Can you feel it?
My first post for whip up! How exciting, a terrific idea by Kath and an amazing collection of craftswomen and bloggers. I have to get over the “wow, I’ve been invited to play” and just get on with it factor! Sort of feel like a bunny in the headlights doubled with performance anxiety.
So…first post…ummmm of course you would like to hear about something interesting. I’ve been thinking and writing notes and in my usual style have to write it from the cuff. So for 30 minutes I sat staring at the monitor “come on think of something amazing, whitty, interesting, something you know something about”….CRAP!! Podcasting. Hmm no Amy did that recently. Knitting, umm no expert there. Then it hit me, I’m no expert but I have a passion and obsession for fibre, well felt. LOVE IT.
I just love that you can take a bunch of fibres, wet them and mash ‘em or stick a needle in them (I won’t go into needle felting here) and end up with something amazing and functional or just plain beautiful. My first attempts at wet felting were very frustrating and I think that’s mainly due to being too keen to create such a large piece of felt. The idea being, I’m going to spend quite a while wetting, rolling and manipulating I want something worthwhile out of this! I’d also read advice to not do this. Of course I ignored it. I learnt the hard way. Lots of wasted fibre. My advice, start small, you’ll enjoy it a whole lot more. My turning point was a book by Interweave Press called “Simply Felt“. This book introduced me to using resists for creating three dimensional shapes. It helps that the book is beautifully styled and quite contemporary in its look and feel with lots of how-to pictures, instructions and great patterns.
I’m fortunate here in Perth, Western Australia, to have a local fibre queen! Nancy from Treetops Colour Harmonies. Nancy’s business is run from her home, she’s extremely friendly and will allow fibre nuts to come to her home and paw through her products. She also has several free tutorials on her site for making silk paper and felted silk lap wraps and scarves (use the navigation on the left to go to the silk lap page to find the instructions). Her products are excellent, first class quality.
I think one of the main reasons I love felt is that you don’t require a lot of expensive equipment. Grab some wool roving, soap, water, towels, wooden dowel, bamboo blind, some plastic sheeting (painting sheets work well) and bubble wrap. Inexpensive and easy to source. For those of you experienced with felt who are scratching your heads at the plastic sheeting mentioned here…it’s something I’ve recently discovered. Might not be new to others, but it is to me and an excellent idea, particularly in as most of Australia is in save water mode and you dont’ want to have felters guilt! Before you commence, lay down a painter’s plastic sheet, continue with your blind, roving, soap and water, start your felting process. Once you’re into the fulling stage and need to rub the crapola out of your piece , add more water if you need to, seal the sheet up with tape to stop the water from escaping and full away. You could do this earlier in the process, depends on how large your piece is and how much patience you have for reopening and resealing the plastic everytime you want to shock the felt with some cold water. Another felting secret is to use your microwave. But I won’t go into detail here, go google it and if you’re an A.D.D crafter like I am give felting a go at least once in your crafting lifetime, it’s magic.
Links and resources:
- All Fiber Arts has a useful page to links for wet felting, needle felting and other felty links
- Treetops Colour Harmonies – has international distributors
- Di recently posted about a felted hat tutorial by Moth Heaven – excellent!!
- No wet felting list would be complete without a link to “The Sophie Bag”, a knitted wet felted bag pattern by Julie Anderson
- Knitted, felted scarf at Knitty, Yorick
- Knitty again, THE knitted, felted French Market Bag, vessel, messenger bag, Suki bag, though I’ve always loved Cari’s version, slippers and mancalamia board game.
- Needle felting web ring
- Felting and needle felting forum
- How to make felt beads
- I’m sorry but creating felt from cat fur, eeeewwww
- Felt rugs, stunning, link to amazing 15 minute doco on Iranian felt maker Haj Alii Halajion
- Stunning felt work
- Wolenzo’s amazing needle felt work as well as Kraf-o-la’s gorgeous characters
- A search on flickr tags needle felting, needle felt, felt, felting, and felted
- Here’s what the Wikipedia has to say about felting, interesting fact about where the term “mad as a hatter” came from, I had no idea, and about felt
Associations/Guilds:
International Feltmakers Association
GRIMA – Danish Feltmaking Association
Handweavers Guild of America
North American Felters Network – great link list
Phew! This is by no means an complete post about felting, please comment, leave links or email us at whip up!
February 1st, 2006 at 9:17 am
Thanks for linking to my Sophie Bag pattern! And what a great list of links! I love seeing all the needle felting stuff.
February 1st, 2006 at 11:48 am
Thanks for the filzware link – that stuff is amazing – I’ve got to stop just touching and admiring my stuff from Treetops and do something with it!!
February 1st, 2006 at 3:32 pm
just in time. i recently bought my first little batch of wool roving and am so excited. great resources! and thanks for making it realistic.
February 1st, 2006 at 5:30 pm
Thanks for the useful links! I recently tried quite hard to make felt from a 100% wool scarf (or rather to full a scarf), but was too chicken to put it in the washing machine, so tried the hand-felting way. Two comments: one, I looked like I’d had an expensive manicure, since my nails got so gorgeously white! Bonus! And two, it was incredibly hard labor! Is it common that machine-knitted stuff is more difficult to felt than looser hand-knitted stuff?
I’ll have to get hold of some roving to try ‘real’ felting now!
February 1st, 2006 at 6:00 pm
such a wonderful collection of links for a budding felter wannabee like myself- thanks! (hey- and one to me too!)
February 2nd, 2006 at 12:41 am
not to toot my own horn, :) but I have designed several felted crochet bags that have turned out beautifully. I loved all the links that you have provided, such inspiration. Here is the link to my bags.
http://www.marloscrochetcorner.com/patterns%20for%20sale.html
February 2nd, 2006 at 3:49 am
Thanks for your comments and feedback, I think I’ll respond to comments here! Whether you’re fulling a preknitted garment or felting from roving it’s all great fun. Don’t be afraid of the washing machine :)
February 2nd, 2006 at 5:30 pm
Lovely – and thanks for all the links!
February 12th, 2006 at 11:51 am
I have made a DVD on felting purses, on a ball, no knitting required. I sell the finished purses in Art Galleries around the country.
July 28th, 2006 at 10:25 am
thank you for the links, I have recently got involved with wet and needle felting, very interesting. I like it very much.
October 17th, 2006 at 3:47 pm
Thanks for this little gem of a post. I’m a felter in Ireland and have been searching the web for various felt links. I’m also very interested in finding other felters with blog sites.
June 6th, 2007 at 12:26 am
I was searching for Felting web sites and up popped yours – brilliant – keep on felting………….its addictive!
March 3rd, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Its nice to see some one else that looks longingly at your silk etc. from Treetops. I have just started making things from felting.I also love the fell. I am a Taurus and also like making paper.Its taken me 63 years to get to here. I have just finished two scarf’s. Not to bad for a first try.