Rescuing sad, yucky fibers -- Part 2

Here's a look at the next step in the felting process--wet felting.  I prefer to use Kiss My Face Olive Oil soap and warm water. The tray I use is like a large baking sheet, but I think it came from an auto parts store. The back textured mat is just a section of plastic no-slip flooring material from my friendly neighborhood hardware store. It's striped texture is just enough to effectively felt the fibers...with plenty of rubbing and elbow grease.

Here you can see the the fibers are starting to meld together and the batt is getting denser. But it's not done yet!

photo by Alyssa Kail

Now it's done! Amazingly, it shrunk down to about 1/3 of it's original size.

photo by Alyssa Kail

So, I rinsed it and hung it up to dry.  It currently resembles a misshapen animal pelt, and I'm not sure what I'll make with it at this point, but I'll be sure to post the finished product.

Rescuing sad, yucky fibers. Step 1

photo by Alyssa Kail

Exhibit A: a mound of mangled, sad, yucky fiber. Stored improperly, dirty, and all mashed together, this fiber mass is about as appealing as dryer lint. But I see potential! Hard to believe, but true.

photo by Alyssa Kail

The first step is to pick and card. Literally, pick out the debris of grasses and other organic matter and then card (comb) the fibers into soft tufts.




I then laid out the tufts into a rectangular shape creating 3 batts with 4-5 layers of roving.  I lightly needle felted each of the batts, but will rely mostly on the wet felting process, which is the next step.

photos by Alyssa Kail

Stay tuned for Rescuing sad, yucky fibers - Step 2, wet felting!