After placing a base layer of fabric on top of the partial felt cut into a fence pattern, the beach glass is placed on top of this fabric in each negative space of the patterning. Depending on the thickness of my fabric choices and how hard it would be for the wool fibers to maneuver through all the layers, I will sometimes lay a fine layer of fiber ontop of the partial felt before covering the layout with another piece of fabric to act as a “glue” to bond all the layers together. The final step is to edge the piece with strips of partial felt to cover up the fabric edges and in the case of this neck piece, I added two solid felt hoops for part of the hinging and clasping mechanism.
As seen here, the blue Murano beach glass is trapped between two layers of fabric, well not quite yet…once the layout is rolled to initiate the felting process the fibers from the partial felt fence patterning will maneuver through the layers of fabric locking the pieces of glass in the silk compartments.
For context of this project please read my first posting and those that followed about the DHG Charity Project in STRONGFELT’s Blog, INTRIGUE.
