You may have noticed that I try to list the main fibres used in each new piece.
Today I thought I’d show you some of the variety of fibres i use. Here is a selection of the white and neutral fibres in my collection. Zoom in to see the different textures.
Angora Rabbit
Sooo soft! This is collected by brushing the rabbit. It is my go to fibre for white horses as it holds really well for quite a soft delicate fibre and is the brightest natural white I’ve come across.
Silk Noil
Great for fluffy clouds, cowslip, meadow whites. Very delicate – I use a fine needle only.
Mulberry Silk
Smooth and shiny. Doesn’t felt (surface too smooth) but I use it for white horses sometimes and snowdrops.
Carded wool
Fluffy and easy to felt. Good for coverage, backgrounds and to build volume.
Flax
Strong, straight fibre great for whiskers and tall grass.
Alpaca
Fluffy but quite coarse, good in thin layers for textured ‘glazes’ over an area.
Gummy silk cocoon
Brilliant for dandelion seeds. Actually fluffs up well when you tear a bit off.
Merino wool (also Corriedale wool)
Soft easily felted fibre. Good for coverage in directional areas like skies and fields. Mix with other fibres to aid felting. I don’t see it as a textured fibre – more of a neutral all rounder.
Angelina
Artificial fibre made for sparkles. Some form are fusible so can be ironed into flat shapes. I just mix it in to my layers for twinkles.
So hopefully that will give you a better idea of what I’m on about when I describe finished work!
Feel free to ask questions or correct me – I’m not a fibre expert, I just use the stuff and happy to share what’s worked for me and learn more from questions I can’t answer yet!
Can you tell I’m missing open studios?
Read more about my fibre art work, inspiration and materials here.
Leave a Reply