Felted Felted - Special

Wool has qualities that border on magical. The very properties that turn wool into terrific yarn make the alchemy of felt possible: microscopic scales grip each other tight and make something great. Felted explores the sometimes elegant, sometimes practical, always fun side of felt. Whether you’re breathing new life into previously loved sweaters, getting your hands wet with young folks, working out some frustrations while needlefelting something cute, or putting together a gift for someone dear, felt is a pretty special material. Explore every type of felt—needlefelting, wet felting, nuno felting, recycled felting, and stitching with felt—and find your favorite in this issue. Felt happy! Fall in love with Hedgehogs Find a kit for the Prickle of Hedgehogs in the Interweave store at bit.ly/felted-hedgehog-kit. This trio is full of personality…

Perhaps dating back as far as 3000 BCE, felt may be the oldest fabric known to humanity. Though we now have modern means of production, the essence of felt is the same: any fabric in which fibers have been matted together using heat, moisture, friction, or chemicals. Though felt is made traditionally with wool, it doesn’t have to be. Angora, llama, alpaca, or mohair—and even silk—will work. There are many types of felt, with many types of uses, but for the most part, felt falls into these four categories. 1 Commercial Felt One walk down the aisles of a major craft, fabric, or art supply chain store is all it takes to find felt ready to use for your next project. But commercial felts are not all the same, and…

1 A Felting Needle looks like a long pin with a bend for a handle. The shafts of these tiny tools are barbed, and the barbs grab onto the wool and help to lock the fibers together. Be careful—the needles are sharp and can break easily if bent. Clover brand needles come five to a pack and are available in fine weight, 40 gauge, or heavy weight, 36 gauge. $7.75/pack. 2 The five-needle Felting Needle Tool by Clover holds multiple felting needles in an easy-to-hold handle to help speed up the felting process. The tool has a spring-type action that controls the pressure and allows the fibers to mesh with the base fabric. Similar to most needlefelting tools, it lets you adjust how many needles you use so that you…

Bring the outdoors in with this Sleeping Fox. Gentle and wildly wonderful, his pointed ears and tiny feet will win a place in your heart. Best of all, he’s easy to make for a “confident beginner.” The kit includes wool, needles, printed instructions, and a step-by-step video download. $24.99. Kits and videos available at bit.ly/felted-sleeping-fox-kit You, too, can make this fun little snail with the Needle Felting Kit: Needle Felting a Snail from Living Felt and designed by Lynette Spaulding. The kit contains instructions with step-by-step photos, wool, needles, and a felting foam pad. $12.95. Living Felt, 14121 Highway 290 W., Bldg. 2A, Austin, TX 78737. (512) 894-2099; (877) 665-5790; customerservice@livingfelt.com; www.livingfelt.com. Create your own adorable Needle Felted Tibetan Yak with this kit from the yak lovers at Bijou Basin…

1 The Wool Blend Felt Bundle from Prairie Point Junction includes one 12" ×18" piece in each of eight colors. The felt is 20% wool/80% rayon or 35% wool/65% rayon, depending on the color. The Prairie Point Junction website offers a tip sheet with helpful hints on working with wool-blend felt and a conversion chart to coordinate its felt colors with DMC embroidery floss. Shown here: Color Me A Rainbow Bundle. $14. 2 The Wool Felt 2" × 3" Swatch Deck is a sample of each of the 108 colors of Wool Blend Felt from Prairie Point Junction. Each piece is labeled with the color name and number. Mix and match swatches to choose colors for your projects or use the small felt pieces as accents. $15.50. Prairie Point Junction,…

Designed and developed at HeartFelt Silks, the Palm Washboard offers a great way to finish wet felt. When used in a circular motion in the fulling stage of wet felting, it helps bond the fibers faster and eliminates the need for rolling, making the process less labor intensive. Made from native hardwoods sealed with three coats of a two-part epoxy, all washboards are sold with a mesh netting fabric and instructions. 13⁄4" ×5" diameter. $46. HeartFelt Silks, at Seasons on St. Croix Gallery, 401 Second Street, Hudson, WI 54016; (651) 263-7275; robbin@heartfeltsilks.com; www.heartfeltsilks.com. This Hat on a Ball Kit from New England Felting Supply includes everything you need to make the classic and fun wet-felt project developed by Beth Beede and Ruth Walker. Simply wet felt the wool around the…