I donât use stiffeners often. But sometimes they can be useful, especially for sculptural wet felting. The problem with stiffeners is finding one that doesnât make your work very hard, and still lets your felt look natural.
As in many other aspects of felt making, there are different opinions about this. Mine is that using a stiffener should never mean having your work look like plastic, and the stiffener itself should be as natural as possible.
Iâve researched this topic over the years, looking at information from milliners, as well as at solutions from crafters to harden textiles. But I have to say the suggestions I found never quite fit what I was looking for. Thereâs much online about sugar water or using starches made of corn or wheat flower, as well as several very chemical products used by milliners.
The first idea that made sense to me was a suggestion from a fellow felt maker, who recommended Arabic gum. My research quickly showed me it wasnât an expensive product. So, I de...
As you know, garments are among the most difficult items to felt. Correctly calculating the shrinkage rate for such big pieces and guaranteeing the clothes will fit the wearer arenât easy tasks and require precise work.
So, every felt maker realizes it takes a lot of expertise (and Iâd even say some bravery đ) to take on such a complex project.
Nevertheless, itâs tempting to want to try. Even if you donât intend to felt garments professionally, I bet at some time or another youâve thought about making a piece of clothing you could proudly wear. Am I right?
For the reasons Iâve mentioned and because I donât have enough room at home, until now Iâve only felted some simple sweaters designed from knit ones I already owned.
But, with Winter about to arrive, Iâve been thinking about how much Iâd like to make my own wet felted jacket.
So, I decided to finally order a book thatâs been on my âto buy listâ for long. And Iâm glad I did because itâs probably the best book Iâve ever seen abo...
You may have seen the images of my anise pod and have been curious about how the shape is created. If thatâs the case, I have good news. The class is available again!
About one year ago I opened this course for registration for the first time.
As you may know, I initially created it as part of the lessons on book resists in the THE DODO HUB annual program. But the particular shape of the piece caused curiosity, so I decided to open it up for non-members of TDH as well.
The registration is open until Friday (October 4th).
Youâll not only be learning how to wet felt this beautiful seed pod, but youâll also learn to design a book resist for your own project.
If it sounds interesting to you, but you have questions that arenât covered on the course page, send me an email and let me know how I can help.
Have you ever felted a vessel, a bag or another 3D item and found that you couldnât get rid of the seams on the sides? Did you wonder why it happened? Did you think that those seams could have been prevented by filling the piece with a balloon or any other object?
If thatâs the case, know that the issues started way before the final shaping and drying phase. And so, no filling the piece in the end would have made it flat.
Today I bring you 7 tips that can help!
Once you have those pesky side ridges on your 3D felt, itâs very difficult to get rid of them. Sure, rubbing the seam area can help, but the problem happens in the layout phase, as well as the initial phase of the felting process. So, rubbing wonât completely solve the problem. Letâs have a look at was does help.
Â
IN THE LAYOUT PHASE
There are two things to watch for during the layout phase:
Â
1. The layout on the edge
From my point of view, there are 2 ways you can do the layout on the edges.
If you know you lay ou...
If you were among the people who read last weekâs post about the book âSchafwolle verarbeitenâ and thought: âYa, looks great, Vanda. But what will I do with a book in German?â, Iâve got you covered.
Iâve just received another book on wool I had ordered recently. This time in English. And I can assure you â if youâre keen on learning more about animal fibers â itâs a great investment as well.
âThe Fleece & Fiber Sourcebookâ is authored by Deborah Robson & Carol Ekarius, and it first came out in 2011.
Itâs not a felting book per se. Rather, it completely focuses on fiber and actually covers 200+ animals.
Hereâs its description for more detail:
âThis one-of-a-kind photographic encyclopedia features more than 200 animals and the fibers they produce. It covers almost every sheep breed in the world from the longwool breeds of the United Kingdom to the Tasmanian merino, the Navajo churro, the northern European Faroese, and dozens and dozens more. It also includes goats, camelids (such ...
I love experimenting, but I must admit that in one area of wet felting Iâve been pretty conservative. In over 20 years of felt making, I have only worked with wool from 2 breeds: Merino and Bergschaf.
So, both for my own growth, as well as to help my students with their questions, Iâve been having this feeling that itâs time to explore other wool types.
But, because â like so many other felt makers â I tend to be a wool collector đ, I thought this time it would make sense to read about the topic and see which breeds may eventually be interesting, before I start buying more fiber.
Some time ago, I came across images of a new book that covers the topic. I finally decided to order it, and Iâm so happy I did. This book really exceeded my expectations. Itâs far better and more complete than I thought it would be.
The book Iâm talking about is âSchafwolle verarbeiten: Schafrassen, Wollkunde, Filzen, Spinnenâ, by the authors Margit RĂśhm, Katrin Sonnemann and Ulrike Claβen-BĂźttner. It was ...
The enrollment for THE DODO HUB is open until Aug. 30th. But what's inside THE DODO HUB?
We start with a clear path, so that you know the exact steps to take next. This way you can advance in your felting journey without overwhelm. The program is designed to help you build confidence and create your own pieces step-by-step.
Then, itâs divided into 3 big sections:
Resources â General resources for felting like types of equipment, how to organize your workspace, how to care for wool and felt, felting history, and recommended books. You have access to these resources as soon as you sign up for the program.
Short trainings â A library with trainings about specific topics like layout and fulling methods, how to achieve super fine and flexible felt, prefelts, the shrinkage rate, working with fibers other than wool, how to create your own style, color for wet felting, how to price your work, and so much more. This area too is accessible to you straight after signing up.
Masterclasses ...
If youâve been waiting to enroll in THE DODO HUB, Iâve got good news. Itâs open and you can sign up as of now!
And, if you happen to be new to the Dodo world, and youâre not sure what THE DODO HUB is, you can check all the details here.
But, before you check the details, let me tell you who THE DODO HUB is for.
Â
Letâs say youâve been a felt maker for some years now, but âŚ
You may know that for many years Iâve had a list of suppliers for wool and wet felting equipment that I offer in my courses and as a download on my website. Itâs based on my own experience buying wool online, as well as on recommendations from students and followers.
Whether new felt makers email me with the questions or they post them in online forums, Iâve often realized that for many it isnât clear where to buy felting supplies. So, I created this free guide with two goals: 1) to help you decide among the available suppliers, and 2) to give you a list of recommended suppliers as close as possible to where you live.
But things change rapidly, and I hadnât updated it for quite some time. When someone emailed me to tell me that a couple of businesses had closed, I thought it was about time I reviewed it and published an updated version.
I asked for the feedback of people who read my newsletter and had an incredible number of responses. As a result, the supplier list has now grown co...
This week Iâm answering the question: âHow do I make thin felt from 2 layers of wool without getting holes in my felt?â
The way I see it, there may be a couple of different reasons youâre getting holes in your fine felt:
When youâre getting an uneven layout, have a look at:
If all of these 3 factors are ok, your problem may be that youâve 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 youâre 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,...
50% Complete
And let you know when there's a new blog post, tutorial or masterclass available.
Don't worry, I hate SPAM and promise to keep your email address safe.