The Dodo Blog
An original gift for someone who loves wet felting
Are you looking for an original gift for someone who loves wet felting?
Look no further! Now, you can also purchase ANY of these classes as a gift for someone you love.
How does this work?
1. Click the links below to go to each course page.
2. Click the BUY NOW button to be taken to the checkout page.
3. On the checkout page, select SEND AS A GIFT.
4. This will open up a gift menu, where you’ll enter the EMAIL ADDRESS of the person you’re sending this present to. You can also add a GIFT MESSAGE if you’d like, as well as SCHEDULE THE GIFT DELIVERY.
5. Then fill out the checkout form with your information and payment details and complete the purchase.
What will your gift recipient see?
6. Once the gift has been delivered to the recipient's email inbox, they must click the email and accept the gift. Once the gift has been accepted, they will be prompted to create a...
Special offer for 4 of my most requested classes
When I created THE DODO HUB, my year-long program, in 2023, many felt makers said that one year was too long for them. But they were interested in some of the topics covered in the program.
So, to give everyone the chance to participate, I started offering some of the classes separately. You’d get access to the class materials for 3 months and have a private Facebook group where you could ask questions and share photos of your work.
But many people aren’t on FB anymore and, to tell you the truth, I’m not happy with FB either. So, I’ve spent some time creating a better solution. And that’s what I have for you today. Plus, I’m offering it to you for a special price right now.
The registration for 4 classes is open as of today.
And, from now on, you get life-time access. So, you don’t have to worry if you can’t go through the materials in the next couple of months. You can take the classes whenever you want.
You also don’t have...
The Star Anise Seed Pod class is back!
You may have seen the images of my anise pod and have been curious about how the shape is created. If that’s the case, I have good news. The class is available again!
About one year ago I opened this course for registration for the first time.
As you may know, I initially created it as part of the lessons on book resists in the THE DODO HUB annual program. But the particular shape of the piece caused curiosity, so I decided to open it up for non-members of TDH as well.
The registration is open until Friday (October 4th).
You’ll not only be learning how to wet felt this beautiful seed pod, but you’ll also learn to design a book resist for your own project.
If it sounds interesting to you, but you have questions that aren’t covered on the course page, send me an email and let me know how I can help.
Participate in the creation of the class materials and get 20% off the 1st edition
I’m working on a new class that is meant to help felt makers go all the way (smoothly) from total beginner to intermediate. If you’ve recently started wet felting or you’ve been felting for a while, but still feel like there are many gaps in your knowledge, this may be for you.
But I’ll need some time until I can offer it, since I haven’t created it yet. I’m working on the class outline for now. And I’d like to invite you to participate in the creation of the class materials. Just click here or on the image below to access the list of topics. Please let me know which ones are important to you and what you think may still be missing.
Just a last note: I’m considering an intermediate felter, someone who knows all the fundamentals, and is able to confidently felt on a resist, knows how to add fiber, fabric and other materials for embellishment and texture. All this while achieving high quality felt.
Thank you for taking a moment to...
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:
How To Reduce Plastic In Wet Felting
Do you ever have moments of taking a glimpse at your felting table and thinking “OMG, look at all this plastic”? It’s happened to me often, so I’ve been trying to substitute it for other materials whenever I can. And I’ve also been thinking about writing a couple of tips for the felt makers who are interested in reducing plastic, but don’t know what to use instead.
I find fighting plastic usage extremely difficult. Plastic is everywhere, and it’s so ingrained in our daily habits too. But I feel like if I’m conscious about it, there’s at least a way to avoid some of it.
Anyway, after ordering a couple of issues of the German felting magazine FilzFun, I was very excited when I saw an article about this exact topic in one of them, intitled “Filzen ohne Plastik” (Felting without Plastic). It was written by felt maker Corinna Nitschmann and I find it has a lot of great ideas, some of which I had never thought about. So,...
How to create a pattern archive
In the last couple of weeks, we’ve been looking at the topic of resists. But the focus was more on what you need to know at the beginning of your wet felting journey.
If, instead, you’re a more seasoned felt maker, you might be facing other issues, like what to do with the piles of resists and paper templates you collect along the years.
As you need more resists for your projects, you’ll start collecting them in all shapes and sizes. And, most probably, what’ll happen after a while is that you no longer know what some of them were for. At least, that’s what’s happened to me
To avoid this, I recommend you create a pattern archive. This is what I’ve started doing some time ago, after things became really chaotic.
I now have a system that works really well. So, if you want to give it a try, here are my tips on how to organize your resists and patterns.
Create 3 templates:
- The original pattern drawn on paper. On this one you write:...
Don't cut your felt. Here's what to do instead.
Did you learn to felt 3D objects by laying out the wool around the whole resist? I did. And so did most felt makers. And it’s probably the easiest method to follow when you’re starting out and still don’t feel confident enough to try a more complex layout method. It works perfectly for round vessels for example.
But here’s an issue that showed up for me when I was only working with “closed” felt pieces: how do I add handles to a bag when I have a closed felt shape? That was a tricky one to solve…
This was the moment I decided it was time to try felting around a resist without closing the felt. And that’s when I finally found the solution to adding perfect handles to my bags!
But, in this process, I discovered something else. I found out that the edges of my felt looked waaaay better than when I had to cut them and heal the cuts.
How many times have you cut your felt, tried to heal the cut, and one (or more) of these things happened?...
How to felt with resists? How to avoid ridges on the resist edge? When do you remove the resist?
The video above goes into the following details:
How to felt with resists
When you felt with a resist, you need to lay out the wool on both sides to cover the resist completely. The wool layers need to then go beyond the resist edge, so that some of the wool can be turned over to the other side. This is exactly what allows you to create a seamless object in wet felting.
How to avoid ridges on the resist edge
To avoid having ridges on the resist edge, you need to start working on the “seam area” immediately after the layout. You must also keep your eye on this part of the felt during the whole felting process.
When do you remove the resist?
When the wool is pre-felted, and you feel the resist is already too tight or it's even curling inside the felt, it's time to cut your opening.
Just make sure that the wool is solid enough to be cut. And remember not to cut the opening too big, since holes are the only thing that becomes bigger as you felt.
