The Complete Photo Guide to Felting

Description

This richly illustrated how-to book is a comprehensive reference for various felting techniques, including needle felting, wet felting, felt inlay, and nuno felting. With these easy-to-follow, step-by-step directions and hundreds of full-color photos, you'll be able to explore these easy projects that provide fun opportunities for you to try the techniques. Galleries of unique felted designs and creations by renowned fabric artists act as beautiful examples and inspiration to pursue the hobby yourself.

Ruth Lane has been a member of the Felting Forum for four-and-a-half years and a moderator for three years. A longtime supporter of fine crafts, Ruth co-owns a fine craft gallery, The Purple Pomegranate, which represents more than 180 American artists whose work includes jewelry, ceramics, metal work, mixed media, woodworking, glass art, fiber art, prints, and paintings. Ruth has taught numerous aspects of felt making, including basic wet felting, nuno felting, making 3D felt objects using a resist, the use of a power sander in felting, and dyeing of wool and other fibers for use in felting.

"The wide parameters of the colorful world of felting will come as a surprise to all but the most experienced felters, who, along with those of novice status, are the audience expert crafter Lane addresses in the large-format, comprehensive guide. Lane offers this basic definition of felting: wool fibers are matted into fabric that historically was used as effective protection against the elements but has become a popular craft for perhaps less utilitarian but certainly increased aesthetic purposes. A presentation of fundamental practices leads the reader to confront and absorb lesson on advanced techniques, with directions by Lane expressed in patient prose and the ample illustrations assisting the text well. The greatly informative chapter "All about Wool" discusses such topics as grading wool and the various "breeds" of wool (which depend on the breeds of sheep from which they are derived). Washing the wool, carding, and dyeing round out the book's introductory portion, at which point the author imparts detailed information on three types of felting: traditional wet felting, Nuno felting, and needle felting, with techniques and sample projects given careful elucidation. A concluding gallery of greatly creative felted works by an array of artists adds final inspiration. For more encyclopedic treatments of various crafts, see the adjacent Read-alikes column." -- Booklist, December 15, 2012