I decided to have another go at the idea of distorting scrim, like 'drawn thread' work with the sewing machine.I worked using this sketch as a guide:
I then distorted the scrim and painted it with acrylic inks.
You work on damp kitchen roll and the colours are much less strong as the scrim dries. I wondered if the edges of the calico together with the scrim would needlefelt onto the white felt backing, so I did a sample piece and it worked fine.
It looks quite flat in a photo but in fact the needlefelting makes the piece dimensional and quite interesting.