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Felting Suri Fiber Stirs Creative Juices
By Sheila Fugina
When a suri llama breeder asked Jan McArdle and me to conduct
a felting workshop at her studio using suri llama fiber, my
first thought was that I didn’t think suri fiber would
felt. Because my mantra is “there are no failures in
felting,” I wanted to make sure this wouldn’t
be my first! Jan, too, was skeptical about suri fiber’s
felting properties, so we had the breeder send us samples
from two suri fleeces to see how it would work with various
felting techniques.
I have to admit I was amazed at how beautifully it felted!
Both Jan and I saw a definite difference in the felt produced
from suri fiber compared to many other fleeces with which
we had worked. The felt from both samples that were sent had
a real luster and shine to the finished product. We tried
felting the fiber to silk gauze, and we created felted pieces
of varying thicknesses. We felted other fibers to a suri base,
and we needle-felted suri locks to wet felted pieces. It was
fun to experiment and convinced us that suri fiber had great
potential for all sorts of felting projects.
The group of friends assembled at the studio the first Saturday
in December was a whiz-bang group of artists, and the energy
level was high before we even began. Only three of them had
ever felted before, but they were all eager to learn. Aside
from fiber of various kinds and colors stockpiled all over
the owner’s studio, several friends had brought items
and embellishments to incorporate into the finished products.
They were like kids in a toy store; just itching to be given
the go-ahead to play.
After we provided the basic felting instructions, everyone
went off in a different direction, creating bags, scarves,
pillow tops, wall hangings and vessels. Some used only suri
fiber in their projects, and others combined fibers and colors.
Some used only wet felting techniques, while others needle
felted or sewed embellishments onto their creations.
We provided a number of felting books to give people ideas
and serve as a starting point, and they bounced ideas and
suggestions back and forth throughout the entire day. It was
an enjoyable group because no one was intimidated by anyone
else or by their own lack of felting experience. Whatever
crossed their minds, they tried, and the results were outstanding.
By the end of the workshop, suri fiber had proven its worth
as an artist’s medium as much as any painter's acrylics
or potter’s clay. Each artist created original works
truly worthy of display or sale to the most discerning customer.
It was a great learning experience for me as much as anyone
else. It was just the inspiration I needed to felt a few last
minute Christmas gifts…
A llama owner since 1988, Sheila Fugina started felting
about eight years ago to help expand the market for her
fiber. She and her husband Britt live near New Richmond,
Wisconsin, where Sheila leads her county’s 4-H llama
project, serves as president of the Llama Association of
North America, and writes for Llama Life II magazine and
several camelid newsletters. She is active with the national
Camelid Community gathering, is a member of the Camelid
Working Group dealing with permanent animal ID, and each
spring Sheila helps coordinate Llama Magic, a major educational
and marketing event at Lake Elmo, Minnesota.
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