The Dodo Blog
Resources to help you perfect your layout
After you’ve learnt the basics of wet felting – how to make flat felt and how to make a simple shape with a resist – it’s tempting to think that all you need to learn next is which shape a resist must have or which technique to use for a particular project. I’d argue that, before you think (or even while you're thinking) about those aspects, the next thing to do is master the layout.
In fact, I can say with total certainty that the moment I understood this and started working on my layout, was the moment my felt massively improved. I know I run the risk of being annoying for insisting on this. But I would love to support you in becoming a better felt maker, so I accept that risk.
There are two ways you can work on your layout. You can either spend some time making samples or just go ahead and work on your technique while making a piece. I know most felt makers avoid sampling, but I still think it’s the best way to perfect your work, and save time...
New To Wet Felting? These Resources Are For You!
Have you just recently discovered wet felting, and don’t know where to start? I’ve put together a list of resources for you to help you know what to learn next.
START BY MASTERING THE BASIC WET FELTING SHAPES
When people approach me about learning to wet felt, they often tell me they’d like to make scarves and garments, so they’re particularly interested in nuno felting.
But to get to nuno felting and other more demanding techniques, you need to be confident with the basics first.
So, here are the simplest instructions for the 3 basic shapes, whether you would like to work with wool batts or with wool tops.
- Felting a cord with wool tops
- Felting a cord with wool batts
- Felting a ball with wool tops
- Felting a ball with wool batts
- Felting a sheet with wool tops
- Felting a sheet with wool batts
And here are a couple of additional tips that can help you perfect your technique:
Wet felting with wool batts
Today I’m going to talk about how to felt with wool batts. And I’m looking into a couple of questions in particular:
- Is there a direction to the fiber in wool batts?
- Do wool batts shrink as much as wool tops?
I know there are different opinions about the direction of the fiber in wool batts. So, I thought it would make sense to test it and see what happens.
While I’ve been working with batts for a very long time, I’ve always mixed them with tops in my work. So, I had never really looked into this in detail.
Adding to that, I often get questions about how to work with batts. That’s why I decided to make these samples and see how the wool behaves.
I hope you find them useful for your work. I’d also love to know if you agree with me or not.
So, feel free to comment or to drop me an email on this.
Reducing Effort In Wet Felting - Avoid Back Pain During The Layout
I’ve often been asked for tips on how to wet felt when you have health issues like back pain or arthritis.
Personally, I’ve also dealt with pain that was either caused or worsened by the strain I’ve put on my body due to wrong postures during wet felting.
It’s irrefutable that felting is a very physical activity that can be hard on your muscles and joints. But it’s also true that you can protect yourself by paying more attention to certain details when you’re working.
In today’s video, I go into how to keep a good posture during the layout phase. If you find this useful, stay tuned to part 2, where I go into my tips for the felting and fulling phase.
P.S.: If you’re a healthcare professional (and would like to help) or just have more tips to add, please send me an email with that information. I’ll make sure I add it to a future video, so that everybody can take advantage of that knowhow. Thank you!
The circular layout: why and how to use it
Are you having issues getting your wet felted bowl to have a perfectly round shape? Or maybe you’ve felted a flat round piece, but, after fulling, it doesn’t look like a circle anymore? Your layout may be the cause of this distortion.
Wet felting doesn’t have many rules, so it allows for different ways to get to the desired results.
But it does have a few. And understanding these is fundamental to get to the shapes you want:
- The direction of the fibers determines the way felt shrinks, and so its final shape.
- The direction of the fibers determines in which directions it stretches.
If you’re laying out fiber for a circular object – like a bowl, for example – you’d probably want the shrinkage to be the same in every direction, right? You’d also want it to stretch equally in all directions.
So, laying it out in the classic way wouldn’t give your felt these qualities. Instead – because it would produce a felt that...
