Good morning, my wonderful fiber friend!

This morning I’m doing something a little different than usual. I decided to show you how to make the fiber paintings I started carrying in my shop some months back. I debated for awhile about whether to keep this as a trade secret or share the fun, and as usual I’d rather share the fun.

Before we start, I want to mention two tidbits of shop news. On Saturday I’ll have a trunk show down at Tempe Yarn and Fiber, so I’ll be making my hand-dyed yarn unavailable while I’m there to avoid selling the same item twice. I’ll have it opened back up by Monday at the latest. If you live in or near Phoenix, I’d love to meet you in person while I’m there!

Also, if you have been thinking about ordering one of my Yarn Advent Calendars, I want to remind you that if you are outside the USA, the deadline is October 1st. If you are in the USA, you have another whole month beyond that.

Now, onto the fun stuff–how to make your own fiber painting.

I’ll start with two different versions of the finished product. Here’s one I made using my Eowyn’s Mantle art batts. It’s hanging in my living room.

Here’s the one we’re going to be talking about today. I used one of my Madonna and Child art batts to make this one. I have it for sale as both art batts and as a framed fiber painting.

It was inspired by Raphael’s “Madonna of the Chair,” which has a really neat story behind it. I tell the story in the art batt listing for it if you’re interested. Here’s that painting from which I drew my inspiration:

Now, as far as I know these fiber paintings are unique. When I came up with the idea, I looked around to see if anyone else was making these, but the closest thing I could find were felted “paintings.” I tried felting them, and I experimented to see whether I liked them with glass over them or not. I found that when I felted them, a lot of the wonderful texture was lost, but since I wasn’t felting them, the glass was an important part of making it look finished and holding everything together.

Below I show the steps for making your own fiber painting. You’ll need a frame and an art batt or maybe two depending on the size of the frame. If the frame is larger than about 15″ on a side, I would recommend using two art batts.

Now, you can choose an art batt you love and then find a frame to go with it, or you can choose a frame and find an art batt to go with it. If you already have the art batt, I recommend bringing it with you when you go to choose your frame.

You could buy your frame new, but I suggest going to your local thrift stores to find a cool vintage frame to use. Almost any frame can be made to work, but I found that deeper ones were easier to work with. Also make sure it has a glass front, and take a good look at the opening and closing mechanism. If you want a simple project, the kind that open and close like this are the easiest:

However, if you fall in love with a particular frame, you might be able to use framing paper and nails to make it work. I have a handy husband who was able to take all the different frames I found and make them work nicely, but it required a few trips to the hardware store to deal with all the different frame types and their various opening and closing mechanisms. I also recommend checking to see if it still has some method for hanging it. You can buy these too, but it’s easier if you don’t have to attach them.

After you bring home your frame, it’s time to unroll the art batt. Here it is in its organza bag:

When you take it out of the bag, put your hand around the whole art batt top to bottom, pull it out gently, and lay it on a table.

Next unroll it.

Here it is all laid out flat. This is the back of the art batt.

Next we will have to get it the right size for our frame. Now, if you happen to have an extra deep frame, you might not have to thin it out, but I found with most frames I did. The next few photos show me gently dividing the art batt in half thickness-wise.

 

 

You want to leave enough thickness so there aren’t holes or gaps, but you want it to be thin enough to fit in the frame. I found that splitting it approximately in half worked well with most of the frames.

Here are the two halves. I’m going to be using the half on the right side, but you could certainly use both for two different frames if you like them.

Here’s the top of the part I’ll be using. This is the part that will actually be showing in the frame:

Next we need to cut it down to fit the frame. I like to use a combination of my hands and scissors to do this. If you’re a spinner, then you know what a no-no it is to actually cut fiber, so don’t cringe when you see me do it for this.

First take a good look at the art batt and decide which part you want to show in your frame. This is the step where you are making the fiber painting look the way you want it to, and if there are locks or other things you want to move into a different position, this is the time to do it.

Next it’s time to gently tear off the parts that are too big. Leave a little extra around each edge at this point. You can always cut closer, but you can’t un-cut.

 

Check it against your frame to see where you are. Since this frame has one side of the backing that stays attached, I had to work around that a bit.

 

I didn’t show this part, but the next step is to take one more look at how the art batt looks in the frame. Pick up your frame while holding the art batt against the glass. Get it centered just the way you want.

After that, you can use scissors to get it cut close to the edge. This part is a little tricky. If you cut it too close, you risk having blank spaces around the edge. If you don’t cut it close enough, you risk having bits of fiber sticking out around the edge, but as you’ll be hanging it on your wall, it shouldn’t matter too much.

If you do cut too close, just gently tease out the fiber to make it cover all the glass.

 

Now it’s time to close up your frame. If it’s like mine, that will be easy. If it’s the kind you’ll need framing nails for, it’s time to bring those out. As you can see, there are still some bits of fiber around the edge.

You can keep using scissors or carefully use an X-Acto knife for this part.

All closed up and ready to go. There are still little bits of fiber, but I don’t mind.

My daughter took this photo while I held the frame. I love her shadow in there.

And here it is again:

 

It’s ready to hang on your wall and enjoy!

You can find art batts from many different fiber artists. I suggest looking for ones with lots of texture and variation in fibers. Of course I’d love it if you decide to use mine! You can take a look at all the art batts I have in stock here.

If there’s a colorway I’m sold out of that you especially want, let me know. Most of my art batts are repeatable, though each one will look a bit different.

Happy fiber artistry!