If youâve been waiting for the registration to THE DODO HUB to open, Iâve got good news. You can now sign up here.Â
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WHO IS THE PROGRAM FOR?
Youâve been a felt maker for some years now, but âŚ
Is there anything more discussed in wet felting than how to get the shrinkage you want? I donât think so. And itâs kind of obvious, isnât it? I mean, if wool felts by shrinking, we need to know how much itâll shrink. Right?
The problem is so many factors influence shrinkage. So, it can all feel overwhelming, especially if you donât have much experience in wet felting yet.
But you wonât feel overwhelmed if you stick to a couple of principles (that are the same every time) and you do something you may be resisting: you make a sample đ
You may think thereâs no need to make one, because youâre trusting some myths that are common on the internet. Letâs have a look at a few of them.
Myth #1: If you use the same wool (breed), your shrinkage rate will always be the same.
Does an 18-micron Merino wool top shrink the same as a 21-micron Merino wool top? Does an 18-micron Merino wool top shrink the same as an 18-micron Merino wool batt, do you think? The answer to both questions is NO.
The s...
So you had a look at the program, and now youâre thinking âYes, one technique a month. But what do we really felt inside THE DODO HUB?â
I get that it may not be totally clear to you, so let me help you with that.
First, above there's a short video of some of the beautiful pieces made by the participants in the first months of THE DODO HUB to show you what youâll be working on.
I want you to feel supported and that youâre in the right place, no matter where you are on your felting journey. So, THE DODO HUB adapts to the students and not the other way around.
Let me show you how, based on the example of module #1, Geometric Patterns. Itâs planned like this:
You can approach this module (or any other module) any way you want:
When we start wet felting, there is so much to learn about the many techniques that fit under this wider umbrella, that this alone can be enough for felt makers to focus on, without ever taking a deep dive into the attributes of the fibers from different sheep breeds.
So, often itâs people who have sheep or who live in rural areas, who â early in the process â start looking at how to use the wool of local breeds in their felting, as a way to take advantage of whatâs available in their closest environment.
For those of us who live in cities, itâs impractical (or even unthinkable) to buy raw wool, clean it in the bathtub, and do all the processing in an apartment. So, we resort to buying processed wool from suppliers, and so are restricted to the available breeds.
Like me, you may very well be in this second group of felt makers. And, if you are â like me â you probably havenât spent much time looking at the incredible number of different wool types that are available throughout the w...
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 ...
Iâm working on a new class that is meant to help felt makers go all the way (smoothly) from total beginner to intermediate. If youâve recently started wet felting or youâve been felting for a while, but still feel like there are many gaps in your knowledge, this may be for you.
But Iâll need some time until I can offer it, since I havenât created it yet. Iâm working on the class outline for now. And Iâd 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: Iâm 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 ...
In 20 years of felt making I havenât (yet!) had any issues with moths. It may just have been luck or because of the way I store my wool. Itâs definitely not because I donât have tons of wool in my studio đ
Since I frequently get questions about how I store my wool, as well as how to prevent moth attacks, Iâve compiled what I know and what I could find from different sources to offer you information that hopefully can protect your stash from these pesky little fiber predators.
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A SHORT WORD ON THE LITTLE CREATURES
There are many types of moths, and most of them are harmless for wool. So, as most felt makers know, weâre talking about the so called âclothes mothsâ here.
Moths go through four life stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. But itâs only in the larvae stage that they feed on fiber.
Keratin is what theyâre after. This is a protein found in animal-based materials like wool, fur, hair, feathers, mohair, and even silk. If these materials are stained with food, perspiration, or...
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