The Dodo Blog

Are you going crazy with the ‘what is what’ in terms of the wool for felting?

I do my best to avoid insider lingo, but the truth is there’s no escaping. You’ll just have to learn a couple of new terms when it comes to this. Otherwise you risk not getting the right materials for your projects. So here is some of the terminology you’re bound to hear if you’re taking on felting:

Raw fleece is what you call the wool when it’s right off the animal and unwashed (that means dirty and greasy). This is not something you can normally get, unless you buy directly from a sheep farm.

Scoured fleece has been washed to remove lanolin and dirt, but it still has the lock structure. I use it to fill pillows or for doll’s hair, for example.

Wool batts, wool batting or carded wool is very similar to quilt batting. It’s the result of removing the debris from the wool with a machine that breaks up the lock structure, and then going through the carding machine. The carder brushes and blends the fibers ...

Hi!

Hope you and your family are doing well.

We’re all being affected by COVID-19 in so many ways and feeling anxious about the situation (to say the least).

Now that so many of us are staying home and having a lot of free time on our hands, wet felting can be uplifting, fun and relaxing. If you’re starting out, I suggest you take a look around my site and check out all the available FREE resources. If you want to jump in and explore more complex projects, now is a great time to do that.

Because I’d like to offer you something special during this moment, I decided to have a 20% discount in all the items in my Etsy shop exclusively for subscribers. If you’re a subscriber, you’ll get the information via email.

The 20% discount will be applied at checkout and it’s valid until Easter Sunday, April 12^th.

There’s something else I’d like to talk to you about today. I wanted to tell you I’m working on a new site. Why a new site? There are several different reasons.

As you might have n...

Hi!

It’s been such a long time since I last taught a live workshop. I’m a teacher at heart, so interacting directly with my students and having that immediate feedback you get at a live event is something I absolutely love!

I’ll never forget the reaction of a young girl who attended one of my courses on hats and had never touched wet felting before. I was a bit worried that it could become difficult for her, since felting hats can be challenging. Getting the right thickness all over the piece and shaping a more sophisticated form can be tough, especially for someone who has never tried felting. But she told me she was used to trying new materials and it wouldn’t be a problem for her if she, for any reason, wasn’t able to complete the project. So, I agreed that she’d sign up for the workshop.

If you’ve already made 3D pieces, you know there’s a moment in which you take the resist out of the flat piece and start giving it a three-dimensional shape. As she did this, I could see her exp...

Hi!

Here’s the third part of my answer to your question:

“What are resists and how do you use them?”

If you haven’t watched parts I and II, go and check them out. You can find the links below.

SO WHAT ELSE SHOULD YOU CONSIDER WHEN DESIGNING A RESIST?

You probably already know that wool can actually shrink a lot when wet felted, right?

Like even 30 or 40%, depending on the wool type and how thick your layers are or how you lay the fibers.

So, when designing a resist, you have to plan for this shrinkage.

If you’re making a bag or any other object where the size doesn’t have to be very precise, you can make your resist and start felting.

But if you want to make a hat or a pair of shoes, then you want to get the RIGHT size, right?

In that case, start by making a sample with the wool you’ll be working with and lay it in the way and with the thickness you’re planning for your piece.

From this sample you can see how much the wool shrinks, so that you can design a resist for the exa...

Hi!

Today I’m here with the second part of my answer to your question:

“What are resists and how do you use them?”

If you haven’t watched part I, go and check it out. You can find the link below.

SO WHAT MATERIALS CAN WE USE FOR A RESIST?

One of the most important things when using a resist is the CHOICE OF MATERIALS.

It has to be something that doesn’t felt onto wool, otherwise it’ll remain stuck between the layers, instead of doing its job, which is to SEPARATE them.

It should also be flexible enough to work with.

The 3 main materials used are cardboard, thin plastic and floor underlayment.

CARDBOARD is not something I use, because we work with water, so you can only use it once. It’s also not very malleable, so it’s a bit hard to work with.

THIN PLASTIC is something I use sometimes. It’s malleable but it’s hard to feel through a thick piece of felt. So, I only use it when I’m felting thin pieces.

FLOOR UNDERLAYMENT is my favorite resist material. It’s thicker than plastic...

Hi!

Today I’m answering another one of your questions.

Now, I’ve done a couple of videos about resists, but I keep getting questions about them. Because this is such a big and important topic, I keep answering them.

Speaking of which, here’s the question for today:

“What are resists and how do you use them?”

Now, this question is very likely from someone who’s starting with wet felting and wanting to improve the technique. And this is in fact, one of the most important things to understand.

As I’ve mentioned before, I do have a couple of videos about resists, but I don’t think I explain what they are in any of them.

So, that’s what I’m going to do today.

SO, WHAT IS A RESIST?

By definition, a RESIST is anything you use between two pieces of wool to avoid that they felt with each other.

A resist is only used DURING the felting process and it’s removed after the process is complete. Or rather, before you start fulling.

You can have a resist:

• for the whole piece (like for a
...

Hi!

As you might know, I’ve been asking you to send me the biggest questions you have on wet felting. I’ve received a bunch of them and I’ll be working on the different topics in the next weeks.

Some of them are great for the free videos and I got suggestions for new courses as well. So, thank you again!

I’m going to start with the ones that are common problems to a lot of people. Today I have a great topic.

I don’t know who it’s from because it came from an anonymous survey. But it’s definitely a common one. And the question is

“How important is the thickness of the fiber layers when making something like mitts? Is it better to do thin or thick pieces?”

No matter if we’re talking about mitts, clothes, hats or bags, my answer to this question would ALWAYS be the same.

FIRST – YOU decide on how thick you want your piece to be.

This will depend on

a) the type of climate you’re making it for

b) how stiff or soft do you want your piece to be.

Let me give you an example, so that ...

Hi!

For those of you who are on my email list, I sent you an email with a link to a survey last week. It’s very short. Just one question.

I’ve been getting a lot of replies. So, first of all, thank you for your answers.

Now, you might be asking what’s the point of this. Well, as I said at the beginning of this year, I want to make a couple of changes to this whole project.

I created GTDW about 2 years ago and I’ve just been making videos and writing blog posts according to what I think might be useful and interesting to you. But, at the end of the day, I’m just guessing.

Now, I’d like to do more than just guess and the only way to do that is by asking you what you want.

So, if you haven’t answered yet, please take a look at the email I sent you last week.

And, if you’re not on my email list, subscribe now. You only have to fill in your name and email address.

Another way to answer my one question survey and let me know what you’d like to see more of, is to follow the link below...