Felted Tunic

More catch-up posting. This project has been mulled over for quite some time. I bought this large flimsy shawl on ebay about two year ago with the plan to make some nuno felt. It has this lovely crochet edging with tiny beads. It was over 2 metres long by about a metre wide so even allowing for shrinkage there would be lots of scope to create a garment. I gathered a few bits to experiment with embellishment.
The laying out process was very long winded and it took up the entire space of the 'dining room'. I used Louisa Harding Sari Ribbon yarn, some fine mohair sock yarn, lilac silk fibres with indigo coloured merino roving.
I laid it out last sunday evening and then carried on in the morning. Here is the layout completed and wetted down. I rolled it for a couple of hours on and off (it is pretty tiring and tough on the knees doing it on the floor.)
It has not turned out at all as I planned mainly because I put far too much roving on so it is much thicker and stiffer than I intended. I put a thin layer on the under side of the fabric and I was worried about the sari ribbon felting on well enough so there are two thin layers on the top. It shrank quite a lot widthwise, by about 50%, but for some reason hardly at all in the length. The silk fibres were laid very thin but they show up really well. I trimmed bits of roving where the edging had got caught in and am going to use a lacing up the sides through the edging. It is not 'floaty' enough to wear as a summer dress but it will be nice with leggings in cooler weather.