3 different package sizes. They are available in FLYFEL^®-web yard ware as well as chiffon yard ware and hand rolled chiffon scarves.
 

Flowers can not only be created out of FLYFEL^®-tops but also out of FLYFEL^®-web yardware. Both are made out of super fine merino wool quality.
The motifs can also be cut out of fleece and felted on. You can also use our popular FLYFEL^®-pads, which are already cut motifs in many different shapes, also including flower-power blossoms in two sizes.
Those are available in natural white for dyeing and also in up to 12 different colors.

For this scarf, white FLYFEL^®-pads were dyed. A detailed instruction can be found here in the IDEEN.com journal.

Our tip: cut a small piece of pongé 05 about 1cm bigger than the inside of the flower. Lay that between the chiffon and FLYFEL^®-pad and carefully felt on the blossom. The pongé is supposed to fill out and cover the inner circle but not reach above the flower pedals.
The FLYFEL^®-pads felt on to the layer of pongé without much effort and the result looks simply gorgeous!
 

A gorgeous and light summer shawl.
Perfect for a vacation at the beach!

The super fine tulle is perfect for nuno felting! For this shawl an approximately 2 meter long piece was painted and dyed in different shades of yellow and green.
Colored FLYFEL^®-pads in flower shape were lined up and felted on to both ends. Through that, a beautiful edge is created, that doesn't have to be serged anymore. Both selvages are also the edging for the scarf.

Such a shawl fits in every suitcase, it is a definite eye-catcher and can easily be created without much effort. The same idea, selvages with FLYFEL^®-pads are shown here.
 

Elegantly shining flowers can also be felted out of pure silk fibers. FLYFEL^®-sliver is a roving out of super fine mulberry-silk fibers, which can be formed into super fine strands and then felted.
Dyeing with steam-fixable silk paints is also possible.
Important to know: Silk can not be felted onto silk. It is therefore impossible to felt the silk fibers directly onto the chiffon. There has to be a layer of wool in between, even if it is a super fine one.
Create whole pictures by felting FLYFEL^®-sliver onto an even surface of FLYFEL^®-web.
 

Here is an example for "painting with FLYFEL®-sliver":

In the beginning, single strands have been dyed with silk paint in the microwave. Instructions for this process can be found in the IDEEN.com-journal.
First, a cut piece of FLYFEL^®-web is put onto a chiffon scarf. This gives the nuno-felt-scarf more stability while the rolled hem is used as the edge of the scarf at the same time.
Now, lay the fine strands onto the still dry woolen surface. Continuous, single green lines create stems, interrupted by rolled up loops in bright flower colors.
Sprinkle the motif with soap sud and cover the to-be-felted areas with a transparent foil, in order to prevent the silk fibers from moving out of place.
During the felting process, the woolen fibers start to move and through that hold on to the silk so it does not move out of place. At the same time they are being pushed together into discreet wavy patterns.
These super fine waves are typical for felted on silk fibers.
 

At first glance, it is almost unnoticeable how this blossom was created.
It is definitely worth clicking the zoom button in order to marvel at the super fine details! ;)

This is how it works:
Cut a hibiscus blossom out of a white FLYFEL^®-web. Keep a couple of the shapes in the middle, so that the outline is not lost. Similar to a silhouette. Now underlay the fleece with a piece of Pongé 05, which lays on another piece of white FLYFEL^®-web. Carefully felt all layers together.

The brilliants with ironing coating (hotfix) were applied after felting and drying.
 

Another flower version:
Here, a rose motif of a burn-out velvet was used for an unusual nuno-felt-scarf.

First, an approximately 200cm long piece of yard ware was halved lengthwise and divided into two scarves. After felting, you will receive two scarves in the dimensions of 180x50cm. The silk backside was dyed in a delicate shade of pink, matching the to be felted on FLYFEL®-web. The viscose was dyed in a strong bordeaux. Details about felting burn-out fabric can be found in the according journal article.

Important: both layers, FLYFEL^®-web and transparent silk back, melt together when felting and the shining silk roses emerge especially vividly.
 

This nuno-felt-scarf was made out of a chiffon-scarf. It was first painted with sunflowers, using the wax technique and later completely felted onto black FLYFEL^®-web. Both layers connect very quickly with each other and it seems as if the motif is directly printed onto the wool. The colors shine especially intensely because of the strong light/dark effect.

More information about this topic can be found here in the IDEEN.com journal.
 

Even painted Gutta scarves out of Pongé 08 can be felted. Pongé 08 needs a little bit more experience and definitely more time then when felting Pongé 05 but the effort is well worth it. Here, the FLYFEL^®-web was also chosen to match the color of the gutta scarf with a peony motif. Through that both layers melt together, both haptic as well as visual.