The Dodo Blog

This week I’m answering the question: “How do I make thin felt from 2 layers of wool without getting holes in my felt?”

The way I see it, there may be a couple of different reasons you’re getting holes in your fine felt:

• Your layout is uneven,
• You’re doing your layout on bubble wrap,
• Or you’re using felting/fulling methods that are too aggressive.

When you’re getting an uneven layout, have a look at:

• The quality of your wool,
• The way you’re drafting your fiber,
• And if you happen to have gaps in your layout.

If all of these 3 factors are ok, your problem may be that you’ve done your layout on bubble wrap. Especially if the bubble wrap has very big and tough bubbles, it can create holes or, at least, marks on a thin felt. So, I recommend laying out the wool on a plastic film or piece of fabric.

And, finally, make sure you’re using gentle felting and fulling methods, like the ones I suggest in the video.

If holes in your fine felt have been an issue for you in the past,...

I’m working on a new class that is meant to help felt makers go all the way (smoothly) from total beginner to intermediate. If you’ve recently started wet felting or you’ve been felting for a while, but still feel like there are many gaps in your knowledge, this may be for you.

But I’ll need some time until I can offer it, since I haven’t created it yet. I’m working on the class outline for now. And I’d like to invite you to participate in the creation of the class materials. Just click here or on the image below to access the list of topics. Please let me know which ones are important to you and what you think may still be missing.

Just a last note: I’m considering an intermediate felter, someone who knows all the fundamentals, and is able to confidently felt on a resist, knows how to add fiber, fabric and other materials for embellishment and texture. All this while achieving high quality felt.

Thank you for taking a moment to answer the questions! To show you my appreciation for ...

Today we’re looking at what I see as the last two pieces of the pricing puzzle. If you haven’t read the first part of this series, I recommend you do so, since today’s blog post builds on the first one.

But, before we start, I’d like to address the questions I got from last week’s article. They mainly focused on how to account for certain costs. Now, I can’t go into individual cases. Firstly, because I don’t know your business. Even if you’re a felt maker, every business is different.

And it’s also a fact that different countries have different laws. So, if you feel like you can’t do this alone, I recommend you do some research, talk to other people in your area or even consult with an accountant. Getting an education on these matters is part of being in business. And so is getting a trustworthy accountant. At the beginning, they can advise you on these things, and slowly take new roles as your business grows.

But let’s get back to this week’s topic. Knowing how to calculate the pri...

You probably know me as a wet felting teacher, because I haven’t sold my work for a long time. But, for years, I mainly felted and offered my pieces in markets, on Etsy and in shops specializing in handmade items.

Lately, I’ve been considering going back to creating work to sell. And this has made me look at my pricing strategy again.

How to price your art or your handmade work is something that’s widely discussed not only among felt makers, but artists in general. It stirs up emotions and can sometimes even become controversial. The internet is full of different ideas, but there doesn't seem to be much consensus.

Now, it’s not that I think I have the perfect solution for this. And I have yet to test my pricing ideas. But many years have passed, and I’ve gained a lot more experience, spoken to many people and read a lot on the subject. So, fortunately, I now see this topic in a different light.

Since I know that many of my students and people who read my blog are also selling or pl...

Have you noticed the BABY classes are back?

Many of you have been asking to have the baby booties class separately. You’ve also showed interest in having it available “on demand”, which is understandable, since babies grow fast 😊

So, I’ve listened to your requests and created two separate classes: “Comfy Baby Booties & Tiny Baby Mittens” and “Sweet Baby Jacket & Daisy baby Hat”. They’re already available and can be purchased at any time.

They’re now in a DIY version, and the videos and PDFs are downloadable. Just click on the images below to be taken to the course information.

Whether you’re planning to enroll in the class or not, here’s some information that may be useful for you.

As I reopened the baby courses to enrolment, it was brought to my attention that some of the designs are not compliant with the safety standards of many countries. I was very grateful for these contacts, since this is something I was previously unaware of.

I decided to do some internet research to un...

Have you ever had one of these issues while wet felting?

• You used bubble wrap to roll a nuno felted piece and it left circular marks on your project.
• You fulled a cobweb scarf in the washing machine and it came out unrecognizable.
• You rolled a nuno felted piece on a bamboo mat only to discover that it pulled on the silk fibers.

If you’re unsure which methods or equipment to use for fulling, I recommend you don’t just follow what you’ve seen someone doing. Your project may be completely different, so it may need different fulling methods as well.

It’s not that there’s an exact recipe for the fulling methods to use. But, as a general rule of thumb, delicate pieces need delicate felting and fulling, and sturdy projects need methods that are more “aggressive”.

Think of it like you’d think of your laundry: do you wash a pair of thick jeans the same way you wash a cashmere cardigan?

This week I’ve prepared a couple of examples for you to give you some guidelines on this topic. Aga...

I think the importance of prefelts in wet felting is sometimes underestimated. Prefelts are extremely useful and there’s no end to how you can apply them in your wet felting projects. So, mastering how to make them exactly as you want for a particular piece can massively improve your work.

Let’s have a look at some of the many ways prefelts can be used, as well as a couple of tips to apply them successfully.

PREFELTS FOR NUNO FELTING

In most cases, nuno felted pieces decorated with crisp designs are created with prefelts. But prefelts are a bit more difficult to attach to silk than unfelted wool.

So, to make it work, you need to:

• use thin prefelts,
• felt slowly and gently,
• and work with cold water,

to give the wool fibers time to migrate into the silk.

The most effective felting technique in this case is sanding, since it creates a lot of pressure, that accelerates the fiber migration through the fabric.

If you run into issues, and some parts of your prefelts aren’t a...

As you may know, I’ve been working on a blog series about prefelts. I’ve started by going into what prefelts are, as well as explaining the differences between commercial and handmade prefelts.

The next post in the series dealt with what you need to pay attention to when making prefelts to use in other projects.

And I’ll finish this collection next week by going deeper into how you can use prefelts, what type of projects you can use them for, as well as the best felting techniques for making them.

But, before that, I wanted to answer the questions that I received from you about this topic. So, today we’ll have a format that’s a bit different from what I usually do: a simple Q&A.

Q: I am very curious about prefelts - especially as a new wet felter. When is something prefelt? Or what is the prefelt stage?  I’d like to create some prefelt in order to place onto my work and felt everything together. How do I do that?

A: A prefelt is any stage between the moment (in the felting ...

As we’ve seen last week, a prefelt is a partially felted piece of wool felt. That means, it’s made in the exact same way as a piece of felt. The only difference is the degree to which it’s compacted.

I usually make my prefelts by wet felting Merino tops. For some projects, I have also needle felted wool batts. This second method is a way of imitating the industrial prefelts. But I find it’s only a good option for small projects.

What do you need to pay attention to when making a prefelt to use in other projects?

1. Evenness

It’s important to create your prefelts with an even thickness. If this is difficult for you, start by training your layout skills.

Do you need help with this? You can find everything you need to train your layout skills in the blog post “Resources To Help You Perfect Your Layout”. (Click link or image to access!)

2. Thickness

The thickness of your prefelt will depend on which projects you’ll be applying it to.

If your goal is to use it to create any kin...

Years ago, I wrote a couple of blog posts about prefelts, but there are many details I didn’t mention back then. Since I still get a lot of questions about the topic, I thought it would make sense to write a new, more complete and up to date series.

This first part caters to new felt makers, who I know are often a bit confused about prefelts.

If you’re more experienced, this won't be new to you. But, as I explore the topic further, there'll be more details that may be useful for you too. So, I recommend keeping an eye on the rest of the series, if this is a topic that interests you.

We’ll start by looking at what prefelts are, and then talk about how and when to use them. So, let's dive in!

WHAT ARE PREFELTS?

As the name suggests, a prefelt is a partially felted piece of wool felt. In other words, it’s simply a stage in the wet felting process before the fibers fully compact.

That, of course, means a prefelt can be further felted. And that is precisely why prefelts are so inte...