Category: Body Textiles

STRONGFELT body textiles began in my earliest days of felting as my sketchbook in real time as I experimented with not only surface design, but the thickness of fiber layout, the quality of drape and size textile that resulted. More recent body chains employ fence-like patterning cut from handmade partial felt sheets wet felted to a specific percentage of shrinkage. Layered with silk fabrics, this grid work creates small pockets to hold single pieces of found beach glass giving the textile weight and movement similar to a chain or spinal column. A solid formed disc is incorporated as a clasping assist while also becoming a focal point for surface design. These pieces raise the question of when is a scarf a necklace or a necklace a scarf? Surface design may incorporate: fusion with fabric, thread and other non-felting fibers, partial felt patterning, 3-D felt surfaces, free-motion embroidery and natural dyes.