[Nfb-krafters-korner] Felting

[Henrietta Brewer]

That sounds like fun. I think I will hit the thrift store to see what 
i can buy to make a purse.

I did see on Tip Nut that people actually take old wool sweaters 
apart to reuse the yarn.  This seems easier. lol

HenriettaAt 10:32 AM 5/15/2009, you wrote:
>Valarie:
>
>If you want to try some felting without knitting or crocheting an 
>item yourself, look through your sweater draws for perhaps an old 
>store bought sweater that you no longer wear and that probably was 
>not very expensive. Make sure it is 100-percent wool so it will be 
>sure to shrink.  If you have something with colors or perhaps a 
>pretty stitch pattern like a cable pattern that can help to snazzy it up.
>
>Throw the sweater in your washing machine with about two pairs of 
>jeans so there will be something for the sweater to rub 
>against.  Set your washing machine to a normal cycle & very hot 
>water with cold water rinse.  Throw in an amount of standard washing 
>detergent, nothing that is meant for gentles, but of course, don't use bleach.
>
>If you want to prevent any fuzzy stuff from clogging up your 
>machine, you can place the sweater in a pillow case.
>
>After one go through, take the sweater out of the machine and look 
>at it, or in our case feel it.  Did it shrink?  Did it partially 
>shrink?  If shrinkage was only slight or not at all, throw it back 
>in and repeat the washing cycle.  You may have to wash it three or 
>more times.  It is imperative that you have things that are heavy 
>like jeans in with the sweater.  Friction is a part of the felting 
>cycle along with shocking the wool by having hot wash and a cold rinse.
>
>Also make sure your sweater is not "machine Washable" or it will not shrink.
>
>Once the fabric feels nice to you and you still have some stitch 
>definition, consider your felting finished. You can felt to much so 
>that the fabric becomes so dense & tight that you will not be able 
>to feel or see any pretty stitching that might have been on it prior 
>to felting.  How much to felt is your call.
>
>Once the sweater is felted, you can take a pair of scissors and cut 
>the thing apart to make yourself a hand bag or tote bag of some 
>type.  Most sweaters can be cut horizontally across from one under 
>arm to the other. The nice even part of the sweater body fits the 
>bill for the body of a hand bag or tote.  You will just need to sew 
>one long seam.  Before you sew it up look at the piece, perhaps any 
>ribbing that is on the bottom waist band would be better served  for 
>the top edge of your bag rather that the bottom seam edge of the 
>pag.  Look at the sleeves and yoke sections, and perhaps they can be 
>cut into sections to use as pockets or straps or applied 
>decorations.  Or you might be able to make a little makeup pouch or 
>bill-fold out of the left over parts.  You can get very creative 
>with it. Or, you can purchase suede straps or bottoms and sew them 
>onto your bag.
>
>Let me know if you try it.  Good luck.
>
>Eileen
>
>----- Original Message ----- From: "Valerie" <rosetta at adam.com.au>
>To: "'List for blind crafters and artists'" <nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org>
>Sent: Friday, May 15, 2009 6:11 AM
>Subject: [Nfb-krafters-korner] Felting
>
>
>>Thank you very much for the approximate shrinkage measurements for felting,
>>this sounds such an interesting craft to try, hope someday a class might be
>>possible to try out our skills. It's very cold here today, we have all the
>>winter garments out of storage now, time to be wearing the hats that Joyce
>>helped us with too. All the best. Valerie
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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Henrietta
~I wish you enough~