2005: january 17
Hand Made Felt
This is the uncorrected proof of Hand Made Felt by Emma Jane Hogbin. ISBN: 0-9735615-2-1. It is released to the public under a Non-commercial, Share Alike License. Please check back for corrections and updates. Pictures are not included in this version, but will be available in the printed booklet.
Introduction
Fiber arts are a bit like paper arts, the second you buy a rabbit, you know there's no turning back.
This is my rabbit. His name is Gir (pronounced GRR).
He's a male French Angora rabbit. He weighs about 8lbs and is bigger than my cat, Bailey (not shown-Editor's note: cats cannot be felted). Gir will produce about a pound of angora fiber per year.
Making Felt From Clothing
Fortunately it's very easy to make felt. Take your best wool sweater, throw it in a hot wash, and then into the dryer and you'll see exactly how easy it is. You may be so amazed at the simplicity of it that you are tempted to try it again on another sweater a few months later. This is not a good idea.
Instead, head down to your local "by the pound" thrift shop. Look for articles of clothing that are made from 100% wool. Suits, blankets and sweaters are the most likely to have wool in them.
Put the wool stuff into a pillow case and run them through a hot soapy wash and then through the dryer. The pillow case contains the extra fluff so that you don't break your machine. It is the combination of heat and friction that will felt the material, so make sure you use the hot settings.
Making Felt From Scratch
Using pre-made fabric does not give you a lot of control over the colours and patterns. You could knit up your own fabric and then felt it, but you'd have to learn how to knit first. It's much easier to work from roving (unspun fluff pronounced roe-ving). I know that Romni has some in the basement, although I get mine direct from sheep people. The advantage of roving is that it's already washed, carded (a sort of brushing that gets rid of knots and bits of straw and stuff) and ready for spinning. Roving will be labeled by sheep breed. My personal favorite is Blue Faced Leicester, but the others are fine too.
Blue Faced Leicester Roving
Making felt requires hot soapy water, alternating with cold water. Depending on the size of your piece of felt you may want to use the kitchen sink, or the bathtub.
Materials
wool roving
dish soap
hot water
cold water
cotton pillow case (or a bamboo mat if you've got one)
Instructions
1.Start with a cotton pillow case at the bottom. Pour some stripes of dish soap onto the pillow case. You don't need to cover the entire surface area.
2.Make small clumps of roving by pulling it gently from the main piece. Depending on the breed of sheep these clumps will be somewhere in the range of 3-6" long.
3.Make a blanket of the clumps of roving with the fibers all pointing in the same direction. Your final felt will shrink 20-30% so make sure the initial piece is big enough.
4.Sprinkle with dish soap.
5.Add a second "blanket" of roving. This time the fibers should all run in the opposite direction to the first layer.
6.Sprinkle with dish soap.
7.Add a third blanket of roving with the fibers running in the same direction as the first layer. This is the top layer that everyone will see. If you want to add decorative elements, now is the time.
8.Sprinkle with dish soap.
9.Roll the pillow case (with the blankets of roving inside) into a tube.
10. Submerge the "tube" in hot water. The hotter the better, but don't burn your hands.
11.Start squishing the tube, and rolling it around and stuff. You're applying heat (the hot water) and friction. Yes, you will be working with a sudsy mess, and yes your hands will hurt. It's going to be beautiful, buck up and squish on. Do this for three minutes, or until you can't stand it anymore (whichever is shorter). Add more hot water if the water has cooled and repeat.
12.Carefully unroll your tube and check to see how your felt is doing. Make sure there are no holes in your fabric. If you can drag your fingernail across the surface without everything pulling out of place proceed to the next step, otherwise, add some more dish soap, roll the tube up in the opposite direction and repeat the last two steps.
13.When the felt starts to become stable, you can work directly on the surface. Add more dish soap and use the palm of your hand to add friction to the surface (I find circles work nicely).
14.Once the fabric is hard and can be picked up and twisted without fear of it falling apart, it's done. Now you'll need to get rid of the soap and lock the fabric into place. Submerge the felt in cold water and swish around until the bubbles are gone and the fiber is truly locked into place.
15.Roll the felt up in a towel, place this tube on the floor and stomp on it to get the excess water out.
16.Hang your felt to dry. Tada! You've made felt!
Dyeing Wool
White felt, although easy to make, is very boring to look at. Especially in winter. Dyeing wool is so easy (and cheap) that you'll get very addicted, very quickly.
Materials
white animal fuzz (it must be a protein-based fiber, cotton and kozo will not work)
Kool-Aid (or other food-based dye including cake dye)
2tbsp vinegar (optional with the Kool-Aid as it has its own acetic acid)
microwave-safe bowls large enough to fit your roving and water
microwave
Instructions
1.Submerge roving in tap water so that it is wet. Add enough water to your microwave-safe dish so that the roving is mostly covered (it will float, which is fine).
2.Sprinkle the roving with packages of Kool-Aid. About two packages per ounce is good, but trial and error is best.
3.Add 2tbsp vinegar and stir gently for an even colour. If you want a mottled colour, don't stir.
4.Microwave for two minutes (if you're doing a very small amount of roving use smaller time increments so that the water doesn't boil).
5.Take out of the microwave and spoon some of the colour onto the top of the fleece (let stand for two minutes).
6.Microwave for two more minutes.
7.Let stand for two more minutes.
8.Microwave for two final minutes (total of six minutes in the microwave).
9.Let stand until cool, or all the dye has absorbed (this might be overnight).
10.Rinse by filling a dishpan with some detergent and water which is the same temperature as the yarn. Soak the yarn for 10 minutes (or less if you're impatient like me). Lift it out and fill the pan with clean water which is the same temperature as the yarn. Soak the yarn for a minute or so, and repeat the rinsing step until no dye runs out.
11.Gently squeeze the excess water from the yarn. Hang it somewhere out of the way to dry - and enjoy your new color.
You could do this on the stove top as well, but I'm not patient enough for that.
To get a really nice blend of two colours sprinkle one side of your bowl of roving with two packets of one colour and the other half with two packets of another colour. Leave a strip of white in between. By the time you're done this area will have a lovely gradation of the two colours.
I even tried with the little bottles of food colouring. I used a full 28mL bottle of green for the angora, and a full 28mL bottle of yellow for some Corriedale (sheep breed). It was way too much dye and ended up being wasted-although it does give an even colour if that's what you're going for.
Once the coloured roving has dried, you can use it to make felt with the instructions at the beginning of the booklet.
