Because I am quite mean with my supplies, or perhaps I just believe in saving money, I like to use up every scrap and if you quilt, you will know how many batting scraps that are not much use it generates! I don't throw these out and use them for stuffing toys and also, for needle felting. Of course they are not a particularly interesting colour for using for needle felting, but they felt extremely well.
I have covered this topic before and you can find a tutorial
here.
I have had some landscape ideas in my mind for a while and of course hand dyed felt and prefelts are available, but it is so easy to dye batting (cotton only) and the colours are glorious!
So yesterday I did a huge batch of scraps.
I throw in every little bit, as you can see. With this batch, I used two colours in each jar and scrunched the damp batting quite tightly. This gives the mottling in the colours.
Here are some of the colours I got. Most cotton batting has a thin layer of scrim, or polyester fabric, like a stabiliser on the back, which will not dye. So the batting has a front and back side. the back side is very pale. But I don't find this a problem when needlefelting with the batting.
Here is an example of a batting landscape
The batting has only been 'tacked down' or lightly needlefelted at this stage, and will merge more with more work, but you can see how those murky colours turn into great landscapes.
I will also show you a sample handbag I put together for a workshop I intend to teach later in the year. I will post the step by steps later this week. I took lots because I will need them for the workshop.
Happy creating!
