I Never Knew You "Felt" That Way

A funny thing happens when you put a wool sweater in the washer and dryer - you have doll clothes! Yes, wool shrinks! Which normally would be a bad thing, but if you are interested in working with a material that is strong, versatile and has beautiful colors - wool is for you!
When wool shrinks it is called felting which is essentially where those felt squares come from. I have knitted with wool and then felted it but you have to oversize what you are making to allow for shrinkage. The easiest thing to do is to buy wool items - sweaters, scarves, skirts and then shrink them. This is super easy because wool is itchy and doesn't always sell well at the thrift shop. Also, sweaters that may not have desirable color combinations make great craft canvases. You just have to make sure the label says 100% wool. So when they have those $1 a bag sales stock up!

Easy directions: Place the wool items in the washer ( wool only-  don't try to wash other clothes while felting - it will just makes a mess) Wash with hot water, put in the dryer with a tennis ball on high heat. Check to see if it is shrunk enough - meaning the yarn is tightly woven and dense. If not, repeat. If you want to stretch or reshape an item that is already shrunk, throw it back in the washer and shape while wet - air dry. Don't cut your sweater until you have felted it - it will just unravel, but once it is felted, you have a smooth, straight edge.

Now let the fun begin - below are some things that I have made out of felt:


Photo album - remove cover from album, attach felt with glue or stitching.

Coasters - I doubled the felt and did a blanket stitch around the edge.

This was a sweater that I shrunk and then cut in a square. I stitched around the edges and then unbuttoned it to insert a pillow.

This was a turtleneck that I shrunk and then cut off the arms and the waist - no sewing required because the felting stops it from unraveling.

This is a bag that I knitted out of wool yarn - it was super big and took a long time, but so easy - just knit round and round. I felted it and then washed it again to shape it while wet - then air dry. This is the strongest bag I have ever owned - I stuff it like crazy and it hasn't failed me yet. I have also made lunch bags and baby bags - sorry no pictures, they were all gifts!

This is another sweater that I made into a pillow - I think it looks like a basketball!

So that is how you felt - it's that easy! A little girl at school had barrets with little ladybugs on them cut out of felt and another had a head band - a piece of felt with cut out flowers and a piece of elastic. You can be creative with felt and there is very little sewing involved.

Tomorrow I will show you step by step how to make a bag out of a felted sweater - very little sewing required and a surprise craft idea I know you will love!!

Crafting in my world always makes cents!!