Hello everyone! I had the great opportunity to spend 5 days and nights with my Grandaughter at our house last month and we had a really good time making a felt square. Its very easy and simple to do and the kids really get a kick out of being able to make something out of relatively nothing.
First you want to lay down some bubble wrap (bubbles up) or a bamboo roll then lay a kitchen towel down on top of that, then lay down a layer of netting or jersey material (the kind with holes in it). Next you take 4 layers of a white core wool and layer them criss cross on top of one another and then lay in your color wool roving in thin strips on top of that in whatever shapes that you want . Next you want to make up some soapy water by shredding a bar of olive oil soap or I use laundry soap that you can buy at Wal-Mart for 1.99 and shred about 1/3 cup to make a gallon of soapy water. Be sure to use soap and not detergent. Fill a 1 gallon milk jug a quarter full with hot water and add your shredded soap. Allow it to sit for about 30 minutes then fill it to the top with hot water. This is your soap base. Use this for all of your projects since you cant stop at just one.lol Now, take about 1/4 cup of soapy water base and put it in a squeeze bottle like and empty ketsup bottle and fill it the rest of the way with hot water. Squeeze the soapy water onto the wool until it is saturated.Now lay down another layer of netting. Now using your fingers on top of the netting pushing gently on the wool, make little circles. Add more soapy water if you need to make it slick to where your hands glide smoothly over the netting. Next we do what is called fulling. Roll up your whole bundle to where its good and tight and use a couple of cotton strings to tie it tightly with and using your arms roll it back and forth on the table about fiftly times. Some people use a dowel to wrap it around or you can use one of those swimming Noodles cut to size.Next do what I did and have your grandchildren roll it part of the time and you roll it part of the time. When your finished rolling untie your bundle and gently peel back your layer of netting. Turn your new square one quarter turn, replace your netting, roll it up and roll back and forth again for fifty times. Repeat this process two more times. Once your finished with all your turning and rolling, peel back the netting and gently pinch the new felt to make sure that the fibers have felted together, felting is done, and all the colored wool is felted to the white wool. Whala! You have just made felt! Isnt it fun? You can even make one with your name on it. I strongly encourage you to check out some books at the library on wet felting so you can see just what all can be made and the different ways to go about it . Look online. I will be making a video very soon on how to wet felt a square. I am going to put all my felt squares together like a quilt and make a felt blanket. Im sure I will post it when its done. Your felt should be thin if you peeled the layers apart right from your batch of white core wool. If not it will turn out like some of mine did and be really thick.lol
I hope you have fun felting and if you have any questions feel free to ask me. Just use the comment box or check us out on facebook. Just look for Once Upon A Fiber.Com and message me there.
You can get your felting supplies at www.livingfelt.com for a really good price. You get more bang for your buck there than anywhere else that I have found so far. I strongly recommend purchasing supplies from them. You wont regret it. I would start off getting the white core wool for wet felting and then just buy a few colors of the wool roving if you dont plan on going into business and maybe you can find someone to go in on it with you cause you will get a lot of white core wool. Enough for several maybe 30 or 40 squares. They also have the bamboo or plastic to make your rolls with and the netting. And I dont get anything for sending you to them. I have just checked out all of the craft stores and was thankful that I purchased my stuff from livingfelt.com. They have videos on their site to help you learn all about wet felting and other types of felting. They are a great Company. Dont forget to keep those Granbabys busy!
Until Next time may your hands work be blessed and your fiber work fulfilling! Happy Creating!
Loom Knitting & Felting 