Felting

[eleny]

I'm very new to working with raw type wool. But I saw it for sale on Ebay and had to get some. It's from women who raise sheep and who work with cleaning and hand dyeing the wool themselves.

I don't spin but figured I could learn to felt. It's not as easy as I thought. Take some wool, add warm water and dishwashing suds and keep working it until the fibers all bind. What fun? Not! Well, not always even though the combination of colors can be beautiful.

Anyhow, yesterday I watched a new HGTV program about crafters. A woman was felting wool easily with an electric sander. I almost fell off my chair. The sander sans sandpaper vibrates the fibers into linking in a very short time. Now if I can get some house projects behind me, I'll dig out my giant sack of wool and have some fun.

[KittyWampus]

1. Saw That Too!The Felting I Am Familiar With Is To Make 3D Sculpture

you take a handfull of wool and stab it with a felting needle.

A felting needle is an incredibly sharp tool with lots of barbs along the side.

Here's a pix of bears you can learn to make in an online class at Crafty College-

[eleny]

2. Hi!

Their faces are so expressive!

I've read about the needle felting and backed off after reading about those needles. they sound deadly. Do you wear anything on your fingers to protect them? I'm sorta clutzy, so I'm a good candidate for punctured fingers.

What sized needles would you suggest for a beginner?

I'm glad you saw that HGTV episode. I had one of those V-8 moments when I saw her going at the sudsy wool with the sander. It makes perfect sense. It must create a nice tight piece of felt. I need to get some bamboo place mats for rolling the felt and I bet I can find them at the thrift shop. In fact, I might look for some wool sweaters at the thrift shop, too. Washing them in hot water is supposed to result in a good piece of felt. I'd like to try making a small landscape or abstract wall hanging from felted pieces.

[KittyWampus]

3. Mats Would Be From A Place Selling Sushi Stuff... And I Wonder If

somewheres I have a Quilt Art magazine that discusses felting.

If you've never seen Quilt Art it is a GORGEOUS magazine with Art Quilts (not so much the convention pieced types) and Fabric Collage.

I will keep my eyes peeled.

And the felting needles are really sharp but I've never had a mishap with them. I use them for felting wool into my cloth doll sculptures.

It's probably inevitable someday I'll stab myself :D but that's no reason not to go ahead and use them.

[FloridaPat]

4. Here is a web site that has interesting craft lessons - some on felting.

http://www.craftycollege.com/

[Eloriel]

5. Hmmm, felting is all the rage in knitting circles

I haven't tried it (yet?). Basically, they use wool that's been prepared (spun) for knitting, knit their project larger than they want the finished product to be (how they know how large is beyond me, except to follow the pattern), then apply water and friction (the friction is the key ingredient, it's said), and voila! The fibers fuse and make a solid fabric. You shape it and let it dry. I've seen some beautiful things -- bags of various types, and I'm especially partial to a large brim hat you can get kits for.

Another interesting project I might want to try some day is using Kool Aid to hand dye natural off-white wool yarn. Whodathunkit?

Anyway, here are some links I've collected that discuss felting:

felting tips....for next time
http://p083.ezboard.com/fknittymagazinefrm26.showMessage?topicID=55.topic

All About Felting
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=5874.0

Felting for absolute beginners (Knitty.com)
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter02/FEATfelting.html

Hand Felting
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=3836.0

washing felted stuff
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=4034.0

Felting with 50% wool... (Lion Brand's new Landscapes 50% wool, 50% acrylic)
http://p083.ezboard.com/fknittymagazinefrm28.showMessage?topicID=513.topic
Lion Brand's advice for felting this yarn:
http://p083.ezboard.com/fknittymagazinefrm28.showMessage?topicID=513.topic

[eleny]

6. Thanks for all the links

I've got the dyed wool. I felted some by hand to get the hang of it and it was fun. But felters do take wool sweaters and wash them in the machine with hot water and suds to felt them. Then you can cut the felted pieces and make "paintings" with them. I've seen some nice abstracts as well as landscapes.

One fun thing is to take the raw wool that's been washed and dyed, stuff some into an old stocking, tie it off and put it in the wash. The woolen felt balls look prety in a wooden bowl as a decoration or they make safe toys for kids and kitties.

Instructions here with pictures. She uses them for pin cushions. I love that idea. It's a good starter project for me. http://www.gfwsheep.com/feltballs/feltballs1.html