Diane Stradling

I am the daughter of an immigrant who left school in the 8^th grade to help support her family by working in a textile factory, I was introduced to fabric and the sewing machine when I was young. After college I attended art school at the Brooklyn Museum and studied pottery; clay was my “fabric of choice” for many years. Tired of hauling heavy pots around to art shows, my next adventure was with beaded jewelry, which traveled a lot easier.

Through it all, I collected fabric and my attic began to fill with boxes of wool, silk, cotton and other natural fibers and I made my parents a quilt for their 25^th anniversary and dabbled here and there.

Six years ago, I was introduced to feltmaking and that has been my passion since. I have taken workshops in wet felting with national and international teachers and have taught needle felting. I am a member of the Northeast Feltmakers Guild and participate in art shows in my local community and beyond.

My work involves using wool roving, pre-felt and recycled wool garments as my “canvas”. I embellish garments by needle felting designs on them to make unique pieces of clothing. My scarves, shown here, are made with pre-felt merino wool, to which I felt pieces of recycled silk chiffon, wool pre-felt and other materials. The felting process involves using warm water, soap and pressure to encourage the wool to migrate through the other materials, grabbing and holding it. No stitching, gluing or fusing is involved. Each piece is unique. The colors, textures and patterns influence the design I create.

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Diane Stradling

Swarm

by Diane Stradling

Rainbow scarf

by Diane Stradling

Rainbow scarf

by Diane Stradling

Botanical Landscape

by Diane Stradling

Botanical Landscape

by Diane Stradling

Jewelry

by Diane Stradling

Scarves

by Diane Stradling

Scarves

by Diane Stradling

Scarves

by Diane Stradling

orange bird

by Diane Stradling

Diane Stradling

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