The Joy of Wool Felting

Felt is the oldest fabric known to man. For thousand of years, the nomadic tribes of Central Asia used wool felt for shelter and clothing until today.They lived in portable felt dwellings called Ger or yurt made from the fleece of sheep which is warm, dense, waterproof and windproof. Before Attila the Hun and Genghis Khan, the Mongolians have very little woven fabric and depended on felt making to make horse saddles, blankets, hats, clothing and rugs. Most of the woven fabric were acquired from plundering and trading. Today the art of felting is enjoying a resurgence in arts and crafts and in the world of fashion.

Let's get scientific.

Wool fibers have microscopic overlapping layers of scales with pointed jagged edges similar to a pine cone. The scales in wool also help each fiber grab onto each when spun and the trapped air in the small spaces keep the yarn warm. When subjected to heat, moisture, agitation and soapy water, the scales swell, open up and interlock, resulting in a shrunken, matted mass of felted wool. Unspun wool fibers or roving when overlapped into alternating layers and kneaded by hand with soapy water will felt. Knitted, crocheted or woven pieces are technically "fulled" in the washing machine but the end result will be felted wool.

Photo Credit Flickr:kanglapass

Wet or dry

There are two methods used in wet felting, the rolling and rubbing method, or the combination of the two. The rolling method is the most common and efficient method which still used by the Mongolian nomads today. An old piece of felt or sturdy mat is placed on the ground, sheared wool from sheep is piled on top, beaten and cut into smaller pieces with special sticks with cutters at the end. Hot water is sprinkled on the wool, then it is rolled up with the foundation mat with a wooden pole in the middle. The wooden pole will have ropes tied on each end and then pulled behind a horse across a field for many hours. The rolling motion creates the agitation and compression which will make the heated wool fibers lift up and grab onto each other to create felt.

Fabulous video of Mongolian making felt for a conical tent called Ger

The second wet felting method is the rubbing method. Wool roving is layered in alternating 90 degree directions and then a net placed on top of the pile. Hot soapy water is then squirted over the unwoven wool and rubbed with both hands or some abrasive material like a scrunched up shopping bag. The process is repeated until the fabric starts to shrink and hold together. The felted wool is flipped and the hot soapy water applied again over the netting. Then the felted wool is crumpled in your hands like what you would do to a piece of paper to cause more compression and agitation. A felted wool fabric have just been created.

Tutorial and video-Wet felting for beginners

There is another wet method called fulling, which is a process of producing felt fabric from animal fibers, such as wool, alpaca and the like, that has already been woven, knitted or crocheted. The purse, hat, slippers or what have you is thrown into a zippered bag and shocked with alternating cold and hot water in the washing machine. The zippered bag prevents felted wool lint which shed during the agitation to clog plumbing which can be very expensive to fix. Sometimes, baking soda or soap is added into the process to hasten the felting process. The end result is felted wool regardless of the technical name fulling. This was the process I used to create my purses and hats.

Felting in a Washing Machine

The third method is called dry felting or needle felting. This process is achieved by repeatedly poking dry wool roving or wool batt with a barbed felting needle. This will cause the wool scales to grab onto each other and create 3-dimentional dolls or push fibers onto another fabric to create a design.

Basic Needle-felting for newbies

Photo Credit:courtneysue75

This little sheep was knitted in garter stitch (knit every row, front and back) with the alternating rows of knit and purl stitches visible. Tell-tale knots and loose yarn are hidden. The sheep is now ready to be fulled.

Photo Credit: courtneysue75

The sheep is then subjected to hot/cold cycles and agitation in the washing machine to shrink it. This is called fulling which results in felted wool which is thick, dense, and strong. All the knitted stitches have disappeared and seemed to have given the sheep its fleece back. Once a woolen fabric is felted, it can no longer be unraveled. The process is irreversible and there is no going back. One saving grace of felting is that it is also very forgiving. Mistakes, like loose stitches or holes will vanish and become undetectable.

What is the significance of this miniature felted wool purse ornament? It was that one year marked with a lot of knitting and felting frenzy after I discovered the art of shrinking knitted wool in the washing machine. Not only did I find myself picking up my knitting needles and crafting all kind of purses and bucket hats after a long day of hard work, but I found the whole process of "fulling" these knitted wool therapeutic and gratifying. Each of these floppy knitted hat or purse just seem to "auto-magically" transform into a beautiful felted masterpiece after being thrown into the washing machine.

Here is a gallery of purses and bucket hats I had made in 2006 to illustrate that a simple knitting pattern can create a different look.

Photo Credit: jennysh_who

This 100% wool purse was knitted and then fulled in the washing machine. It shrunk and lost one-third of its original size. The stitches have disappeared into a dense and thick felted material, yet is lightweight. The purse was stretched over two telephone books wrapped in a plastic bag to get its shape and air dried for two days. This was then embellished with felted leaves and flowers, tortoiseshell handles and a horn button with an I-cord button. The flowers were made from leftover wool yarn from other purse projects and given a life of their own with handbeading.

Photo Credit: jennysh_who

This is a closeup of how the transition of the green and pink colors just blended together after the purse was felted. The stitches are no longer discernible and any mistakes, like uneven stitches, have vanished. Felting is so forgiving.

Materials:

4 balls Patons SWS 70% wool 30% soy yarn

1 ball solid color Paton 100% wool yarn for band at top of purse (optional)

Size 13 straight needle

Size 13 circular needle

Note that the SWS Patons only come in multi-colored yarn. So if you wish to

make a solid colored purse you will need to use Patons 100% wool,

knitted with two strands together.

CO(cast on 34 stitches using double yarn) size 13 needle

Knit 34 rows with straight needle, on the 33rd row, switch to

the size 13 circular needle

Use a crochet hook to pick up 17 stitches from the short side,

34 stitches from the long, and another 17 stitches on the short edge.

There should be 102 stitches total on the circular needle.

Knit in the round with 4 balls (soy yarn) and about 2 ½ inches

of the solid wool yarn. Cast off when done.

Photo Credit: jennysh_who

This baby hummer abandoned its nest three times due to mite invasion. A swatch of felted wool meant to be a pocket for one my purses quickly came in handy for the rescue mission. The great thing about felted wool is that it can be cut with a pair of scissors and the edges will not fray. The nest was made in 10 minutes flat. I cut a strip of the felted fabric long enough to go around a small oval base. Then I handstitched the seams together with the same colored green yarn, flipped the nest over and voila! This nest was made for Sasi, one of the Allen's hummingbirds I wrote about in my other lens "A Home for Hummingbirds."

Before felting in the washing machine, hide all knots, loose ends with a crochet hook through stitches, and clipping ends.These will disappear after felting and any flaws will not even be noticeable.

Place handbag and flowers/leaves/I-cord in a zippered pillowcase cover.

This is important because during the machine agitation, some wads of the wool will ball up and could plug up the plumbing, hence the pillowcase cover is a necessary precaution.

Add 1/2 cup of baking soda into the washing machine to hasten the felting process.

Use HOT/COLD cycle, let it agitate for 15 minutes, skip the spin cycle. Drain, repeat the HOT/COLD procedures 2 or 3 times more. You will know when to stop when the no more knitted stitches are visible and the purse is not longer stretchy.

If you are happy with what you see, let the machine finish through the spin cycle to rid of most of the water.

Shape your purse to make all sides even. If you want to make a boxy purse, place the purse over a box or phone book that has a plastic shopping bag over it. Air dry for 2 days.

Do not dry in the dryer as this will distort the purse.

After the purse is dry, assemble the flowers, leaves, handles. Enjoy.

Fiber artists have found the use of single needles, or several together, to be an exciting new method of shaping and felting fibers into flat or three dimensional objects. This process is basically dry felting, but can be used with wet felting methods also. It is a magical and fun technique that can take you to new realms of fiber creativity.

Photo Credit: feltalive

Pride and joy of Wasilla, Alaska

I discovered Kay Petal by accident when I was looking for felted doll pictures on Flickr. It was a very fascinating experience. I e-mailed Kay and got her permission to use her photos and feature her in this felting Squidoo lens.

All these celebrity felted dolls were created with a single barbed felting needle and wads of wool batt. Just like their human counterparts, these little celebrity dolls were subjected to lot of jabbing. Each sculpted doll bears an uncanny resemblance to its famous star.

Photo Credit: feltalive

Photo Credit: feltalive

The Fab Four, better known as The Beatles with their signature mop hairdos come to life as needle felted dolls.

How would one feel to step into the magical and fanciful world of needle-felted dolls? Each one beckons to be loved. Who else could possibly make wool come alive than the creator herself, Kay Petal.

Photo Credit Flickr: feltalive

Learn to make your own

Who would not want a doll which looks just like a miniature YOU made from wool and a felting needle? Only if it will not be used as a pincushion or as a voodoo doll. What a delightful present that would make for someone special.

Photo Credit: feltalive

Materials and easy instructions make these kits worth purchasing.