The Dodo Blog

I’ve often been asked for tips on how to wet felt when you have health issues like back pain or arthritis.

Personally, I’ve also dealt with pain that was either caused or worsened by the strain I’ve put on my body due to wrong postures during wet felting.

It’s irrefutable that felting is a very physical activity that can be hard on your muscles and joints. But it’s also true that you can protect yourself by paying more attention to certain details when you’re working.

In today’s video, I go into how to keep a good posture during the layout phase. If you find this useful, stay tuned to part 2, where I go into my tips for the felting and fulling phase.

P.S.: If you’re a healthcare professional (and would like to help) or just have more tips to add, please send me an email with that information. I’ll make sure I add it to a future video, so that everybody can take advantage of that knowhow. Thank you!

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.

WHAT ARE RESISTS?

By definition, a resist is anything you use between two pieces of wool to prevent that they felt with each other. In other words, you need to use a resist when you want to make a hollow object.

Only after the flat piece is created can you shape it into a 3D object. So, if you want to felt a 3D piece, your first step is to imagine how you will go from 2D to 3D.

The resist is only used during the felting process. When the wool starts shrinking, the resist starts curling up inside, and it must be removed. This is usually the moment when you initiate the fulling process.

You can have a resist:

• for the whole piece (like for a hat, bag, slippers) or
• for a part of the piece (like for a pocket or a surface design).

MATERIALS FOR RESISTS

One of the most important things when using a resist is the choice of materials.

It has to be something that doesn’t felt onto wool, otherwise it’ll attach to the layers, instead of doing its job, which is to separate them. I...

We know that the amount of shrinkage in wet felting depends on many variables. Among the most important are:

• The wool type: breed, microns, fiber length. Fine wool shrinks more than coarser wool.
• The number of wool layers: if they’re odd or even, how many you lay. Also, thin layers shrink more than thick ones.
• The layout method: chevron will shrink more than the traditional layout, for example.
• Decoration: if you add silk, viscose, fabric, or pre-felts.
• Fulling methods: which ones you use, how many times, in which direction, was it evenly fulled, was it fully fulled. Aggressive fulling methods cause more shrinkage than less aggressive ones, as well as more fiber migration.
• Even the water temperature and the way the wool is dyed can influence the way it shrinks.

So, the only way to know what your results will be is to make samples before beginning a project, unless you always work with the same wool type, so you get to know very well how it behaves.

After you’ve made your...

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.

When I first started wet felting, there where no YouTube videos and barely any books on the subject. I bought everything I could get my hands on and started experimenting. But most things on the market were very simple. So, for the most part, I learnt through trial and error.

One of the topics that nobody was going into in detail was the correct laying of the wool fibers. And, as I see it, that’s probably the most important thing you can learn about in wet felting. Sure, you do get felt no matter how well you lay your wool. But how good is your felt then?

This becomes more important if your piece needs a fair amount of shaping or if you’re making clothes, which need to adapt to your body.

So, what is the correct way to lay wool fibers?

First of all, wool for wet felting should be laid according to the shape of the piece. Let me use the example of a circular piece, like a beret. Would you lay your wool like this?

Well, you could. As I was saying, you will get a piece of felt in ...

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 – If you’re making a pre-felt, you don’t want it to be completely felted, because you might want to have it
...

A couple of weeks ago I got a sweet email from Jet van Grinsven, a felter from the Netherlands, thanking me for the inspiring blog and info, as well as asking me a question.

Jet is building a new home and wants to create a wall hanging, but isn’t sure if she should be using a stronger background as a base for the felted structure. Jet had been advised to use cheese cloth, but wasn’t certain if that was the best option. So, she wanted to know if I could give her some tips on that.

If making a felted wall hanging is something you’re thinking about, maybe you can take advantage of the tips I gave Jet, so here they are.

“You don't necessarily need to use a background as a base for your wall covering. It will depend a lot on what you're planning to felt. 

I'd say the first thing to think about is how thick you'll make the piece. For example, here is a photo of a wall decoration I made some time ago. It's very light, so it doesn't need any particular background because the piece isn...

One of the questions I'm asked most often in my live classes is "is this enough soap?"

Felters who aren't very experienced are often unsure about how much soap to apply to their wool fibers. But there are a couple of clues that can help you avoid drowning your project in foam. And that's what I'll go into today.

Before I get into that, I'd like to say that the best way to avoid getting your project too soapy is to add soap slowly and only add more when you notice it’s not enough.

This is why using soapy water is not my preferred method of adding soap to the wool. I like adding water, getting my hands soapy first and only then applying it to the fibers. This way I have more control over how much soap is going into the wool. If you use this method, the tips I have for you today make much more sense.

You’ll know you have the right amount of soap when:

1. The wool doesn't stick to your hands.

When you’re applying soap with the method I mentioned above, you’ll notice the fibers sti...

Hi!

Today I’m here with the Q&A Sessions, something I haven’t done for quite some time.

This is where I go through all sorts of questions you have about wet felting.

So, if you have something on your mind that you haven’t been able to solve yet, drop me a line and tell me all about it.

For that, just scroll down to the end of any page on this site. Then click on “Contact” and let me know what’s troubling you. Your question might be selected for the next Q&A video!

Ok, so today I have a question from Audrey, who writes:

“I’ve a question for you and it’s about rolling and nuno felting. Is it really necessary to roll while fulling?

I really like the contact with my piece and am quite happy to spend more time massaging away, particularly when I do not have wool covering all the fabric.

I can understand rolling being preferable for a more layered piece, or larger piece to give a more even result.  

Would love to hear your thoughts whenever you have a moment. 

Many thanks again!...