The Dodo Blog

If you were among the people who read last week’s post about the book “Schafwolle verarbeiten” and thought: “Ya, looks great, Vanda. But what will I do with a book in German?”, I’ve got you covered.

I’ve just received another book on wool I had ordered recently. This time in English. And I can assure you – if you’re keen on learning more about animal fibers – it’s a great investment as well.

“The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook” is authored by Deborah Robson & Carol Ekarius, and it first came out in 2011.

It’s not a felting book per se. Rather, it completely focuses on fiber and actually covers 200+ animals.

Here’s its description for more detail:

“This one-of-a-kind photographic encyclopedia features more than 200 animals and the fibers they produce. It covers almost every sheep breed in the world from the longwool breeds of the United Kingdom to the Tasmanian merino, the Navajo churro, the northern European Faroese, and dozens and dozens more. It also includes goats, camelids (such ...

I love experimenting, but I must admit that in one area of wet felting I’ve been pretty conservative. In over 20 years of felt making, I have only worked with wool from 2 breeds: Merino and Bergschaf.

So, both for my own growth, as well as to help my students with their questions, I’ve been having this feeling that it’s time to explore other wool types.

But, because – like so many other felt makers – I tend to be a wool collector 😊, I thought this time it would make sense to read about the topic and see which breeds may eventually be interesting, before I start buying more fiber.

Some time ago, I came across images of a new book that covers the topic. I finally decided to order it, and I’m so happy I did. This book really exceeded my expectations. It’s far better and more complete than I thought it would be.

The book I’m talking about is “Schafwolle verarbeiten: Schafrassen, Wollkunde, Filzen, Spinnen“, by the authors Margit Röhm, Katrin Sonnemann and Ulrike Claβen-Büttner. It was ...

The enrollment for THE DODO HUB is open until Aug. 30th. But what's inside THE DODO HUB?

We start with a clear path, so that you know the exact steps to take next. This way you can advance in your felting journey without overwhelm. The program is designed to help you build confidence and create your own pieces step-by-step.

Then, it’s divided into 3 big sections:

Resources – General resources for felting like types of equipment, how to organize your workspace, how to care for wool and felt, felting history, and recommended books. You have access to these resources as soon as you sign up for the program.

Short trainings – A library with trainings about specific topics like layout and fulling methods, how to achieve super fine and flexible felt, prefelts, the shrinkage rate, working with fibers other than wool, how to create your own style, color for wet felting, how to price your work, and so much more. This area too is accessible to you straight after signing up.

Masterclasses ...

If you’ve been waiting to enroll in THE DODO HUB, I’ve got good news. It’s open and you can sign up as of now!

And, if you happen to be new to the Dodo world, and you’re not sure what THE DODO HUB is, you can check all the details here.

But, before you check the details, let me tell you who THE DODO HUB is for.

Let’s say you’ve been a felt maker for some years now, but …

• you feel like you’ve reached a plateau, and you don’t know how to develop your work further.
• you want to learn new techniques, and not necessarily take a class to make a particular piece.
• you'd love to have your own signature style, but you secretly think you’re not creative enough.
• you admire other felt makers, but you feel like they know some secret that you don’t, so you don’t believe you could ever achieve such amazing results.
• you don’t feel confident enough to show, gift or sell your work because you think some details could look more professional; your work doesn’t meet your expectations, but you ...

You may know that for many years I’ve had a list of suppliers for wool and wet felting equipment that I offer in my courses and as a download on my website. It’s based on my own experience buying wool online, as well as on recommendations from students and followers.

Whether new felt makers email me with the questions or they post them in online forums, I’ve often realized that for many it isn’t clear where to buy felting supplies. So, I created this free guide with two goals: 1) to help you decide among the available suppliers, and 2) to give you a list of recommended suppliers as close as possible to where you live.

But things change rapidly, and I hadn’t updated it for quite some time. When someone emailed me to tell me that a couple of businesses had closed, I thought it was about time I reviewed it and published an updated version.

I asked for the feedback of people who read my newsletter and had an incredible number of responses. As a result, the supplier list has now grown co...

This week I’m answering the question: “How do I make thin felt from 2 layers of wool without getting holes in my felt?”

The way I see it, there may be a couple of different reasons you’re getting holes in your fine felt:

• Your layout is uneven,
• You’re doing your layout on bubble wrap,
• Or you’re using felting/fulling methods that are too aggressive.

When you’re getting an uneven layout, have a look at:

• The quality of your wool,
• The way you’re drafting your fiber,
• And if you happen to have gaps in your layout.

If all of these 3 factors are ok, your problem may be that you’ve done your layout on bubble wrap. Especially if the bubble wrap has very big and tough bubbles, it can create holes or, at least, marks on a thin felt. So, I recommend laying out the wool on a plastic film or piece of fabric.

And, finally, make sure you’re using gentle felting and fulling methods, like the ones I suggest in the video.

If holes in your fine felt have been an issue for you in the past,...

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 answer the questions! To show you my appreciation for ...

Today we’re looking at what I see as the last two pieces of the pricing puzzle. If you haven’t read the first part of this series, I recommend you do so, since today’s blog post builds on the first one.

But, before we start, I’d like to address the questions I got from last week’s article. They mainly focused on how to account for certain costs. Now, I can’t go into individual cases. Firstly, because I don’t know your business. Even if you’re a felt maker, every business is different.

And it’s also a fact that different countries have different laws. So, if you feel like you can’t do this alone, I recommend you do some research, talk to other people in your area or even consult with an accountant. Getting an education on these matters is part of being in business. And so is getting a trustworthy accountant. At the beginning, they can advise you on these things, and slowly take new roles as your business grows.

But let’s get back to this week’s topic. Knowing how to calculate the pri...

You probably know me as a wet felting teacher, because I haven’t sold my work for a long time. But, for years, I mainly felted and offered my pieces in markets, on Etsy and in shops specializing in handmade items.

Lately, I’ve been considering going back to creating work to sell. And this has made me look at my pricing strategy again.

How to price your art or your handmade work is something that’s widely discussed not only among felt makers, but artists in general. It stirs up emotions and can sometimes even become controversial. The internet is full of different ideas, but there doesn't seem to be much consensus.

Now, it’s not that I think I have the perfect solution for this. And I have yet to test my pricing ideas. But many years have passed, and I’ve gained a lot more experience, spoken to many people and read a lot on the subject. So, fortunately, I now see this topic in a different light.

Since I know that many of my students and people who read my blog are also selling or pl...

Have you noticed the BABY classes are back?

Many of you have been asking to have the baby booties class separately. You’ve also showed interest in having it available “on demand”, which is understandable, since babies grow fast 😊

So, I’ve listened to your requests and created two separate classes: “Comfy Baby Booties & Tiny Baby Mittens” and “Sweet Baby Jacket & Daisy baby Hat”. They’re already available and can be purchased at any time.

They’re now in a DIY version, and the videos and PDFs are downloadable. Just click on the images below to be taken to the course information.

Whether you’re planning to enroll in the class or not, here’s some information that may be useful for you.

As I reopened the baby courses to enrolment, it was brought to my attention that some of the designs are not compliant with the safety standards of many countries. I was very grateful for these contacts, since this is something I was previously unaware of.

I decided to do some internet research to un...