MAKE: Feltmaking - Part 3: How to make a basic piece of flat felt

Today, in the final part of our special mini-series of articles by Lisa Marie Olson, owner and originator of Tigerlily Makes: the Felt-making & Wool Craft Boutique, Lisa takes us step by step through how to make a basic piece of flat felt.

What you need to get started:

• A towel
• bamboo mat
• piece of nylon netting
• washing up liquid
• empty washing up bottle
• soap
• cloth
• wool fleece

and you are ready to go.

To make a piece of flat felt it is important to start off with the basics and make sure you master the technique of pulling even wisps of fleece to lay on the mat.

Pulling:

1. Hold the fleece in the left hand approximately 2 inches down from the top of the fleece as in the picture.
2. Place your right hand over the top of the wispy bits being careful not to scrunch them up. Make sure that your fingers on your right hand are pointing straight down.
3. Holding firmly with your left hand at the lower part of the fleece pull with your right hand to release a fine even wisp of fleece.

NB: IF YOU ARE LEFT HANDED SIMPLY FOLLOW THIS TECHNIQUE WITH YOUR RIGHT HAND FIRST AND YOUR LEFT HAND AT THE TOP.

Laying the fleece:

1. Lay the fleece wisp by wisp in a horizontal direction as in the picture, as you pull more wisps off you will have to nudge your hand down the fleece bit by bit to sustain the evenness.
2. Cover the majority of the bamboo mat as in the picture and check by pressing your hands over the fleece that you don’t have any areas that are too fine or have holes in them.

Laying the fleece vertically:

1. Just as you did for the for the horizontal layer pulling fine even wisps, overlay the bottom layer by changing the direction you lay the fleece from horizontal to vertical and cover the entire bottom layer with fleece.
2. Cover with net and you are ready to start wetting and soaping.

Wetting soaping and rubbing:

1. Take your empty washing up bottle and add a very small amount of washing up liquid, just enough to cover the bottom and then fill with warm water.
2. Squeeze the soapy water onto the net as above and be generous with it. Once you have applied a fairly ample amount you can begin to work the water through the fibre with a cloth.
3. Hold the net in place with your left hand whilst you use the cloth to spread the water.

4. You want to make sure that all of the fleece is flat with no lumpy bits of dry fleece around see the picture above to see what you should be aiming for.
5. Now you can add the soap by adding a little water to the bar and getting it all nice and soapy in your hands as in the picture below.

Rubbing:

1. Once your fleece is flat and soapy, you can start to rub, place your hands palm side down and keep your palms flat, fingers slightly parted. This will help you to maintain an even pressure.
2. Rub using circular movements fo approximately 10 minutes over ther eintire surface of the fleece, making sure you check periodically for the first few minutes that your felt isn’t felting to the net. You will know when this happens as tinly little bits of wool will bobble through the net, when this happens its time to check. Gently pull the net back and gently detangle any stray bits.
3. Once you have rubbed for about 10 minutes turn the felt piece over and rub the opposite side for around the same time or until felted.

Rolling:

1. Once your felt is fully felted (when the fibres don’t move about on firm touch) you can start the rolling process.

2. Turn the mat lengthways and tightly roll the felt piece completely in the mat, then you will need to roll between 20-25 times in on direction, doing a full rotation back and forth as in the picture.
3. Once you have completed this un-roll the felt turn the felt piece a quarter turn so that the felt is now sitting horizontally, tuck in the overhanging edges and repeat the roll sequence.
4. Un-roll the felt and quarter turn again so that the felt is now sitting vertically again and repeat roll sequence.
5. Once you have completed this un-roll for the last time and quarter turn so that the felt is now sitting horizontally again, tuck in overhanging edges and repeat roll sequence.
6. Once all four edges have been completed (top bottom and either side of your felt piece) turn the felt over and repeat the entire rolling sequence again.
7. When you have completed all of the above on both sides, rinse the felt piece under very hot running water, followed by very cold water followed by very hot, this will shock the felt and help the felting process.
8. Take back to the mat and give it a final roll sequence on both sides and all 4 edges, BUT!!! with far fewer rolls so it could be up to 10 rolls per edge per side or just a few depending on the shrinkage and the size you want to achieve.
9. Finally, rinse in warm water to remove all traces of soap, ring out excess water and leave to dry on a radiator or on the line

Lisa Marie Olson
Tigerlily Makes © 2011 all rights reserved

All Lisa's designs are copyright protected.