Stretching into nuno felting…

Layout for nuno felted journal for the new owner of my Friesian stallion.

In March of 2022, I sold my magnificent Friesian stallion. I wanted to make a special journal for the new owner. Something in which I could put his pedigree, photos over the years (foal to present), information about the breed, and journal paper for her to document her new adventures.

I decided it was time to try Nuno felting. This technique is essentially the same as wet felting. However, the large difference is that you incorporate already made fabrics or “inclusions” into the design and get them to bind with the wool and other fibers. Inclusions like silk, rayon, cotton, etc.

I went down to a local hand me down type store to find something useful. There I was able to score a lot of lightweight fabrics, including silks, and even some beads, to incorporate into the piece. I like the idea of being able to collect secondhand clothing items and recycle them into something beautiful.

After everything was bound together, and dry.

Completed journal for the new owner.

The result was a journal that to this day I am quite proud of, and she tells me how people comment on it A LOT! I bought a pony snaffle bit to serve as the closure. I added three grommets to run ribbon through so as to bind it together.

After hers was complete I made one for myself. I used many of the same fabrics (silk & rayon), but I changed the colors from a blue color way to purple as it is the color of royalty as is the Friesian horse association.

The layout. All fibers in place and ready to wet out and roll.

I encased one of his shoes with Angelina fibers and then heated them to melt around the shoe. No worries - Angelina only sticks to itself. I trimmed off the excess and sewed it into place. Then added the pages.

The completed scrapbook of Lykos.

I wet felted a 9“x9” square that I used to cut out the crown shape and the name Lykos. The crown was needle felted into place and embellished with gemstones. I needle felted “Lykos” onto the cut out and then outlined it with an embroidery stitch. I attached it to the journal with another type of embroidery stitch and embellished it with costume gems meant for use on “faces”. Lastly, I cut an old set of his reins to make the leather closure strap (front and back) and used his bit as the closure.

Both projects started out as 30”x18” and once completed they were 22“x12.25 ” with a beautiful organic edge.