Felt Making

It's a been a couple of weeks as I haven't had an awful lot to blog about of late, but that doesn't mean I haven't been crafting busily! I have finally completed the tank top for Martyn's birthday, but I'm not posting pics until he has received it. He's not seen the finished article yet so there will be a tiny element of mystery to it. I've not unsurprisingly been unable to be entirely covert as most of it has been knitted whilst sat next to him on the sofa. I've now moved on to making a couple of amigurami toys for birthdays that are coming up.

I know it's early, but when you are planning on making a lot of things for Christmas, you unfortunately have to start thinking about it and preparing for months in advance. You may have noticed that there are a great number of felt flower brooches/corsages in the shops at the moment. I have been admiring them and have noted some female family members doing the same, but I never want to buy them as they would be so easy to make. A lot of them are also quite boring, and in typical style I have tried to develop the idea to make something a bit more original. As a child I had a great time making felt with Mum, and this has been a good excuse to have another go.

You don't need any special equipment, and the raw materials are not too costly. First off you need to buy some carded dyed wool called 'tops'. I bought mine from our local art/craft shop in town.

This will make up the main body of the felt. You can add other bits to give a bit of texture. I used some waste wool yarn, and also some of this uncarded, dyed wool:

Now you will need some bubble wrap, at least twice the size of the felt you wish to make, soap flakes, very hot water and a rolling pin. I made the felt in the bath but watch your back! Firstly, lay the teased out tops in layers on the bubble wrap, bubbles upwards. You're aiming for a fairly even layer each time, and should alternate layers going up-down and left-right to give the finished felt strength. This process takes a bit of trial and error, but I started with 5 layers. Between the layers, I arranged the waste yarn and pieces of uncarded wool. You then sprinkle the wool with soap flakes and sprinkle with hot water, the hotter the better, but not too hot to burn your hands! Gently press the layers together until they are soaked through. Fold the bubble wrap in two, with the bubbles inwards and soon-to-be felt in between. You then rub the whole thing vigorously with the rolling pin for at least 15 minutes. Keep sprinkling more hot water on the felt as you go to keep it as hot as possible. When you are happy the felt has properly bonded, rinse thoroughly and squeeze the excess water out. Dry flat.

I made my felt with the finished flower idea in mind, hence I have 3 roughly circular areas of pattern within my piece of purple felt. I plan to machine embroider the felt with metallic thread to give it extra stability and interest before cutting the pieces out. I'll keep ou updated - I'm aware it doesn't look like much now but I'm optimistic about the finished article.

I have just come back from re-visiting the Vintage Market at Bridport, and was pleased to find this late 50's/early 60's style clock.

It goes perfectly in my recently revamped small but perfectly formed kitchen:

This week I'll hopefully joining the ladies in Weymouth for a 'Stitch and Bitch' meeting on Tuesday. Should be fun! Now... which project to start next?!