Recently, we have been learning how to felt. We have been very lucky to had had some wonderful teachers and mentors in Tess, Ros and Gwen.
Our workshops have been held on Fridays as well as during some of our outside workshops.
There is a lot to learn about felting. It can be really fun and the results beautiful and warm.
First you have to get the raw wool and make it soft and useable.
There is a rolling machine called a carter that we used for this. Anyone can do this!
The wool gets separated as the spikes of the machine turn around.
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Then we lay them on the ground on a plastic mat. They go in layers, facing opposite directions.
You need to make about three or four layers of carted wool to make a good base for the felt product.
When you have enough base wool ready, you can add coloured layers to make a pattern.
When this is finished you need to add some detergent and water to the wool and roll the plastic up and tie it tight. You need to roll this on a hard surface regularly and this will make the wool start to stick together. Eventually you can undo it and see you felted mat!!!!
Another way you can make simple felted products is to get already separated and coloured wool from somewhere like spotlight. Lay this out of a piece of bubble wrap and fold the bubble wrap across it. The you just rub it with your hand until it matts together.
