Wednesday 9 September 2009

Wet felting tutorial

Today I have been wet felting a little bag, purse, pencil case? Don't know what it is really but it has turned out just as planned, which is good!

I chose chocolate and blues mixed and cut or pulled them into the lengths I would need.






Firstly, I put a mat down with a piece of bubble wrap over and then layered my wool over the bubble wrap, pulling it apart gently.

Then I did the same in the opposite direction, I repeated this four times making sure I went in the opposite way each time.

I then popped it into the bath and poured some soap flakes on and added some warm water.

I put another layer of bubble wrap over the top and massaged and rubbed in circular movements to get the soap and felt all lathered up.

Firmly but carefully I massaged and rolled the felt until I was sure it had shrunk away from the edges and knitted itself together.








Pull it gently to check that it is strong, if it is still pulling apart carry on with the process for a while longer.




Then rinse the felt carefully in luke warm water until soap has gone, squeeze gently not wringing, do a final rinse in water and white vinegar, just to make sure soap is completely rinsed away.





You now have to scrunch the felt into a ball shape and sling it hard at the sink (I love this bit!), do this several times until all nicely shrunk and firm, then you can roll in a towell to remove excess water, stretch out gently to get the shape back and leave to dry flat.


While this was drying I made some small felt balls to embellish the finished project, you do all the same thing really but in the palm of your hand.

Take a piece of wool, add soap and massage in a circular movement in the palm of your hand, dunk the ball in hot water and carry on rolling in the palm of your hand.

You will feel the ball get firmer and when you are happy with the size, rinse the soap away and press onto a towell to remove water, leave to dry.




When everything is dry it is ready for your project.

I made a pouch bag lined with gorgeous cute owl fabric and embellished with felt balls and beads, this is for my friends birthday, I will stuff it with chocolate and then she can use it for anything she likes, make-up, pencils whatever.








10 comments:

Gill said...

Great tutorial and I love the end product!! Really want to have a go at this now!! Gx

Amy B said...

Gorgeous! Your friend is very lucky! That owl fabric is adorable!

SpoiltPig said...

Oh wow, that's amazing! I still think that any attempt I could make at this would end in disaster so I shall just admire your work. It really is beautiful!

Debbs said...

Awww! Thankyou everyone, I did enjoy it! :0)

carolina said...

Me encanta ésta técnica el problema es que no se donde comprar la aguja y la lana me podrías dar una ayuda te lo agradecería soy CAROLINA de CÓRDOBA ARGENTINA mi blog es artesaniasenmismanos.blogspot.com,besos!!!!!

Debbs said...

Hi Carolina, you should be able to get supplies online, there are alot of places that sell the wool. I think the postage is quite high though as the wool soon mounts up in weight. Ebay is a good place too!

Jasmine said...

A beautiful blog :)

Debbs said...

Thankyou Jasmine! =)

Luv Creating Cards 'n' Keepsakes said...

I was lucky enough to receive a lovely felt bangle making kit for Christmas, and although I've not yet had a chance to start making them, I've been looking on the internet for tips on how to wet felt and found a link to your beautiful project. It absolutely gorgeous and I am sure that your friend will have lover her birthday gift. I love how the front flap of the your bag comes accross diagonally and the beads and felted balls are delightful embellishents. Thank you soooooo much for sharing. I'm really looking forward to starting felting and have found your project very inspiring and would love to try a bag too.

Kay said...

Thank you soooooooooooooooooo very much for this tutorial!! Gourgeous & very inspiring!! Have A Happy New Year 2013!!