Full Answer
Where to find wool felt?
Wool felt manufacturer tells you: choosing the good quality of wool felt is the key to the success of your upcoming creative project. Nowadays, it is easy to find wool felt in brick-and-mortar store in your area. You will find a lot of variations, sizes, as well as quality levels of wool felt in your town.
How do wool fibers make felt?
- Put a couple of different colors together for a multicolored project. ...
- You can buy raw wool in the needle felting section of an arts and crafts store or a fabric store. ...
- The hotter the water, the faster the wool will felt. ...
- Use your finished felt balls to make necklaces or garlands. ...
How to stiffen felt and felted wool?
How to Stiffen Felt with Glazing Media:
- Place the felt to be stiffened on a piece of scrap paper or cardboard.
- Place a small pool of glazing media on your cardboard
- Dip a stiff brush (like a stencil brush) into the glazing media and then apply to the felt in a blotting or stabbing motion. ...
- Repeat until a section is covered, then use a paper towel to blot away any excess. ...
How do you felt wool fabric?
You can create felt by boiling the wool on top of the stove. This method is a little faster than using the washing machine because the water is hotter, but the technique is the same–hot water plus agitation makes the microscopic scales on wool fiber extend and latch on to the scales of the nearest fiber.
How to make felt wool?
How to felt wool. The ingredients: agitation, moisture, heat. The more of these ingredients you use, the better. Start with feltable fiber. Wool works really well, other animal fibers like mohair and alpaca can be feltable. Try a swatch first before embarking on a big project.
What is felting in sewing?
The answer, of course, is in the felting. What is felting? Felting bonds and compresses animal fiber to make a dense, flat, warm fabric, using heat, moisture and agitation (and in some industries, chemicals such as acid). Felt can be shaped, made thicker, cut, and sewn.
How to make felting easier?
Gives you lots of control over the process, unlike machine felting (see below). Protect your work surface, there will be splashing. Fill a container, much larger than your project, with hot water and a little bit of dish soap. Add knitted item. Agitate with your hands if you like, but it might (should) be too hot. I use a potato masher and mash the thing just like potatoes. Continue agitating. Then follow the agitation with a bout of agitation. Repeat. Gently lift the item out and check it for felting. (When it starts to felt, the stitches will start to look like they're sticking to each other.) It won't be ready, so put it back in and continue agitating. Depending on the fiber, the size of the project, and your elbow grease, it can take anywhere from 5-45 minutes for something to felt.
Why is wool warm when it rains?
This quality is what makes wool warm even when wet; a wool sweater in the rain tends to get a little fluffier, and can absorb water without feeling wet.
How to agitate wool?
Uses Agitation. Start with clean, carded, unspun fleece (roving), and stab repeatedly. Okay, it's not quite that simple. You must stab it with a felting needle . A felting needle has a hooked surface that teases out the scales on the wool so that they hook on to each other. Basically extreme back combing.
Can you knit before felting?
If knitting before felting, try using larger needles than usual. I've found that any wool item will felt eventually, but a looser knit does seem to be more successful. Anything you felt will shrink, so account for that in your planning.
Can you take out felting before a spin cycle?
If you can, check on the item frequently. (My front loading washer door locks at several points in the cycle, so I can't check on the felting very often.) And if you can, take it out before the spin cycle. Although the spin cycle squeezes out the water and helps the felting, it also wads everything up, and can make creases in your felted item.
What does felting wool do?
Felted wool contracts into a thicker 'puffier' texture than the original cloth. This puffiness translates into “soft and fluffy,” which is why we love it! The results you achieve when felting wool will vary depending on the weave of the fabric, the wool content (whether or not it is 100% pure wool) and wash/dry temperatures.
Why do I love wool felt?
Each of these two textiles are dreamy to work with. I love wool felt because it is soft yet strong and durable for making softies. It is available in a myriad of rich, vibrant colors that are lightfast and uniform throughout. It doesn't fray or pill and hand-sews like butter.
How is wool felt made?
Like wool felt, it originates as wool roving, but the roving is spun into thread after being cleaned and carded. This thread is then woven into wool cloth, which is washed in hot water and dried on high heat to emulate the “add heat, moisture and agitation” process used to make wool felt. This process turns wool fabric into felted wool.
What is wool roving?
When sheep (or any other wooly animal) are sheared, we get piles of raw wool fiber; thank you sheep! These fibers are then cleaned and carded (the process of breaking up unorganized clumps of fiber and realigning them). The result is what we call wool roving. Now here's where each textile goes its separate way.
What is the best blend of wool and rayon?
Rayon's properties are similar to those of cotton and linen, making it an excellent choice for wool blends.
Is felted wool the same as wool roving?
Or Felted Wool? For some, these two textiles are often misunderstood and can be confusing. While their origin – wool roving - is the same, wool felt and felted wool are completely different textiles; their look and feel is distinct. Let's see how.
Is wool felt woven?
Wool Felt is a non-woven textile. There is no thread or weaving involved in production. It originates as wool roving and by adding heat, moisture and agitation, the roving compacts and matts together tightly to form what we refer to as pure wool felt.
How to make felting out of wool?
Using a large tub and a plunger, we are going to agitate the wool into felting. Make it angry! Haha!! Fill the tub with HOT water. Submerge the piece and plunge away. It may take a few minutes before you start to see a change, it could take up to twenty five minutes for the entire process. Just keep going until you’re satisfied.
What is felting yarn?
Felting is the process in which fibers of certain kinds of yarn rub together and fuse, turning into a much more dense fabric than possible in its raw, wooly state. Your finished product feels like a thicker version of the felt you would buy at the craft store. All that is required is wool, hot water and friction.
What kind of yarn is best for felting?
What kind of yarn? Felting works best when using 100% wool as it has fibers that will bind together, unlike acrylic yarn. So stay away from the acrylic, yo! (and any yarn that states Superwash on the label, it is made to resist felting)
How long does it take to wash felt?
The felting process can take up to 20 minutes start to finish in the washing machine. You’ll want to keep it on the wash cycle for continued agitation, checking the progress every five minutes or so to check the work. Be careful when checking as the water will be hot.
How to dry felt?
When desired felt level is reached, pull it out and lay on a towel, pressing firmly to remove excess water. You’ll now want to block your piece, meaning that you lay it out in the shape you wish it to dry. Use pins if needed to keep the edges in place until dry.
Does felting shrink knitting?
During the process your project will shrink. The amount of shrinkage depends on how long the piece is felted. Take this into account when planning for a specific item (ie: Kindle cover etc) so that it does not come out too small. Felting also works best when you are knitting or crocheting a little on the loose side.
Can you use 100% wool for felting?
I have noticed that a wool blend will work, but your best results will always be with 100% wool, which you can find at any craft store or online (and in a much wider variety of colors). Be sure to read the yarn label, some even state “for felting” although that is not a requirement for your piece to turn out beautifully.
What is felt wool?
Felted wool starts the same way as wool felt, i.e., as wool roving. Once manufacturers get wool fibers from shearing wooly animals, such as sheep, the fibers undergo a cleaning and carding process. This breaks up jumbled clumps of fiber and realigns them into roving.
How does felted wool work?
Meanwhile, felted wool involved washing the fabric in hot water. It’s true that both processes involve heat and agitation to a certain extent, which results in the fibers merging together, but you can still see a significant difference. In felting, the hot water, agitation, and rolling create a fabric that’s completely uniform and flat, ...
What is boiled wool used for?
Boiled wool is ideal for autumn and winter apparel, as well as layering for all throughout the year. The wool is medium-weight, as opposed to felted wool, which is heavier. Boiled wool is mainly used for making. There are plenty of benefits of using boiled wool to make certain products.
Why is boiled wool better than knitted wool?
Since the fibers are merged for a felted appearance, it offers more resistance to friction. Since boiled wool is naturally elastic, so garments made from it can preserve their shape for years of wear. Due to the boiling process, fibers that mesh together don’t irritate the skin as opposed to knitted wool fabrics.
How is boiled wool made?
How Boiled Wool is Made. For starters, boiled wool fabric comes from knitting wool yarns and making a sheet that’s uniformly thick. Boiled wool typically begins on a loom with wool thread feeding into a large weaving machine. Then you can dye the fabric or leave it with its natural color.
Why do people use boiled wool?
For instance, they help the wearer maintain almost constant body temperature while wearing a boiled wool jacket. The fabric has tiny air pockets that help in preserving heat. It bears well against bad weather.
Why does wool stick together?
Agitating the fabric in hot water makes the wool fibers stick together because of their scaly surface, which results in a felt-like fabric. You get a denser and tighter material that’s much smaller compared to the pre-boiled wool fabric.
How does wool felt work?
Wool Felts By Friction. Wool felts by friction and the friction of running it gently through your hand and it rubbing against itself as it’s pulled out of the centre pull ball, knitting, and unraveling it all contribute to a light felting.
How long does it take to felt roving?
There are many ways to lightly felt roving. I’ll tell you my favorite way. It is the most time consuming, but is VERY easy and takes about 20 or 30 minutes per kg (2.2 lbs).
How many times does a fluffed roving get felted?
However the felted and fluffed roving has actually gone through the same process but only about 3 times which makes it lightly felted.
Can wool be washed?
Once your wool is lightly felted it can be knitted up, used hand washed, fluffed and dryed. I’ve put a picture of my scarf in the picture above to show you just how it looks after it’s gotten a significant amount of use and been washed 3 separate times.
How to wash a felt bag?
Wet your bag before you dryer felt it: Soak your project in warm or hot water that either has in it a tablespoon of baking soda (dissolved) or a delicate clothes or wo ol wash such as Soak or Euclan. If you have none of these things or prefer not to use soap and/or detergent, go ahead and go without. Soak your bag until it is thoroughly saturated and really floppy. Put in the clothes dryer and get things going on the hottest setting on your dryer.
How to keep a bag from felting in the washer?
Keep the bag completely soaked: As with felting in the top-loading washer, it is the agitation of the dryer and the wetness of the bag that causes the felting. To that end, stay close by and check often to make sure your bag stays completely soaked. It can start to get dry quickly, especially smaller bags, so take out of the dryer with great frequency and regularity to re-wet. This may mean every 2 – 5 minutes. Keep bags soaking, absolutely sopping wet for the duration of the shrinking process.
How to wash felt bags in a washer?
I press the bag as flat as possible around the washer drum at the outset, but don’t worry if it slumps. Once the cycle is complete, remove the bag and pull into shape. IF, however, you have a washer with a particularly violent spin cycle that may put creases in your felt . . . avoid it. Use towels to press out excess water.
Why do two colors of yarn feel faster?
Why? Because the carries across the back are another kind of surface area that experience drag AND unknitted yarn also felts faster and more readily than knitted yarn.
How to make felting water alkaline?
Create an alkaline environment: Once the water is in the washer and the bag is in, put just a little bit of wool wash (like Soak or Eucalan) or a tablespoon of baking soda to the water. This makes the water alkaline and helps the felting process along. It is not necessary insofar as it is agitation combined with water that really makes the felting process go to town.
Can you use towels to lint felt?
EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: LINT ALERT! It is critical that you do not use towels or other items that will release lint onto your felt as balancing agents. I have seen beautiful bags ruined by getting covered by towel lint. Once cotton lint it falls in love with your felt it is virtually impossible to get out without a lot of painful hand-picking. And sometimes the best thing to do is cover every piece of lint with a bead. It’s a laborious but often spectacular save . . . and the beading looks fabulously random!
Can felting be prevented?
Most of these felting disasters could have been prevented if the knitters had followed a few of what I regard as basic principles of felting (technically “fulling”) knitted fabric. Some of my basic principles may differ from what you have heard or read before. Stay with me!
Step 1: Check the Blend
There are only two things that are important to felting success: 1. The fiber type / blend: I have found that a blend of 65% or higher wool content yields the best results. 100% wool is desirable, but not necessary. 2. The knit stitch: This one is a little harder to pin point or predict.
Step 2: Get Felting!
Like I mentioned, this process is really simple. Felting occurs when the wool fibers of the knitted sweater are agitated enough to bind to each other. (aka, get fuzzy and stick to one another so fraying doesn't occur) Here's how I make that magic happen: 1.
Step 3: Shrinkage
If all goes according to plan, you will notice that at the end of your wash/dry cycles, the sweaters have shrunk considerably. As an example, the above cream sweater shrank just under 5"! The true test of felting success is whether or not you can cut a piece out of your shrunken sweater without having the edges fray.
Step 4: Making the Most of the Material
How you cut up the sweater will affect how much usable material you'll have to work with. Follow the above 'Cut Line Maps' to achieve maximum usable square footage.
Step 5: Get Crafty!
Now you have some wonderfully chunky and cozy material for winter crafting! Be sure to let me know if you have any suggestions or questions!