felt experiments

It was the first crisp autumn day yesterday after a long balmy summer. The chill in the air made me feel like making felt, so I spent the morning making the two striped pieces above. It's pretty physical work turning fleece into fabric, so my arms are feeling a bit sore today. 

I'm still experimenting with trying to make interesting and wearable jewellery from felt. Whenever I see felt jewellery in craft galleries it always smacks of the 70s, with raggedy edges and rainbow colours. What I'm after is something more geometric, abstract and precise - something like the work of Irish-born abstract painter Sean Scully, only in felt! 

 Yellow Seal, 1995

 Rock Me, 1986

 The Bather, 1983

 1.9.91, 1991

[Images from Sean Scully: A Retrospective (Thames & Hudson) 2007]

I played around making a neckpiece, threading together little shapes from my stash of felt off-cuts. It looks quite cool on my tailor's dummy, but the individual pieces twist around when you wear it, so I haven't quite aced it yet. 

Abstract brooches with inserts in contrasting colours might be a better way to go. More felt experiments to come...