[Nfb-krafters-korner] Felting

Tue May 19 19:17:01 UTC 2009

Sounds neet, but I gave away all my sweaters when I started going through the changes of life.

-----Original Message-----
From: nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Eileen Scrivani
Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2009 2:07 PM
To: List for blind crafters and artists
Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] Felting

Terry:

After you felt wool, and its' felted well, not just partially, the scales on the natural fibers cling to eachother and it becomes impossible to feel or distinguish a single strand of yarn from others.  Once felted, you can cut without the fabric unraveling.

Eileen

----- Original Message -----
From: "Powers, Terry (NIH/OD/DEAS) [E]" <powerst at dcpcepn.nci.nih.gov>
To: "'List for blind crafters and artists'" <nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2009 10:34 AM
Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] Felting

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