Our First Make-Along: Felting!

Resistor had it’s first crafting Make-Along recently. Our theme: Felting. We started with wool roving, which is wool that has been carded or combed in preparation for being spun. It looks a bit like cotton candy. Roving can be felted by agitating it, causing the individual fibers to knot together. One way to do this is to poke a bundle of roving repeatedly with a felting needle, which has tiny grooves that catch and pull at the fibers to tangle them. This is particularly effective for delicate work, and is a nice tool for creating small balls and creatures and for doing applique.

Another way to felt is to wet and rub the fibers. We made some felted soaps this way. We started with glycerin soap, wet it and wrapped roving around it, and then moistened it again with hot water to press the fibers onto the soap. After this the soap was dropped into a plastic bag and rubbed until frothy and matted. Then we rinsed them, and left them to dry. The result is a decorative, scrubby soap. Designs are created by felting onto the roving before wrapping it around the soap. Surprisingly the wetting and rubbing procedure doesn’t distort the design.

Felting can also be a creative way to repair clothes. One of our felters at the Make-Along brought a sweater with a hole in it, and felted on a flower on as a patch.

At our next Make-Along we’ll be working with paper. We’ll have patterns, ideas, and some supplies, but you can also bring your own projects and supplies. Here’s a little inspiration.