Wet Felt - Make a picture of a Large Blue Butterfly

Spinning a Yarn - Take Part
How to make a wet felt picture of a Large Blue Butterfly with Lydia Needle.
Wool is amazing.
Not only is it natural, renewable, biodegradable, and sustainable, but it is also an adaptable craft material. This is one of 4 films which will show you how to use different wool crafts to create some of Somerset's rare and endangered species. You can also find worksheets for each wool craft here: spinning-a-yarn.org
Spinning a Yarn is a Somerset Art Works Project project focusing on Wool, with an exhibition, large scale installation and film. Opening in September 2024 at the Somerset Rural Life Museum Glastonbury, with project partners South West Heritage Trust. A programme of events for community outreach, school workshops and talks will also take place. Find out more here: spinning-a-yarn.org
Wet felt uses wool, soap, water, and friction to make felt, a strong and ancient form of fabric. The tiny scales on each wool fibre open when rubbed with soap and hot water, and then shrink and lock together - it’s like magic. The other worksheets include; punch needle, needlefelt and applique with stitch.
The Large Blue Butterfly was declared extinct in the UK in1979 but was reintroduced in the 1980s. It has a fascinating life cycle, totally dependent on a very specific type of ant, and small populations now survive in pockets in the south of England, including Somerset. It breeds in warm, dry, and agriculturally unimproved grasslands.
0:25 Step One: Materials, tools and template
2:37 Step Two: Make your base layer
8:29 Step Three: Add soapy water
10:54 Step Four: Make your white layer
12:44 Step Five: Make your grey and blue layers
13:13 Step Six: Rub the surface of the netting
15:45: Step Seven: The "pinch test"
16:13 Step Eight: Roll and rub your felt
19:07 Step Nine: Wash your felt
19:43 Step Ten: Add more details?
Spinning a Yarn - Take Part Resources created by Lydia Needle and Nina Gronw-Lewis
If you would like your work to be part of an exhibition at the Somerset Rural Life Museum in September as part of Somerset Art Weeks Festival. Please send your completed pieces to ACEarts, Market Place, Somerton, Somerset TA117NB by 31 August 2024. Max dimensions 20cm x 20cm.
DISCLAIMER: Due to the nature of this project, we are unable to return any work after the event. Please note we may not be able to accommodate all the works submitted.