Felt It
I found some pictures of the skirt that I made when we learned how to make felt. I decided to refresh my memory and did a little research online. It’s all coming back now. I included some pictures that I found so you can have a visual of the process.
Felt is made from layers of wool that have been compressed through heat and friction.
It started with wool fibers. The wool had already been dyed and there were gorgeous colors to choose from.
First, you put out the wool fibers in short sections and layer them on a flat surface. We just used a large piece of muslin. The felt will shrink as the fibers bond together so you always make it bigger than you want.
You can add details and design a layout. They are sooo many things you can do with it!
The felt is then coated with soap and hot water. We used a wide dowel rod on top of the felt, with the fabric on the bottom. We you roll up the felt and continue to roll it back and forth to create friction so the fibers will bond. After a few minutes unroll the felt and rotate the fabric, add soap and water and roll it back up again. This ensures that everything is bonding evenly. These steps are preformed until you are comfortable with the thickness and strength of the fabric.
Then, my favorite part! You rinse the felt in cold water, then roll it up in a piece of muslin, twist the ends and fold it in half... Take the ends and slam it on the table. You continue this until the excess water is removed.
The wool fibers have now been bonded and created a piece of felt fabric!
Here are some pictures of the skirts that our class made using felt and taffeta.
The last photo is my skirt. Looking back, I would have done something completely different! This was, however, one of my favorite things learned in Italy!
Ciao!