Today was an exciting day, I made some felt....myself from scratch. I have a bag of fleece I acquired from the farm at Haydon Bridge High school, probably from a breed of sheep called a blackie. Not the best kind of wool for felt making, but as an experiment I thought I'd give it a go.
I didnt dye the fleece as I am after some ivory coloured felt anyway.
Heres how I did it......
1. I carded the fleece with the dogs brush, she doesnt mind and even likes the smell of the fleece.
2. I layered bits of carded fleece out on a large sheet of bubble wrap.
3. I wet it with warm water and drizzled washing up liquid on top.
4. I folded the bubble wrap over it,I did these bits on the sink drainer.
5. I pressed it down gently with the palms of my hands for about 15 minutes.
6. I gently rinsed the felt/fleece in warm water.
7. I rolled it tightly in bubble wrap and in a tea towel and then rolled it back and forth quite vigorously for about 20 minutes. At this point the felt shrinks and thickens.
8. Finally I rinsed it in warm water, left it to dry and marvelled at the results.
It is soft, natural looking and nice and thick. Not bad for a first attempt with a pretty rough fleece. Thinking of moving to the Scottish borders with a flock of Merino sheep.
I have cut some small heart shapes and intend to make a garland 100% made in Northumberland.
Think I have caught the felt making bug.
Jill, I am amazed - you make it look so easy! I would sell these individually as a single heart decoration with a nice bit of ribbon.
ReplyDeletehey hey..! Well done - the end products look really beautiful in the ivory colour of the fleece. Very special after the work involved too.
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