Felting Mulberry papers, Part 2: taking our lines of ink for walks

I got together with artist Lee Goller to play with her papers and inks. Lee and I have been engaged in a conversation for several months, with the view and hope that it will lead towards a collaboration for exhibition. But if it doesn't, it matters not, as we like hanging out with each other.
It can be scary to make your first mark on paper. Let alone papers that have taken a while to felt by hand. Lee was the perfect guide.

Joni's ink doodles on paper

We started off using some ink on water-colour paper just to get started – and then into the flow – using black ink, some pens with nibs and brushes. At first it reminded me of school and learning to use a fountain pen. I was rather a messy filler and user of ink pots– requiring lots of blotting papers. But I liked the way, and still do, that the nib would scratch the page. Inevitably, my pages of writing at school would include splotches and blots. Here, as well, I would fill my nib, and then bring it to the paper and lo – behold – a splotch of ink. Oops. Thankfully those days of school, scolds and guilt are long gone – and those accidents can be made into ‘something’ artistic – as much as doodles are artistic. 

Before long I had taken out the felted papers, sharing them with Lee. I noticed that Lee had a book of drawing by Paul Klee open on the table. We chatted while doodling with the inks. We felt hungry and Lee served up bowls of soup. I was mindful not to dip my nib into the soup… It occurred to me (because our conversation in the past had included the theme of ‘the mad-woman in the attic’) that these papers could very well show the marks that the madwoman would make, when offered papers and inks. The thought was strangely satisfying. 

The textured papers require more ink

Getting out the felted papers

Lee reminded me of Klee’s idea of drawing as ‘taking a line for a walk’. Sure! I said,  and I like John Berger’s variation on that theme – that writing is ‘taking a line of words for a walk’, which had inspired me many moons ago while I was writing a Master’s thesis. Here we were with our lines on a walk and happy for the companionship, with each other and the art materials. It occurs to me much later that the mad woman (for instance Bertha in Jane Eyre) would hardly muse about Klee or Berger, while drawing. 

Lee's drawings inspired by Klee

Lee's left-handed flourishes

'This is fun!'

Lee remarked that while these meandering lines were fun, she hoped to reach the stage in drawing of making ‘mindful’ lines and marks. Yes, all well and good for Lee who has a degree in drawing, but not just yet for me, (who never fulfilled a childhood dream to learn to draw the figure properly). Let me be content with my splotches and the unconscious gestures. 

Joni's splotches

Felting Mulberry Paper samples, Part 1

Post the Fiona Duthie workshop (Fibre, Paper, Ink: Illuminated), which I attended in Dunolly, I attempted to purchase Hanji overseas but when I realized it would cost over $70 US for a few sheets of paper to be freighted, I decided to look for local suppliers of mulberry papers. 

Neil Wallace Printmaking Supplies and Melbourne Etching Supplies were my first stop. Well, Neil’s first, and was told that the two shops had merged. Melbourne Etching Supplies (MES) has the better supply of Mulberry paper, I was informed. I sourced a Mulberry Tissue (Code P339-09111), which is an archival restoration paper, but which can also be used for print making. This is available in 10 gsm, 25 gsm and 30 gsm. I purchased it in 30 gsm as it was closest to the weight (35 gsm) of the paper we used in the workshop. 

Fiona Duthie had mentioned Dairing as a possible source of paper and when I contacted Stephen, he sent me several small samples of Mulberry papers made in Thailand.  

Following Fiona’s instructions, I felted all papers by hand, and using 23 micron merino wool. I didn’t want to introduce another unknown by way of using the Gentle Roller (something Philip has taught me). The papers were enough unknown materials. Happily, all papers felted well. Stephen had marked his papers in biro (which I went over with a fine Sharpie pen), and as you can see the marks didn’t fade too much during felting. 

Random papers from Dairing

Random piece - PW-2

Random piece PW-1

Very fine tissue, almost disappeared into merino

MES Mulberry Tissue 30 gsm

Rougher random Mulberry PB-1

Rougher random piece PB-2

The Benefits of Using a Second Drive Roller

I often contemplate the reality that using The Gentle Roller has neither made me a more prolific nor a faster felt maker. The Gentle Roller was never intended to produce faster felt. It was intended to replace manual rolling and, in that regards, it suits me fine. But I know that there are some who think or feel that you could be working faster particularly when you’re not doing the rolling yourself and time seems to be spent “waiting”. There are just so many cups of coffee you can have while The Gentle Roller is doing all that hard work for you 😉.

Showing the GR in back and second drive roller at left

I am not usually having cups of coffee, or reading, as the GR advert suggests. And because the shed where I work is a long way from the rest of the house, I tend to just sit around waiting for the cycles to complete. Often, I use the time to daydream about future projects, draw or write, or informally do inventory of my fibres and fabrics. Things changed when I started testing the super soft roller for Nuno Felt. I discovered that having more than one drive roller can change your production quite dramatically. It helps for instance when I am laying a garment. As I don’t use a resist but lay my pieces separately, I can now roll the front and back pieces concurrently. Having laid out the back and front pieces I can take each up on a separate drive roller (it’s less difficult/heavy than folding back to back and trying to roll the whole piece at once). While one bundle is rolling, I can wet down, soap, inspect the other piece, then sandwiched in plastic, take it up on another drive roller. When the rolling cycle finishes for the other bundle, I can simply switch them over.

You can work this way with making multiple scarves at the one time, or with different parts of a garment. When I work with two drive rollers I’m no longer sitting around in a daydream (even though I consider this being creative too). I’m in constant motion inspecting, wetting, hand touching, preparing; and as I ready one piece, the rolling cycle of the other is just coming to an end (or it is waiting) and I swap and continue. The Gentle Roller won’t be rolling any faster, but you will find yourself working much more productively and efficiently (if that is your objective) and your “waiting” time will reduce dramatically.


From March you will be able to purchase an additional drive roller under the shop section in 'accessories'.  You will also be able to choose from 'general purpose' and the 'super soft' for very fine Nuno-felt. The Gentle Roller team continue to work hard to ensure your felting is a lot less laborious.

© The Gentle Roller

Slow Work – making the upcycled cotton mosaic jacket – during a Season and a bit…

Slow in conception and execution.  My first objective was to use a bright piece of cotton muslin inherited from someone else’s stash – someone’s discard becomes precious to me (association of absence-presence and connection, which I’ll discuss below).  Other muslins of the same weight were hard to source.  So, I decided to see what was in my ‘not worn but serviceable’ bag.  (Since our downsize move a year ago, I had divided my clothing into ‘still wearing’, which was now hanging in the closet, or ‘not worn but maybe later’ still in bags in the shed.  I admit I find it hard to discard clothing).  I discovered two Indian cotton voile skirts not worn for quite some time and just right for the project.  Then I recalled a piece I’d cut off a long shirt (which I’d worn threadbare) in another bag of offcuts and fabrics, and gleefully discovered the cut-off was still spangled new.  So, lots of fabric was fossicked – enough for two projects I decided – a mosaic scarf as a test piece for the bigger project of jacket. 

Then began the work of unpicking to free the fabrics from their original shape and incarnation.  

This was done at the dining table since I had no other space.  Piecing together the new fabric – done at one point with my Mum and I hosting impromptu visitors.  It was tedious and fun at the same time because I had companionship and conversation.  The trouble with working on the dining table is that it is in a mess and things must be pushed to one side when you want to sit down and have a meal.  But on the positive, I am still in the hub of things.  I did my ‘doodles’ of how I had pieced the scarf and fabric for the jackets, to work out the colours and patterns.

If I look at my timeline for these projects – I started in late June and it’s half way through September and I have just put finishing touches to my jacket.  So, almost a season and a bit spent making two items.  Philip would say ‘not a very efficient’ way of working.  All the same, it’s been great to have a project where I could stay in the warmth of the kitchen, as opposed to the cold shed where I felt. 

The ‘making’ becomes an experience.  It’s not only about making a product but the time you take to think, dream, remember, converse and share reminisces while you unpick and piece together again, and as in my case also, form my wool shapes, which I would later take up to the shed to arrange on the fabric pieces and felt.  I have constant interruptions by mundane life – planning menus and the shopping, cooking meals, caring duties (dispensing of medications to all, including our Maudie dog), other chores like laundry, ironing, cleaning, looking after the four-legged children and the feathered ones; as well as the business of the roller, answering email queries, finding time to post to social media, testing new bits for the roller.  At most times I am overwhelmed.  So, making ‘slow’ work is slowing down on so many levels.  But in this pressured world of social media where you’re encouraged to post every day, I am usually way behind and my FB page forgotten because I’m unable to keep up with the speed that others produce work.

Claire Wellesley Smith in her book Slow Stitch, Mindfulness and Contemplative Textile Art (2015, Batsford, UK) has one consider these aspects – ‘Unpick, Rework, Develop, Adapt, Revisit, Permanence Impermanence’ (in the section ‘Unpicking and reusing old projects’).  Though I have not reused an old project I have certainly unpicked, revisited and developed, adapted old fabrics. 

While unpicking I have considered where and when the clothes were originally purchased (the skirts close to 30 years ago, the shirt around 15 years) – they were worn by someone else (myself in another relationship, myself in another skin and it wasn’t a time when I cared about reusing and repurposing.  If I look back, I notice that I wasted quite a lot.  There were projects that were left incomplete.  I now long for those bags of fabrics that I discarded.)  The precious muslin which was someone else’s discard was dyed by Rae, who passed several years ago.  I like having her continued presence in my work.  Which brings me to ‘permanence/impermanence’.  Usually I take fragile fabrics and give them new permanence through the medium of felt but even this permanence is fragile and temporary.  When I sell pieces, I can’t be certain what their fates are.  They may well end up in land-fill.  Of course, with felting, I also incorporate the new – new merino and silk fibres and I require these new materials to give the old a second chance.  I have tended to use superfine merino but of late, I have discovered the ‘Bunny Lady’ Charly McCafferty of IxChel Fibres and Yarns.  Charly sources wool from rare breeds of sheep (even bison) and her carding of mixed fibres (mixing the old breeds with new ‘eco’ fibres such as Tencel and Bamboo) and her hand-dyeing is second to none.  I look forward to using more of her fibres as I develop ways to reuse fabric for felt-making.  For both the scarf and jacket I used Charly’s ‘Hungarian Rhapsody’ which combined Racka (a rare breed of Hungarian long-haired sheep) and Cashmere, Angora, Mulberry Silk and Tencel.  (Ixchel Angora Bunny & Funky Fibre Art)

When you start to ‘unpick’ or deconstruct a work, it can certainly have lots of layers of meaning.  The recycling (memories/emotions, associations evoked as you work).

The skills (or not) of the artisan in the original piece and the rework which enables you to employ your skills.  I like to make functional items – wearables – but I also like to incorporate stories (even if they remain intimate to me).  There were lots of stories shared between my mother and me (remember when I wore this?).  My mother sits at the table reading her French novels (and I have captured her in photos wearing some of my scarves).  Sometimes she stops to reminisce about my father, or she grieves because she misses him.  It’s probably the reason that women like to gather together while they sew and piece quilts – it’s about companionship, sharing, making connections, all while the hands are busy.  It’s certainly a kind of therapy and coming back to the self, as well as being present to those who work or sit alongside you.  My mother tells me ‘you’ll have a nice souvenir of me when I pass.’  Indeed.

It’s been inefficient work, but satisfying nonetheless, because the prolonged duration facilitates contemplation but even when I put the work down, the contemplation of it remains in the background tone of mundane life.  I always wish for more time because my creative work must be snatched in-between lots of other activities. 

Testing New Fibres – Extreme Nuno-felting with ‘IxCHeL luxury fibres’ (Superfine Merino, Cashmere, Suri, Silk, Angora and Tencel)

I came across IxCHeL Luxury fibres at colleague - Brigitte Haldeman's studio.  With excitement and pride she took out what she called 'bunny' fibre that had been dyed especially for her. I thought I had to get me some of that!

When I looked up IxCHeL Yarns and Fibres I ordered the colourway called The Lady and the Unicorn (after the 15^th century tapestries, currently showing at Art Gallery of NSW).  Charly who owns IxCHeL has a yarn and fibre club and that particular colour was in one of her surprise parcels to club members.  The theme for her dyes at the moment are inspired by paintings, which instantly won me over.

For experimenting with this fibre, I wanted a fine finish with ruching, so chose Paj silk as carrier.  I had 2 metres of grey and another metre in a close enough colour.  So, in all 3 metres, just enough for 1m square for front and back and another 1 metre for 2 sleeves of 50 cm length.  Given the shortage of fabric I opted for a basic t-shirt type top. I had only purchased 100 gm of fibre - so not a great deal with which to play.

I proceeded with one fine layer in multi-directions over the Paj – not taking too much care to overlap the fibres, but on the contrary leaving gaps.  I like this painterly way of laying fibre.

When pulled, the fibres were long and some of it quite shiny and I kept thinking I don’t like this.

When all the pieces had been laid with fibre they were wet down sparsely (I was mindful of my fibres swimming off the Paj particularly near the edges) and sandwiched between plastic. I cut them into 2 lots (one front and sleeve) (one back and sleeve) for ease of rolling on The Gentle Roller.  That way too, I would maximize the time by inspecting one while another bundle was on the roller.  I completed 13000 rolls (6,500 x 2).  The pieces were rolled in a towel to remove the moisture (I never wash my pre-felted pieces) and left to dry.

The pre-felts were sewn together. 

I laid fibre over the seams (which had been ironed open flat) and used a hand rolling tool to get the fibres to settle, then wet down the whole piece (putting plastic between the layers to stop them from sticking, as well as sandwiching in plastic) and rolled the garment for another 8000 cycles using The Gentle Roller.

It was then fulled using the GR's Drum.  I kept the garment in its outer plastic, as well, the inner plastic resists were also retained so the two sides wouldn’t stick together.  I noticed that the fibres were ‘fluffy’ and prone to stickiness.  I used concertina folds according to the direction I wanted the garment to shrink.  I ‘hide’ the parts that I don’t want to shrink inside the bundle, which I then place in the 'fulling bag'.  Half way through fulling, I took out all plastic and continued to rub, scrunch to add shape, particularly around the armholes and bust.  I also paid attention to my edges not rolling in.

It was a long process towards felting but I feel well worth the effort.  I took extra time and extra care when the garment was whole because the seams were still soft and given the fineness and slipperiness of the fibres the seams required lots of rolling to bed into the rest of the garment.

I looked at the fibres under the microscope – well not literally but through Google I sourced photos showing what the fibres looked like up close.

Tencel (not shown in the photo above) – a so-called ‘eco’ fibre is much like silk, even smoother, and so I found it problematic for Nuno felting, as it doesn't have barbs to catch onto the carrier fabric.  Merino wool as we felt makers know has lots of barbs – alpaca, cashmere, and angora less so but still these fibres do have a tendency towards matting.  Using these fibres in a ‘luxurious’ blend does make for exciting felting – as in combination they are all reacting differently when agitated.  It would have been hard going without my Gentle Roller.  But since I have it to tackle the rolling, it doesn’t worry me if I roll tens of thousands to get the smooth and even surfaces I desire.  

A photo album showing my progress

Using the pool sheeting I'm able to pull the fabric towards me to lay the middle areas

I have divided my fibre to ensure I have enough

Laying up working on both front and back simultaneously

I've started to lay up the sleeves

All pre-felt pieces have been sewn together with seams on the 'right' or fibre side

A close up showing the seams (it was a very windy day)

A back view of the garment

The finished top

For a casual look worn with jeans

Close up showing shoulder seam well felted over, and enmeshed with the rest of garment

I love how the ruching appears on the fibre side

Close up of the front - nice edges around the neck

There's a very fine textured finish.  It has that 'boucle' yarn look

Feels lovely on

Three reasons not to use your clothes dryer for making felt

Recently I took umbrage to someone mentioning the dryer method of rolling (as well as giving the website) on one of my Joni Cornell Merino-Silk posts.  Some of you know that I have recently been making felt to promote The Gentle Roller and Fulling Drum – a purpose built wet felting machine. 

To date I’ve kept my own counsel on the dryer method but in the interest of ensuring current and future felt makers are better informed, I’ve decided that it would be educational to make a couple of comments that felt-makers might wish to consider before continuing (or starting) to use this method.

Sustainable making:  Using the dryer is not a sustainable way of making felt. 

According to the Consumer Energy Centre the clothes dryer is one of the most energy hungry appliance in the house.  A usual dryer will use between 1800-5000 watts, say 3000 watts on average.  If you are not using the heat cycle, but just blowing air, let’s say 2000 watts on average.

On average the Gentle Roller uses around 20 watts per hour of use.  Using the electric dryer, you’d be burning at least 100 times the energy of a Gentle Roller. 

Usually, a felt maker will tend not to use the household dryer but an older version, which would be more inefficient and use higher wattage.  Several felt makers who have used the dryer method have commented to me on the very noticeable increase in their electricity bill when they are busy felting.  And it’s not only your electricity bill that takes a pounding.  The environment is impacted also. 

If you are thinking ‘sustainability’, don’t think ‘clothes dryer’.

Safety:  The website which promotes the dryer method advises that for your safety you should mount your dryer upside down, as the electrics are on the bottom.  This is incorrect and dangerous advice. 

Unless you have a wiring schematic for your dryer you simply don’t know where the electrical wires are located, and most will have electrical wiring at both top and bottom.  Here is a Whirlpool dryer with wires in the top and bottom.

Sourced from the internet

Promoters of the dryer method who acknowledge a potential safety issue should not compound their error by giving misinformation that turning the machine upside down makes it safe.  It does not!

Insurance:  If you believe “it will never happen to me” then cancel your house insurance policy and save your money.  But if you wisely have house insurance, you want to make sure you don’t compromise it.

Your felt making bundle probably carries more water than the damp clothes coming from the washer (irrespective of rolling in a dry towel and securing with ties).  If your dryer has a short-circuit, injuring someone or starting a fire, you’ve provided your house insurance or public liability insurance company (if in a rented studio setting) with an immediate excuse to reject your claim outright.

Using an electrical appliance to do something it was not designed to do is a misuse of an electrical appliance and will immediately cancel most insurance policies.  (Of course, you can always lie and gamble on the consequences…)

When I first came across the ‘dryer method’ our instructor was unable to demonstrate it because of public liability issues – the venue managers strictly forbade using the dryer for anything other than its intended use, as they knew their insurance would be in jeopardy.

When I started out felting I was chuffed that I could adapt certain materials, such as a bamboo blind or a piece of dowel – but now that I’m mature in my practice (not to mention my body) it’s time to be more mature and responsible regarding the equipment that I use.  

Using the dryer to roll your felt and then the washing machine for ‘finishing’ is rather like using an iron to char your steak.  

The Gentle Roller and its Fulling Drum have been specifically designed for felt making - to take away the tedium and labour involved in manual rolling.  The fulling drum is the pièce de résistance– as you can use it to full your felt with as much, or as little, hand intervention as you desire to shape your finished piece.

The Gentle Roller is safe, attractive, controllable and, as quiet as a library.  It can also roll felt from super-fine Nuno to carpet runners twice as dense as industrial carpet.  

Oh, and it is not recommended that you use it for any purpose other than felt-making 😉.

The Gentle Roller - for wet felt rolling

The unique Fulling Drum

A Chalk and Cheese Collaboration: behind the scenes of creating The Gentle Roller

When Philip set out to help me, I wasn’t particularly obliging – he even remarked that I probably hoped he’d fail. He would ask questions: ‘well what makes this wool felt, or shrink more than this one’ or ‘what makes you lay the fibres this way and not that way?’ ‘What does using this particular shampoo with a certain PH do?’ I would respond with either ‘I don’t know…’ or ‘that’s the way I’ve always done it,’ which made me appear as though I had the IQ of a gnat  or that I made felt on automatic, not really understanding what I was doing. ‘I do it intuitively!!’ as a response seemed inadequate. I wasn’t even embarrassed about my ignorance. 

Philip has a different mindset – he likes to know how stuff works, and what he can do to make it work better. Whereas, I’m more ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ type of personality (and my body was broken and still I thought I could carry on as usual). So, Philip did his own research – to see what made wool tend to felt more than other fibres; as well as enquired into what we could do to enhance that tendency towards matting/felting – did using a shampoo with a particularly PH make a difference to how fast the wool felted, for instance. There were umpteen questions he set for himself to answer. For the past ten years, he’s been thinking about all sorts of ways to ‘automate’ felt making and to help me work more efficiently. But I wouldn’t take him seriously. I waved him off with 'I like to use my hands', or 'you can’t make it felt any faster'. ‘That’s just the way it is.’ 

I can’t tell you the amount of times we locked heads because of my stubbornness to try something new, which if you really look at it is not at all ‘creative’. However, my body is broken (yes no longer in denial), and my recovery has been slow. Four years and I still suffer from numbness to both legs, and from night cramps that sometimes keep me up. Something had to give – and it was my attitude. 

Throwing my felt in the dryer was never an option – because I’m too much of a control freak.  I looked at the Snowy Creek felt roller but thought it too expensive, and I wasn’t convinced that it would help me roll my sort of felt – which is very fine. I like to use merino-silk blends, slippery carrier fabrics, such as old saris, as well as embellishments, such as velvets or gold threads and edges torn from saris – using up the ‘scraps’, which are all so resistant to felting.  My coats and jackets require several tens of thousands of rolls before I'm satisfied with the quality of the felt fabric. 

The Cooper sisters modelling Passion 
in the Square Coat (right), and (left)
the Summer Mosaic jacket

Philip worked closely with me – watching the way I made felt. We made samples – laying wool in different ways, using different surfactants in the felting solution, and over the months of testing and research, his prototype changed in shape and materials, as he was inspired to take his design to the next level. Now, that's a creative mind in overdrive... 

Philip, with one of the first protoypes.

When I made a large production run of scarves, I worked with an assistant, and Philip and the assistant monitored the roller – that’s how unrefined it was at the time. Now I can leave the GR and get on with other things. I don’t have to watch it, neither does anyone else. 

We’ve come a long way in two years, not least in the way we work together. It’s never been an easy collaboration, as we are chalk and cheese as human beings. And along the way I’ve come to admire and respect Philip’s skills and his determination to make things work, or to try something new – like make felt. I was prepared to give up and try something less back breaking – book-binding, consoling myself with the thought 'you love books'. Never mind that I really like making felt fabric too or that I'd be forsaking a passion. 

When Philip went to China last time round to finalize the ‘production version’ of the Gentle Roller, I prepared several scarves for him to test out, as I was unable to make the trip with him. We stabilized them with 1000 rolls or so, on a GR prototype, so the scarves could travel. While in China Philip felted the scarves using the roller and the fulling drum, with some instruction from me through Wechat ('How do I know the pre-felt is ready?'... 'I can't see the fibres coming through...' And from my end of the screen it was difficult to judge the pre-felt). The scarves weren’t perfectly done according to my finicky standards, but almost.

Gotta take off our felted hats to him for caring enough to take up the challenge of working with me despite all my moans, objections and hesitations, to make my felt-making, as well as every other felt-maker's, less dependent on tedious manual rolling…and for sticking with the project in spite of hiccups and hurdles along the way. Not least the one before us now of getting others to support us as we go forward into production ...

You can visit Kickstarter to pre-order The Gentle Roller.

Below is 'Blooper 5' from our Blooper selection - a window of insight into the Chalk and Cheese every day battle.