Needle Felting with Ramie

 

At the Saint Lawrence River, ramie, 5.75" x 9"

Blog 32

Since I have started needle felting, I hardly ever used any other fibres than wool. I love to work with Corriedale tops from Ashford of New Zealand. The fibres have a good grip and felt quickly but are matte. For some shine, I have mixed them with Merino wool. Merino wool is very soft, has hardly any crimp but takes a long time to felt on its own, often leaving a fuzzy finish. When I needed some cold white colour, I used an acrylic-wool-blend because most natural fibres come mainly in a soft white colour.


When I offered my latest felting course, I received some questions about vegan fibres from a client who is allergic to wool. First, I started with some Internet searches, but the results were mixed. One artist loved to work with various vegan fibres, while another was rather frustrated with the results. I was intrigued and ordered a variety of vegan fibres to have started testing them for needle felting.


The first vegan fibre is ramie, a bast fibre from the nettle family. It is one of the oldest cellulose fibres used for different fabrics and has a staple length of 7 to 8 inches. To determine the staple length, you pull a bunch of fibres from the top and measure them. Ramie is a strong fibre with the ability to hold shape. It is also resistant to bacteria, mildew, and insects.

Ramie is shiny and feels very soft. It almost looks and feels like hair. Because of the colours in the Fibre Garden Paint Box that I received, I opted for a landscape with flowers. I was not sure what to expect but had read that ramie creates firm pieces. The combed fibres are all going in the same parallel direction. When I started laying the ramie onto the felt piece, I got frustrated because the fibres looked like parallel hair strands. The medium felting needle left visible holes.

I remembered that I had bought a pair of dog slicker brushes with wire pins to blend my wool. After brushing the fibres in different directions, they began to matte together, improving the felting process. I also switched to a fine felting needle which helped in preventing the big holes. The staple length worked great for the grasses in the foreground. However, I don't enjoy the long fibres for the rest of the painting, which looks very hairy.


For someone who is not allergic to wool or vegan, I would suggest mixing ramie with wool. I will try a blend of Ramie and Corriedale next.