While browsing through a local thrift store, I found an old 100% wool blanket that someone had (likely accidentally) shrunk in a washing machine. I brought it home and washed it again just to make sure it was completely felted before cutting it up to make a pouf. The minimal design is a 17″ square with exposed raw seams. It is filled with over 10 lbs of fabric remnants that I’ve collected, as well as a layer of polyester fiber fill to smooth out lumps and give it a plush feel.
I updated the lining of my favorite (really only) Lucky Brand hobo purse a year or so ago because the dark brown interior made it impossible to find anything. I love the retro pattern and how easy it is to seek and find things in this bottomless pit of personal items. But then I got the new iPhone 6 Plus and the phone pocket was too small. Way too small – like the phone was sticking up and interfering with the magnet closure. It was ridiculous and annoying. So for months I’ve just been dealing with it. To avoid redoing the lining, I made a separate felted wallet (check an earlier post) that wasn’t quite practical for quick access. So I finally took out the lining and made a new pocket. I even added a fabric loop for hanging my keys. It is so satisfying to have things function well. The new pocket is perfect. My phone does not have to get any bigger. Are you listening Apple?
This is a one-piece bowl and mat centerpiece. I experimented with wet-felting an inclusion into a flat square layout of alpaca wool roving. I wrapped a plastic egg in dark gray roving and then placed it on my layout of cream roving, then covered everything with a few more layers of cream. After the felting process was complete, I carefully cut a hole and extracted the plastic egg. The result is a bowl with a dark interior that is integrated into a cream mat. Three edges are trimmed and the fourth is left raw like the top of the bowl. I absolutely love this piece. Yes, I will be making more.
I love nesting dolls. I have several versions of them as toys, decoration, and even measuring cups. So in my experiments with felting, I decided to try to create a version of nesting dolls. I used a set of plastic ones as a form. Many attempts failed as I found it hard to keep the thickness of the wool roving consistent in the wet felting process. Needle felting a hollow shape proved challenging too. But I persisted and was able to create this set of four dolls using a combination of wet felting and needle felting. I need to add some sort of reinforcement or fabric stiffener so the top and bottom actually securely connect and close. But I am a bit burned out by the struggle to get to this point, and I am a bit afraid to screw them up. Sometimes my experiments develop into a finished product, but often they are left unfinished and placed on a high shelf or tucked away in a box marking one more moment along my creative journey.
When I first received some roving from local alpaca farm Flying Dutchman Alpacas, I wet felted a few “sheets” with the intention of making something useful. I love the texture and thickness of the hand felted material. I decided to make a zippered pouch for my new iPhone 6 Plus (that is so enormous it does not fit well in the open phone pocket I had made in my leather hobo bag for my previous iPhone.) I used a vintage cotton material for the lining and handstitched the zippered opening using a contrasting pink cotton thread.
I created this tiny wool wet felted pot a long time ago. A couple days ago, I decided to complete it with some succulent pups cut from an Aeonium suffering a slow death in my front yard. The inside of the felt pot is painted with a bright yellow rubber coating that you can find at hardware stores for dipping tools, so it is waterproof. Wool felt is dirt and water resistant by itself, but I wanted to make sure the little pot didn’t decompose from constant contact with the moist potting soil. In restrospect, I prefer to keep the wool raw and natural rather than add the rubber coating. But of course I would not know that if I didn’t experiment in the first place.
I worked with my daughter’s PreK class on a wet felted project for the upcoming school auction. We are creating a felted wall hanging. Each child made a “pebble” using natural alpaca roving decorated with wool yarn and scrap silk pieces. The background was a collaboration using a darker blend of alpaca roving with the same yarn and silk pieces placed in a random linear pattern. The background is as beautiful as each of the pebbles. Most of the pebbles are hand stitched onto the background with a wool/bamboo blend yarn. Three pebbles are suspended from the bottom of the wall hanging by needle felting pieces of colorful wool yarn onto the background and the pebbles.
A while ago I happened upon a way to make a simple skirt from the top half of a XXL t-shirt. I literally just stepped inside the giant neck hole and said “Hey, this could be a skirt.” The sleeves were flipped inside and sewn shut to form giant pockets and the skirt hem was a simple raw cut edge. It was just that simple. I wore it a few times in the summer. It was funky for sure – even for me. So recently, I decided to alter it a step further and make some low crotch harem pants. Using a second complementary gray t-shirt, I created tapered legs and a folded waistband. They are super comfortable, but clearly an experimental part of any wardrobe. Pants are much more practical in my wardrobe, so I may actually wear these as a funky, feature piece now and then.
My girls and I are playing with wet felting. In these first experiments we used scraps of tulle, yarn, and beads to add color and texture to the roving. Most of the donate roving was a natural cream color, but one bag was filled with pastel pink, blue and purple. My daughters were ecstatic. The process of wet felting is relatively easy but requires letting go of perfection because wetting and rolling and shrinking makes for some surprising outcomes – at least for us amateurs. I’ll be bringing roving into Stella’s Pre-K class to make some wet felted “squares” with the kids. I’m excited to see what they make!
by pauline 