Tuesday 2 September 2008

Felt making

Inspired by this video on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ0uojUHYdA
I decided to have a go at making a felt bag.

A friend supplied me with some sheep's fleece and I began by beating it with a stick to break up the wool, add air and make it more fibres.


I then pulled the fibres between my thumb and forefinger to break it further and remove and crap.

The wool on the left has been processed and the the wool on the right hasn't.

Between each layer of wool (to which I applied soapy water) I put a layer of leaves to prevent the two layers combining together (next time I will remove the thick central rib before using them).

I covered the top layer with my insect net and then rolled the whole thing up.

I rolled it for about 30 minutes and manipulated it with my feet.

I removed the netting and leaves and left the wool to dry.

Here is the end result.

I did not use a sufficient thickness of wool so it is very thin in places and the edges of the two pieces did not combine well but the end result is better than I was expecting and I'm sure my felting skills will get better with practice.

1 comment:

Pablo said...

Another great idea. Cheers.
Pablo.