Felting Tutorial

[Lealonna]

Hello, friends!

I wanted to share with you a tutorial I wrote up on how to felt.

Sorry there is no pictures with it, I can't figure out how to put pictures on here {could someone tell me how to do that, please?} To see the pictures, you can visit my blog here.

 

Felting Crocheted Projects

 

Notes and tips before starting:

1. Your project must be made out of wool yarn. 100% wool felts best, but anywhere from 50% up should work.

2. I noticed that taller crochet stitches {such as treble or double treble} do not felt as well. They do not blend together.

3. When crocheting the project you are going to felt, it is best to make the stitches a little on the loose side {don't forget to check that with your gauge!}. The looser the stitches, the more friction you will have when felting it, and your project will felt better.

 

You will need:

A basin deep enough to fill with water to cover your project

Rubber gloves

Mild dish soap or shampoo {I used baby shampoo on the swatch, and both baby shampoo and dish soap on the hat.}

A towel

Warm and cold water

Optional: blocking aids {pins, a bowl, etc.}

Optional: A hair dryer {to help with the drying}

Something to felt :-)

 

Fill basin with enough hot water to cover your project. Make sure the water is very hot but not so hot that you can't keep you hands in it, like me The hotter the water, the faster your project will felt, and the colder the water, the slower it will felt. Add a small squirt of shampoo/dish soap.

 

Completely submerge project in the water, and agitate it evenly with your hands. To soft-felt it, only work it so that the stitches are slightly fused together, but still clearly visible. To hard-felt it, continue to agitate until the stitches are no longer visible, the fabric is thicker, and a little stiff. If the fabric does not seem to be felting, you can "shock" it, by putting it in cold water for a few minutes, and then returning it to the hot water.

 

When your project is felted to your satisfaction, take it out of the hot water and place it in cold water. Gently rinse it without agitating it anymore. The cold water will stop the felting.

 

After you have rinsed your project, lay it as flat as possible on a clean, dry towel. Roll the towel with the item in it as tight as possible, to squeeze out the excess water. Unroll it, and block it if you need to, as it may be a little out of shape from the felting.

 

If you try felting using this tutorial, please let me know how it turns out!

 

Happy Felting, friends!

 

~Lealonna

http://hookedcreations.blogspot.com/

[imanurse55]

Excellent tut-

To add the picture all you have to do is click on "Go Advanced" when you are posting a reply and there is a paper clip on the toolbar. Click on the paper click and it will bring up a box. Browse for the picture that you want to add and then click upload. When it says done, it's ready and will be in your reply. Hope that makes sense!

[Lealonna]

Thanks so much for your help with the pictures! I will do that next time :-)