The Dodo Blog

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...

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...

A good wool layout is essential for many reasons. It’ll give your work stability, and it’ll guarantee your felt is even. It’s also the secret to a fine drapable piece with a beautiful finishing.

Here’s a video showing you exactly how to create the perfect layout. If you don’t feel confident with this part of felting yet, why not spend some time just making samples to practice.

You don’t have to waste any wool with this exercise. You could just pre-felt the samples and use these pieces of pre-felt for future projects.

I’m really excited about this week’s topic because I find there aren’t many wet felters exploring it. And that’s the usage of batts for wet felting.

Batts are more commonly used in needle felting, but they’re definetely worth exploring in wet felting too.

When applied right, batts can:

• save you so much time and effort, since the layout is a lot less laborious than it is for tops
• help you achieve a more even layout

Also, if you're open to wet felting with batts as well as tops, you'll have a wider choice in colors, since often suppliers have a different color palett for batts and tops. And, in my experience, they produce a felt that is a bit different from the one made with tops: less shiny but smoother.

These are 3 new lessons about 3 different ways to lay wool batts, when to use them, as well as the advantages of working with them.

So, if this is something that sparks interest for you, you can access this week’s lessons by signing up for the ...

Yes! That's right. I've been working on a free felting membership and it's now available for you to enjoy :)

You see, I’ve been blogging and vlogging about wet felting for over a decade. And what I’ve noticed is that in those formats, it’s easy to lose track of what I’ve already covered since the information is scattered everywhere.

I also wanted a place where you could ask me questions in a way that other felters could also benefit from the answers. So, after considering the pros and cons of the different platforms, I decided this would be the best way to have everything under the same roof.

It's called The Dodo Sandbox because it's a place for you to play, experiment and grow your felting skills :)

The membership area is divided into the “core training” and different chapters or modules, each dedicated to a different topic. When you enter the members’ area, that’s exactly what you see.

Of course, I’ll be creating new...

After finally relaxing from the experience of confinement and COVID, I returned to work at the beginning of September. My 2 weeks break took me to the Camino de Santiago - the Camino Frances - where I was surrounded by Nature and quiet.

Maybe that's what made me want to start felting flowers again :) So, I picked up some of my short video workshops and did a total makeover, converting them into a NEW flower jewelry and hair accessories course.

I had lots of fun exploring shape and color, and I created very simple, as well as more sophisticated flowers.

If you find this an interesting topic, I invite you to take a look at the class details. Registration opens tomorrow, September 25th. The course starts on October 2nd and has the duration of 2 weeks.

Feel free to respond to this email if you have any questions.

Talk soon!

If you're following my Instagram account, you know that I've been sharing photos of my new baby items for some time :)

The idea of creating more felted pieces for kids has been on my mind for long. I just think it's the perfect medium for babies: soft wool and silk, natural non-toxic fibers, environmentally friendly materials, washable and long lasting products. Just perfect!

In the past I've created workshops on baby hats, play food and - one of my best sellers - baby booties. I wanted to expand this collection with more complex pieces that could also allow me to work with more advanced felting techniques. And that's what I've been preparing for the last couple of months: an online course on how to wet felt your baby's booties and jackets.

This is a 3-week, step-by-step video course, that walks you through all you need to know to felt your baby's booties and jackets in 3 different sizes, 3 design variations and 3 felting techniques. It includes:

• Booties' downloadable pattern in 3...

I often get questions about felting in the comment section of my YouTube channel. Yesterday, one came up that I thought deserved a longer answer. Since it’s a frequently asked question, it made sense to me to write a blog post on the topic.

Here’s what Kathleen McKinney wanted to know: “How do you know if you’ve felted and fulled enough? How do you know when an item is finished?”

As it’s often the case in wet felting, I have to start by saying that it depends on what you’re making.

The general answer would be “do the pinch test”. If you pinch the surface of your felt and the fibers don’t lift any more, that means your felt is ready (see video).

But there’s more to it than that, so let’s go into more details for different items:

• Felted ball – If you’re felting a ball, I recommend you do the “bounce test” to make sure it’s ready. More on that in this blog post.
• Pre-felt...

There are thousands of ways you can decorate a wet felted project. Some just involve wool, others can include silk or other fabrics, as you know. This is then called Nuno felting. But today I bring you a sample that contains wool, silk and something else.

I wanted to show you an example of how you can use a transparent piece of silk to hold any type of synthetic material, that wouldn’t otherwise attach to wool. In this case, I’ll be using a pre-felt and a piece of white silk chiffon with the same size as the pre-felt. Alternatively, you can lay merino wool tops or batts, and use light gauze instead of silk.

TIP # 1 – USE LIGHT GAUZE INSTEAD OF SILK TO MAKE YOUR EXPERIMENTS CHEAPER

I’m also using circles of a synthetic golden fabric (that doesn’t attach to wool), but you can choose countless other materials like small beads or sequins, for example.

If you’re making a sample, please remember to measure the size of the wool now and after shrinkage.

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...