Making Flat Felt Pieces

I'm much more of a dry felter than a wet felter nowadays; the quirkiness of wet felt doesn't really appeal to me. I like to have more control over the finished result. I don't like the mess, and I don't like how it seems to come together on me all at once with little tags and funny pieces sticking out, which I can't get to rejoin the greater mass, and holes and thin places all over. In short, not my thing!

But I had a very successful wet felting lesson on Sunday with my S.S. class so thought I would post notes on what we did. Followed the directions in Simply Felt, a wonderful book.

First step:
Cover the floor (tile is best, NOT carpet -- this project is messy) with a sheet, cover the table with an old shower curtain liner, cover the shower curtain liner with towels, lay a slatted bamboo placemat on each workstation/towel

Cut a piece of cheesecloth the size of your placemat and have it at the ready

Have nearby a bar of Kiss My Face pure olive oil soap (recommended by Regina Mason at the October conference as being nicest for felting and the most gentle on hands) and a cheese grater

As well as a large bowl

And, naturally, roving. I got ours from A Child's Dream Come True -- Ashford of New Zealand Corriedale Wool Roving - Single Natural Color: Dark Gray Brown


Second step:
Grate some soap into the bowl, add hot tap water

Lay your roving down in an area 1/2 times larger than you want your final piece of felt to be. Make sure all the strands of roving are going in the same direction (vertical)

Next lay down another layer of roving on top of your first layer, this time making sure all the strands are horizontal

You can do more layers but we found 2 to be fine


Third step:
Dip your hands into the hot soapy water and gently sprinkle your roving until damp all over. This takes a bit of time but it is important to be gentle or you'll dislodge the roving.

Next, lay your piece of cheesecloth out over the entire felt-to-be piece and rub the bar of soap all over the cheesecloth, making the roving soapier. Now begin to splash it with some of the water and get it thoroughly wet.

Next, working with small sections at a time, rub the roving (through the cheesecloth) more vigorously, until you see that it is beginning to come together into a sort of pre-felt

Your cheesecloth may seem to be becoming part of the felt but this is OK -- you can pull it off gently at the end


Final step:
Once you see that your roving is coming together all over, roll the bamboo placemat up with the entire thing still inside and roll the placemat vigorously all over the towel surface, just as if you were rolling out dough. Roll it and roll it as hard as you can. This helps put pressure on the wool evenly all over the project. 5 minutes or so and you can unroll the placemat and check your results. If there are still some loose fuzzy parts, wet them thoroughly, wrap it up, and roll again. Once the entire piece is evenly felted, pull the cheesecloth off gently, rinse your work under cold water, and lay flat to dry.

It will probably take 3 days to dry so be forewarned.

This technique of the bamboo placemat gives the most even results and is very easy and fun! My students had a great time.