[Nfb-krafters-korner] Felting

Tue May 19 14:34:07 UTC 2009

Eileen;
You say you can cut it after shrinking it, what prevents it from raveling.  

Terry

-----Original Message-----
From: nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Eileen Scrivani
Sent: Saturday, May 16, 2009 8:57 AM
To: List for blind crafters and artists
Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] Felting

Henrietta:

Even an old Gap sweater that is wool might fit the bill.  Recently prices have gone up (on everything) but a few years back you could usually find some sweaters on sale from Gap that ranged from $24-40 and some, not all, Gap sweaters use wool that will felt.  I'm not saying to go out and buy a new sweater just to shrink it, but if it wasn't terribly expensive to begin with and it's seen better days, you might have something in the closet to experiment with.  I suppose even if you have kids that out-grow clothing, you could sample with a child's size sweater just to play around with.

The feel of felted things will vary from item to item depending on the type of wool, the weight of the wool and how loose or dense the original knitted fabric was.  If you have wool coats or scarves that were bought, you might already own something that was felted.  Years ago, it use to be called "boiled wool," and it is the exact same thing as felted.

Eileen

----- Original Message -----
From: "Henrietta Brewer" <gary.brewer at comcast.net>
To: "List for blind crafters and artists" <nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, May 15, 2009 11:06 PM
Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] Felting

> 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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>>
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>
> Henrietta
> ~I wish you enough~
>
>
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