Participants will use unspun wool fibers and embellishment fibers(such as silk and/or curly locks) to learn wet felting using a resist to create a seamless small wristlet bag. Students will lay out selected fibers in layers over a plastic resist, add some surface embellishment fibers, saturate it with soapy water, and then use hand agitation (rubbing & rolling) to create a felted fabric.  The bag will be sewn into a metal frame with an attached wrist strap. The finished wristlet will measure approximately 5 inches wide by 5.5 inches high, perfect for holding a few “essentials”!

Class minimum: 4

Class maximum: 10

Pay What you Can Pricing:

This class is supported by the ACWL-Nuveen Scholarship Fund. If you cannot afford the $65 class fee, you may still attend the class for $45 or $25. To see the other pricing options, click ‘more prices’ under Tickets. ACWL-Nuveen member discounts do not apply to scholarship prices.

About the Instructor:

Melinda Schertenlieb has been working in the fiber arts most of her life:  sewing, embroidering, knitting, crocheting, etc.  She began exploring felting 12 years ago, and has taken a number of workshops (both group and individual) to learn techniques in wet felting.  Using unspun wool fibers, silk fibers, and other textural elements, Melinda primarily wet felts handbags, vessels, scarves, and brooches/pins.  She also enjoys working with fine papers and has studied bookbinding methods to create handbound journals, most of which feature an exposed spine to show the varied methods of stitching.  Melinda continues to explore techniques, and is expanding her fiber art learning to include eco printing on fabric and paper.  In that process, plants and leaves are imprinted onto a substrate through steaming.  She uses the imprinted fabric to create one of a kind handbags, and the imprinted papers are used to create unique covers for her handbound journals.

ACWL-Nuveen classes are supported in part by grants from the Michigan Arts & Culture Council, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Nuveen Benevolent Trust.