I did the repairs needed on the cushion fabric, without cutting it up. I then ran 2 rows of zig-zag stitching round the tube where the third cushion ended and the sample began and cut between the rows. The small tube was then zigzagged twice in the centre of front and of the back and cut apart so I have two samples, each including half a front and half a back. This is because the back is the same yarn through-out but the front is a lot of different yarns. These two samples were measured (9 by 20 inches). Both were dumped into water at 51 degrees with Woolite added and thoroughly thumped with a wooden spoon. The water was very dirty at the end. They were left for 30 minutes, rinsed in water just a little cooler and wrung out. Sample 1 was laid out on a towel. Sample 2 went into the washing machine on the synthetics drying cycle for 15 minutes. It came out beautifully felted - and yes, I have done this before, There is no way you can get a finger nail between adjacent threads and it has shrunk by about 12.5% overall. Sample 1 has shrunk a bit, probably less than 5%. They are still damp but I will scan them together when dry to show the difference when finished. They are both laid out on a towel and I will deal with the three cushion covers on Sunday. I doubt if I can put all three in the machine at the same time.
I have packed up all the samples for tomorrow's lecture on Silk and decided not to take the Fan reed as it is heavy and too big to fit in the small wheeled case I am taking. I did think of taking 'Reflections' which has come back from Mansfield but that is wrapped round two cardboard cylinders and is also too long for the case. So they will have to make do with photos.
All in all a good day.
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