New super soft hand carded, hand dyed fiber batts just added to my Etsy shop - great for spinning and felting of all kinds!

These lovely hand carded, hand dyed fiber batts were just listed in my Etsy Fiber Shop.  They are super soft and very smooth - wonderful for spinning and felting.  I will be adding more fiber batts weekly so please check back often.

After starting to list my newly created fiber batts on Friday, my first one sold on Monday.  Yay!  I really enjoy making these batts and hope they sell well.  I also plan to create some new felted goodies with some of them.  I just have to find the time to do that soon.

Funky Felter Woolly Fiber Batts for Felting and Spinning now available in my Etsy Fiber Shop with more to come!

I'm having a blast carding batts on my new drum carder!  Making colorful wool batts is really a fiber art form in itself.  Although I am definitely keeping some of my yummy, yummy batts for felting and spinning, I am also selling some of them in my Etsy Fiber Shop.  I have listed a few woolly batts today and will continue to list many more for sale in the coming days.  I hand dye most of the fiber for my batts as well as card them several times.  My batts are soft and smooth and ideal for the feltmaker or spinner.  Since I am a fiber addict artist myself, I always make my batts with the fiber artist in mind!

Here's a glimpse of what I've done so far...

Want to Win My Hand Dyed Silks and Colorful Wool Roving for Your Handmade Nuno Felting? Giveway Contest Going on Right Now at Craft Gossip!

Everyone loves a freebie... Right?  Well, I know that I do!  That's why I offered up a package of my hand dyed silk in 9 different colors and a package of wool roving in 12 different colors to the super sweet felting editor, Linda, at Craft Gossip.  There is a contest going on right now, and you could win it all!  It makes a great basic starter kit for anyone wanting to try nuno felting.  It is also a nice combination of silk fabric and wool roving materials for the fiber lover or textile designer.  You just need to click here and head on over to Linda's post for complete directions on how to enter the contest.

My last contest hosted by Craft Gossip received over 130 entries!  Thanks so much to all who entered last time for the needle felting kits giveaway and congratulations to the lucky winners.  I hope you are enjoying your new adventures in needle felting.

(p.s. Although, I appreciate your comments here, you can't enter the giveaway contest at this post.  Sorry about that!  It is an easy click over to the contest though for a chance to win.....)

And, a big thanks to Linda for hosting the giveaway!

Hand Dyed Silk for Your Handmade Nuno Felting & Other Fiber Arts Now Available in My Shops!

Well, I finished dyeing and putting together my collections of silk sooner than I expected. Yay!  I now have three collections available for purchase as supplies in my online shops at Etsy and ArtFire. Each collection was hand dyed in limited quantities; therefore, I only have a few sets of each kind available for sale. When they are gone, they are gone, and I will move on to making new fabulous colorway collections.

My current hand dyed silk collections (left to right in the photo):

• Stormy Desert - a light tan, dark brown, and blue-purple colorway
• Carnival Snow Cones - a bright blue, yellow, and pink colorway
• All the Queen's Jewels - a deep red, blue, and green colorway

Each collection includes three long strips (approximately 4" x 54" each) plus a small bonus bag of several mini silk fibers.  The strips are all top quality 100% silk gauze.  The smaller pieces are a variety of top quality 100% silk gauze, chiffon, organza, and habotai in assorted colors and sizes.  All pieces are hand dyed by me with professional grade acid dyes.  They are also hand cut; therefore, they have un-hemmed, slightly irregular shaped edges.  The collection comes nicely packaged and labeled.

The many possible uses of my silk collections...

• Nuno Felting - the combining of fine wool and silk to make a luxurious fabric
• Spinning Add-ins - cut pieces to add into your hand spun wool for texture and color
• Applique & Piece Work - cut out shapes and apply onto other fabrics or stitch together
• Embroidery & Needlepoint - use the vibrant silk fabric as a base for your small stitching projects
• Scrapbooking & Card Making - stitch the silk directly onto your paper scrapbook pages or cards

As a feltmaker and fiber artist, I personally use this silk for my nuno felting projects and have been dyeing my own silk for many years now.  You can see some examples of my nuno felted creations as well as more photos of my dyed silk at my flickr account.

For complete details on each silk collection colorway, please visit one of my online shops and check out the individual product listings.  You can also feel free to contact me!

Dipping in the Dye Pot - Making Hand Dyed Silk Piece Supplies for Nuno Felting, Fiber Art, and Textile Design

In the next few weeks, I will be adding a line of hand dyed silk to my available fiber supplies.  The vibrantly dyed silk gauze will come in sets, or collections, of colors.  Each color collection will have a fun theme and be available in limited editions.  I like to dye my silks individually and in small batches so I am only making a small quantity of each colorway.  My hand dyed silks are wonderful for nuno felting!  They are what I use in many of my own feltmaking projects. 

In the photo above, you can see some of my dye work on the drying rack.  I'm very, very excited about offering my hand dyed silks for your nuno felting projects, fiber art, and textile design.  I have been dyeing most of my own silk for many years now.  It is always like unwrapping a little present every time I see the final color come through on a piece of silk.

If you are interested in purchasing my upcoming silk collections, please bookmark my online shops at Etsy and ArtFire.  I will also be announcing their arrival on my blog when the time comes. 

And, if you'd like to see some examples of my own nuno felted fiber art, take a look at my flickr photos.

New Style of Handmade Nuno Felted Wool and Silk Scarves - The Lightning Series

This is my latest style of nuno felted scarf.  I call it the "Lightning" series of scarves because of the white linen fibers randomly scattered over the surface.  Each one of these is created individually through nuno felting techniques where wool is combined with a silk base.  Then I hand dye them to get the richest colors possible.  These particular scarves will eventually be going to Eclectics Gallery here in Kansas City.  If you live in the area, please stop by in a few weeks to see them in person.  The photos don't quite do them justice because you can't feel how super soft and lightweight they are.

Handmade Nuno Felted Scarves with Shibori Dyeing Techniques

Download Free Printables Now

It has been a while since I posted last. I just wanted to share some of my latest felted creations. Since I have a lot of aches and pains at this point in my pregnancy, I'm trying to continue creating without overdoing it. This means that I've been doing a lot less physically intensive activities like hand dyeing. I have really enjoyed experimenting with dye methods including the shibori technique that you see in the photos above. I did also hand felt the scarves which isn't exactly a sedentary process, but the yearning to create is overwhelming so I continue to do so - just less of it! I hope that you enjoy the scarf photos. I have a few more in the works to share at a later date.

Finally! A Few New Handmade Felted Creations to Share - Summer Nuno Scarves

I feel like it has been a very long time since I've shared any felted creations with you that weren't baby or nursery related. Over the weekend, I decided to use some of the silk in my stash to create summer style scarves. These were created through nuno, or laminated, felting where I joined wool to a silk base. Essentially, the scarves are just two thin layers which allows them to still be durable, but also super soft and very lightweight. That is why I call them summer scarves because they really could be worn in summer or any season for that matter. Please check out the photos below to see how my summer scarves turned out.

I created this scarf as a gift for my boss. Next week is my last day at work. I'm happy to be leaving my teaching position to be staying home with the baby soon, but I will miss having classes and instructing students in design. My boss is a wonderful lady that has treated me very well over the last few years that I've worked at my position. I thought that a neutral charcoal gray and white scarf would make a nice gift for her. I hope she likes it!


This scarf was fun to make! I created the scarf itself through nuno felting with BFL wool, silk gauze, and some linen flax. I then hand dyed the scarf through shibori techniques to create the striping. I am really enjoying the dye process and am already in the process of creating some more multi-colored scarves. I have yet to decide if I will keep this scarf for myself or gift it or sell it.

Looking Forward to Spring with Gorgeous Hand Dyed Silk Scarves!

It is 70 degrees here today in Kansas City. It was snowing and in the 30's just a couple of days ago so it is quite a change. No coat is necessary today though - the air is warm and breezy. It feels like a sunny Spring day outside (although I know that there's at least a few weeks of Winter to come). I look forward to the constant Spring temperatures of 60 to 70 degrees. The warmer weather makes me think about wearing lovely hand dyed silk which is just right for those Spring days and nights. I browsed the internet today in search of some beautiful examples to show you. There's a couple below so please go browse the artists' sites and shops for more photos. I find their creations very inspiring!






This gorgeous hand painted scarf is by Morgan Silk. Her lovely hand dyed and hand painted items range from silk scarves, like the one in the photo, to men's neckties. I can also testify that she is a joy to communicate with since I have known her from her Etsy shop for quite a while. Considering the talent, time, and effort put into a one-of-a-kind hand painted silk garment like hers, Morgan Silk's prices are quite reasonable, and the excellent quality of her items can be seen in her flickr gallery photos. Please visit her main website for more information about her and her gorgeous silk creations.








This beautiful hand painted polka-dot wrap was created by Amy of Amy's Funky Fibers. I just love the color combination of blue and green used here. It is a very modern look that would be gorgeous for Spring. I came across Amy's Etsy shop a while ago because of her lovely nuno felted scarves. I have found her hand dyed silk scarves to be equally as lovely. Please visit her shop for more information on her and her silk creations.

What's your dye method? The process of hand dyeing wool, silk, and other natural fibers with professional acid dyes or whatever you prefer!

I must admit that the majority of fibers that I've used for felting thus far has been professionally pre-dyed. I just recently started having an interest in taking the next step to dye most of my own fibers. In the past, I have dyed quite a lot of silk as well as some wool roving. In doing so, I ordinarily use the kettle dyeing method with Cushing's Perfection Dyes, professional acid dyes for wool where you just add white vinegar to the mix. This process of just mixing everything in a large simmering pot has worked very well so far. Recently I have been thinking about switching to Jacquard Acid Dyes as it seems to be a favorite among spinners and other fiber artists. From what I understand, it is also a professional acid dye where you just add vinegar to the mix. I like the ease of this dyeing method and have found it to be difficult to really mess things up in this process. (Although, you do have to be careful with your wool roving because it will felt with too much agitation.) I have used other dyes previously on silk such as Pro MX Reactive Dyes, but there are more steps involved as well as the use of salt and soda ash. The results were good, but I found myself always having to refer to the directions to complete the process which slows down everything. Since I have several jars of this kind of dye left, I may try to use it up eventually. I think that I have spoiled myself though with the "just add vinegar" method of professional acid dyes.

This brings me to my questions for you......... What's your dye method? What type of dye do your prefer? And, do you like to kettle dye or hand paint your roving, or perhaps you have a different method all-together?

I also wanted to share with you this wonderful blog post by Inger (ingermaaike on Etsy). It is a tutorial on how to dye very fine wool. One of my fears with dyeing wool roving is that it will felt in the process because you are applying heat to the fiber. I have had that happen only once that I remember, and it was very frustrating and disappointing. Inger's wonderful blog post details how to dye your delicate wool without having those awful issues of it felting in the process. And, her blog is full of informational posts about feltmaking, spinning, and more.

Also, the image is a screen shot of some of the acid dyes available on Etsy. As you can see, windrose and Maryjanesattic both offer a nice variety of Jacquard Acid Dyes. You can also find professional acid dyes on sites like The Dharma Trading Company and The Bellwether.

Don't forget to leave a comment and let me know what dye method you prefer! I learn so much when my readers share their techniques, resources, and personal experiences. I thoroughly enjoy your comments and appreciate them too! Thank you in advance!