How I Made My First Piece of Wool Felt from Roving

(Roving is wool that has been washed and carded).

 

Equipment:

A tray, cookie sheet, broiler pan, or large rubber tray

Roving

Rubber Gloves

Tea Kettle or pan

4-Cup Measure of water heated to boiling

Soap (hand soap or bar soap NOT detergent)

A washboard, bubble wrap, or ribbed plastic mat

Elbow grease

 

 

I used four layers of roving in an 11” x 14” broiler pan (less than 2 oz. roving) to make a 10” x 12” (4-layer) finished piece of felt (after shrinking).  Jean Near’s wool felts beautifully due to the fineness of the roving fiber and the softness of its texture.

 

Wool fibers are somewhat fragile until they are felted.  Always pull the fibers apart gently.  DO NOT CUT THEM.  Cutting will leave harsh edges. 

 

Begin by gently pulling off a strip of roving about 8 inches long by laying it down, placing a hand where you want to tear it, and gently pulling away the extra fiber with the other hand. 

 

Tease open the swatch, fluff it and lay it out on your tray, row by row, with all the swatches in the first layer going in the same direction.  Each swatch should overlap the one laid down before it, and each row should overlap the row preceding it.  In other words, each swatch in the first layer must lay in the same direction, with each row and each swatch overlapping, like fish scales.

The second layer is laid down PERPENDICULAR or CROSSWISE to the first layer,

The third layer is laid down PERPENDICULAR or CROSSWISE to the second layer, and so on.

(Or, the first layer goes north/south and the second layer goes east/west.)

 

The number of layers, thickness of each layer, and the amount it is worked determines the final look and texture of the felt.  On my sample I rotated layers, beginning with white, four layers, ending with light taupe.   The marbled quality was achieved by making the top layer of light taupe very thin in some areas and also by working or “fulling” the felt.  The more it was worked, the more of the marbled quality appeared.

 

Once your wool is laid out, you are ready to begin making felt.  Heat 4 cups of water to boiling, add a squirt of hand soap.  Be sure to wear rubber gloves when working with water this hot.  (You don’t have to work with water this hot, but the felting goes faster when the soapy water is very hot.) The soap makes the fibers slip more easily and helps in making the wool felt.  

Start by pouring a LITTLE liquid onto one corner of your dry, layered roving and pressing down. Work your way, pressing down, all across the entire piece of felt.   Continue adding small amounts of hot soapy water over the layers of wool until all of the fibers are wet.  Press down all over your project.  Gently, at first, begin to move the felt with both hands in and up and down and side-to-side motion.  Work all the way across the piece, working every inch of it.

 

Keep pressing down all over for a few minutes.  As the water cools, pour off the cold soapy water and add more hot soapy water.  Continue pressing.

 

As the wool holds together better, and you become sure that you will not rub holes in the felt, you can rub more vigorously and with more pressure.

 

After a while, you will feel the fibers becoming more matted and stronger.   Turn it over and press the other side, working it the same way.

 

Then fold the felt over onto itself and work in any stray fibers.  This helps smooth the felted surface.  Turn the felt in quarter turns so that all surfaces are worked.  You are decreasing the air spaces between the fibers, so the felt becomes thinner and denser.

 

Turn the felt over and work the other side the same way.

 

When you feel your fabric has felted enough to lift without separating, lift it onto a piece of bubble wrap or a washboard.

 

Now that your wool felt fabric has started to felt, you can shrink and shape it.  This stage of making wool felt is called “fulling”.  You do this by rubbing it against the bumpy surface of your choice.  This could be a wash board, bubble wrap, a match stick place mat, or a plastic mat with ribbing.  This can take some time and some elbow grease.  Keep rubbing your material against the bumpy surface, and, as the water cools, drain it off and add more hot soapy water.

 

When you are happy with the feel of your felt, rinse it off with COLD water.  The cold rinse after hot scrubbing helps to fix the fibers in place.  Rinse alternating hot and cold water, to remove all the soap. Press and Squeeze – DON”T WRING  –   

 

Then roll it in a towel and step on it to get out as much moisture as possible 

 

While still damp press both sides with an iron set on “Wool”

 

Lay your felt out flat to finish drying.

 

There are many uses for your newly made felt.  The nomads make large felt tents called Yerts. Other items commonly made from felt include rugs, capes, vests, beads, ropes, jewelry, masks, puppets, slippers, hats, decorations, decorative mats, and wall hangings.