How To Strengthen Your Newly/Nearly Finished Wool Felt
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- Опубліковано 15 жов 2024
- Can you mend a piece of wet felted wool after it has dried and been pressed? It is always worth trying.
It is going to be possible to add more wool as long as the item has not been fully fulled ie worked so hard that it is smooth and not fluffy at all. If your surface is still a little fluffy then this process is worth trying.
Wet felting is easy to do and very rewarding. Wool is such an amazing fibre and feltmaking involves a magic process of turning fibre into fabric successfully and easily.
You need a 'big enough' flat surface, preferably but not necessarily high enough so that you dont have to stress your back . Cover the surface with something waterproof and lay a towel on top of that. I can be helpful if the bottom waterproof surface can be moved to make it easier for you. You need to be able to access your work from all directions. This is not essential but it is helpful. In this video I use a cheap, lightweight plastic tray.
I am using merino wool roving, but all wool will felt. You can use raw fleece or combed fleece, wool batts and lots of other types of wool. But dont worry .. just use what you can access. It will be fine. And yes, sheep are not the only animals whose wool will felt.
In this video I have used olive oil soap because it is not too sudsy. I only use warm water except right at the end where I might want to shock the wool fibres into felting /shrinking a bit more. I understand that many felters use pool bubble wrap but any bubble wrap with those lovely blisters will advance the felting process. The thinner bubble wrap is easy to use and ... you can see through it. It can be used with the non bubble side in contact with the wool at first but then turn it over and work with the bubbly side facing each surface of the project. In the days before bubble wrap, feltmakers used net curtaining, the plainer the better or tulle. Some also use lightweight mosquito mesh or flywire as we call it in Australia. When you get to the rolling stage you can use a towel, a bamboo mat or a sushi mat.
There are any number of wonderful ways to make felt or to make felt a bit differently. The one thing we know for certain about felt is that if you lie wool fibres near each other and gently then increasingly forcefully stroke, agitate, rub you will have a piece of felt.
The most important thing is that you start slowly and dont try to rush. the slower you work the more successful you are likely to be.
When it is possible to do so... hold your piece up to a light...the sun, tape it to a window... You will be easily able to see any spaces where there is little or almost no wool. And if there are spaces... then you can either check regularly along the way and add a bit of wool to fix it or... you could also needle felt in some wool if that works better for you to fix a few weak spots.
And... Yes you can use the sander for longer if you like. Once the felt is together enough you can use the sander.
You can also use a microwave to heat your wool parcel and use it a few times if needed.
And...One I didnt show here.... Put your parcel into a zip lock plastic bag and put it out in the sun or in your car on a warm/ hot day. I am pretty sure that speeds up the felting too. And.... one last one...wrap up your felted work in progress and leave it alone over night. or longer if you can . Being rejected can also shock the work into felting.. Or maybe I am just imagining this! Try it and see. Good luck
Hi There , do let me know if there are any aspects of wet felting that are confusing for you as a beginner. I will do my best to make more videos to explain.
Thanks for your explanation, ❤❤❤ very nice ❤❤❤
Greetings, Thankyou so much for watching. I really appreciate you taking time to comment. Best wishes to you, Christine
Oh how I wish I watched this video much earlier in my felting process
Thank you
Thank you very much . It is lovely to hear from you. I really appreciate your kind feedback. Christine
Greetings from Australia! One day you might find yourself having finished a beautiful piece of felt only to discover that some parts of it are stronger than others. Sometimes it wont be possible to mend it with wet felting. You might use needle felting or even cover it up with some other method like using lovely bits of fabric to hide a flaw.... But this time I thought it was worth trying to achieve what I wanted by determinedly repeating the process of wet felting... gently. No hot water and very gentle handwork . I hope you find this of some use.