What exactly is FELT?
This comprehensive beginner's guide will teach you everything you need to know about needle felting and wet felting. What is felting? It basically refers to the process of turning an animal fiber known as a protein fiber, like sheep wool, alpaca, mohair, yak, and so on. into a fabric by joining the individual fibers together.
There are several different ways to complete this felting process, so let's get started! The wool can be in any form, from raw locks to processed roving or batts.
Needle felted cat kit for beginners from edelweiss day
Felted goat sculpture with needles Felted goat sculpture with needles in this article:
Felting: What is It? My definition: What is the felting procedure?
What distinguishes dry felting from wet felting?
Wool Felting: How to: Methods for Wet Felting: Basic Wet Felting, Nuno Felting, Cobweb Felting, Lattice Felting, 3D Felting, Resist Felting, and More
Can synthetic wool be used to felt?
Can cotton or silk fiber be used to wet felt?
Water Sprayer Felting Soap Matchstick Blind or Bubble Wrap How to Felt Wool: What exactly is needle felting?
Different Approaches:
Soft sculptures made with flat needle felting, three-dimensional needle felting, and soft sculptures
Where Can I Purchase Wool?
Where Can I Acquire Additional Skills?
Is felting a costly pastime?
In knitting, what does felting mean?
First, a brief history: How did we get interested in felting and fiber?
Needle felted dog kit for beginners from Edelweiss day store
When we got our first two alpacas, Godiva and Permanent Ink, I started to love wool and fiber.
I had no idea that alpacas produce a lot of fiber in a single year and that we had to shear them every spring due to their extreme heat sensitivity.
As a result, we quickly realized that we needed to do something with all of this fiber! Every year, we ended up with countless bags of lovely alpaca wool fiber. I had no idea what to do with it all.
When we got our first two alpacas, Godiva and Permanent Ink, I started to love wool and fiber.
I had no idea that alpacas produce a lot of fiber in a single year and that we had to shear them every spring due to their extreme heat sensitivity.
As a result, we quickly realized that we needed to do something with all of this fiber! Every year, we ended up with countless bags of lovely alpaca wool fiber. I had no idea what to do with it all.
Play Video: Easy Needle Felting for Beginners We started by asking our fellow alpaca breeders what they did with all of their wool. Surprisingly, most of them did nothing at all with it.
Since no one knew what to do with the fleece bags, the majority of them threw them in the attic.
I didn't like the idea that this wonderful natural material would be thrown away, personally. No, I wanted to make something wonderful from that fiber.
So, after doing a lot of research, I found sheep wool. What did the breeders do with the wool fleeces they produced? I was also introduced to the Wonderful World of Wool Felting in that manner!
What exactly is FELT? My definition of felting is the process of combining and compressing loose wool or hair fibers to create a textile or fabric.
Note: Natural or synthetic fibers can be used. However, their feelings were not exactly the same.
Do you recall the colorful felt fabric sheets that you used in kindergarten? Those are made in large quantities using synthetic fibers and large machines.
Since I don't know much about that process, I'll concentrate on working with natural fibers in this article.
WHAT IS THE FELTING PROCESS?
In order to create a piece of felt, the hair or fibers must become matted together, creating a fabric. This can be accomplished either by physically tangling the wool with felting needles or by applying water and agitation.
WHAT DIFFERENCE IS THERE BETWEEN DRY AND WET FELTING?
There are two primary methods for making felt: Dry and wet.
The process of opening and binding together the fibers through the use of water, soap, and some kind of agitation is known as "wet felting." This can be done with carded batts, washed fiber, processed wool roving and sliver, or raw wool fiber.
This method can also be used to felt wool sweaters that were previously knit, crocheted, or woven.
Have you ever put a wool sweater in the washer and dryer and let it shrink by accident? A type of wet felting is that! Additionally, you can actually intend to do that.
What exactly is needle felting and dry felting? This involves basically tying the individual fibers together with special barbed needles until they form a matted piece of fabric.
The fibers become intertwined as the barbed needle is continued to be inserted and removed from the wool.
Using a tool with multiple needles or by hand with a single needle, this can be done. There are small felting machines about the size of a regular sewing machine and very large machines about the size of a table that use hundreds or even thousands of needles to make huge sheets of felted wool.
What exactly is FELT? A UPDATED BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO WOOL FELTING: By Annette Browning on March 10, 2022 Disclosure: There may be affiliate links on this page. We may be compensated if you click and make a purchase.
For specifics, see Disclosure.
This comprehensive beginner's guide will teach you everything you need to know about needle felting and wet felting. What is felting? It basically refers to the process of turning an animal fiber known as a protein fiber, like sheep wool, alpaca, mohair, yak, and so on. into a fabric by joining the individual fibers together.
There are several different ways to complete this felting process, so let's get started! The wool can be in any form, from raw locks to processed roving or batts.
Felted goat sculpture with needles Felted goat sculpture with needles in this article:
Felting: What is It? My definition: What is the felting procedure?
What distinguishes dry felting from wet felting?
Wool Felting: How to: Methods for Wet Felting: Basic Wet Felting, Nuno Felting, Cobweb Felting, Lattice Felting, 3D Felting, Resist Felting, and More
Can synthetic wool be used to felt?
Can cotton or silk fiber be used to wet felt?
Water Sprayer Felting Soap Matchstick Blind or Bubble Wrap How to Felt Wool: What exactly is needle felting?
Different Approaches:
Soft sculptures made with flat needle felting, three-dimensional needle felting, and soft sculptures
Where Can I Purchase Wool?
Where Can I Acquire Additional Skills?
Is felting a costly pastime?
In knitting, what does felting mean?
First, a brief history: How did we get interested in felting and fiber?
When we got our first two alpacas, Godiva and Permanent Ink, I started to love wool and fiber.
I had no idea that alpacas produce a lot of fiber in a single year and that we had to shear them every spring due to their extreme heat sensitivity.
As a result, we quickly realized that we needed to do something with all of this fiber! Every year, we ended up with countless bags of lovely alpaca wool fiber. I had no idea what to do with it all.
Play Video: Easy Needle Felting for Beginners We started by asking our fellow alpaca breeders what they did with all of their wool. Surprisingly, most of them did nothing at all with it.
Since no one knew what to do with the fleece bags, the majority of them threw them in the attic.
I didn't like the idea that this wonderful natural material would be thrown away, personally. No, I wanted to make something wonderful from that fiber.
So, after doing a lot of research, I found sheep wool. What did the breeders do with the wool fleeces they produced? I was also introduced to the Wonderful World of Wool Felting in that manner!
What exactly is FELT? My definition of felting is the process of combining and compressing loose wool or hair fibers to create a textile or fabric.
Note: Natural or synthetic fibers can be used. However, their feelings were not exactly the same.
Do you recall the colorful felt fabric sheets that you used in kindergarten? Those are made in large quantities using synthetic fibers and large machines.
Since I don't know much about that process, I'll concentrate on working with natural fibers in this article.
WHAT IS THE PROCESS OF FELTING? subscribeEmailInputPlaceholderText SUBSCRIBE subscribeConsentCheckboxMessage Triangle Shawl wet felted using the nuno felting technique
In order to create a piece of felt, the hair or fibers must become matted together, creating a fabric. This can be accomplished either by physically tangling the wool with felting needles or by applying water and agitation.
WHAT DIFFERENCE IS THERE BETWEEN DRY AND WET FELTING?
There are two primary methods for making felt: Dry and wet.
The process of opening and binding together the fibers through the use of water, soap, and some kind of agitation is known as "wet felting." This can be done with carded batts, washed fiber, processed wool roving and sliver, or raw wool fiber.
This method can also be used to felt wool sweaters that were previously knit, crocheted, or woven.
Have you ever put a wool sweater in the washer and dryer and let it shrink by accident? A type of wet felting is that! Additionally, you can actually intend to do that.
What exactly is needle felting and dry felting? This involves basically tying the individual fibers together with special barbed needles until they form a matted piece of fabric.
The fibers become intertwined as the barbed needle is continued to be inserted and removed from the wool.
Using a tool with multiple needles or by hand with a single needle, this can be done. There are small felting machines about the size of a regular sewing machine and very large machines about the size of a table that use hundreds or even thousands of needles to make huge sheets of felted wool.
Close-up of felting needle notches Do you notice the tiny notches on the needles?
According to Wikipedia, "a textile material that is produced by matting, condensing, and pressing fibers together" is the definition of felt.
Felt can be made of regular filaments like fleece or creature fur, or from engineered strands, for example, petrol based acrylic or acrylonitrile or wood mash based rayon. Additionally common are blended fibers. See How to Needle Felt for Beginners for more information. HOW TO FELT WOOL: WET FELTING METHOD The following are the fundamental steps for the various wet felting methods:
Apply soapy water to thin sections of wool or roving and work it into the fibers with your hands. Add a second layer that is perpendicular to the first. Repeat steps 1 through 5 until the piece is thick enough for your project. Continue working the wool with your hands until the fiber feels and binds together.
The wool is basically laid out in layers that are perpendicular to one another to create a felt fabric that is interlocked. After that, you apply soap and water to the wool and work it in.
After that, you use your hands to gently move the piece before gradually applying more pressure and agitation.
Finally, the piece is wrapped in a sisal mat, bubble wrap, or matchstick blind. To further felt the wool, this is rolled back and forth several hundred times.
The Fulling stage begins when the wool fibers are sufficiently interlocked to prevent separation. Dropping and throwing the felt fabric onto a table is necessary for fulling it.
A firm piece of felt that can be cut and sewn without raveling is produced as a result of this further shrinking and hardening of the wool.
Our final felted fabric will be significantly smaller than the wool layout that we started with. The direction of the fibers as well as the amount of agitation and fulling influence the amount of shrinkage that occurs. When you're done felting, your finished piece will typically be 25 to 30 percent smaller.
6 DIFFERENT METHODS BASIC WET FELTING A flat piece of felt fabric is made using the basic method. Wallhangings, coats, purses, and tote bags are all examples of thick, sturdy objects that can be made using this method.
The basic steps for making felt are the same as before: Apply soap and water to thin sections of wool, work the fibers, add another layer perpendicular to the first layer, apply more soapy water, work the fibers, and add layers again.