Question about felting a skirt

[christinascrochethaven]

I'm new to felting. I felted a hat and a tote bag with some flowers on it.

 

I want to felt a skirt for my daughter.

The question I have is this:

Do I put the elastic in the waist before felting?

I always crochet a skirt, then go back to the top and add elastic to the waist with single crochet. I'm not sure if I should do this and then do the felting.

 

Any helps or advice??

Thanks!

[Shell]

i've never felted before, but perhaps you could make the elastic casing before the felting (fold down the band with something like plastic wrap inside to stop it sticking to the other side) so all you have to do is cut a slit and thread elastic in when done. just a thought. as i said, never felted ever!! lol

 

with the whole shrinking thing, i'd be wary of adding elastic before felting. i'd be worried it would shrink more than the length of the elastic and make a bubble appearance. then again, i saw in a magazine this week about "resists" used in felting, so perhaps the elastic would cause a resist? who knows.. best of luck!!

[sherryzzz]

You could also sew in a fabric casing, maybe using wide bias tape, to the top of the skirt after you felt it to create a casing for the elastic. That way you would have a lot less bulk at the top of the skirt than if you folded over the felted crochet.