Wednesday 3 November 2010

Cobweb felt photo tutorial

So here we go again!!! This time I want to give you a beginners eye view of how to make a cobweb felt scarf from wool fleece. I have never been one for doing things completely by the book, so I read, I absorb then ultimately I do it how I want to.

You will need the things shown in the photo below.

A spray bottle filled with soapy water ( you can use washing detergent, hand soap etc)
2xlong length of bubble wrap
wool fleece
wool yarn


Lay out your underlay of bubble wrap on your table bubble side up. Begin to tear off very wispy bits of wool fleece and lay them directly onto the bubble wrap. Many books will tell you to use a netting or calico or something but I find it works perfectly well straight onto the bubbles.



As you can see in the photo above after you have laid down your first wispy layer of fleece it's good to run two or more lengths of wool yarn down the entire length of the scarf and intermittently across too to give you scarf a little structure. Don't worry too much about the fleece properly overlapping like in a classic felt project, the gaps and holes just add to the scarfs character.



After laying out your yarn you will need to trap it in, this is really important if you are using a yarn that is not 100% wool. So continue to layer wispy bits of fleece over the yarn and the rest of the scarf too.

When you are happy with the lay out of your scarf spray it all over with your soapy water, be careful not to drown it! Then cover with your 2nd length of bubble wrap.



Like in other felt projects pressure and friction are key so spray the bubble wrap with soapy water to make it slippery then start a rubbing! Up and down and up and down, turn the whole lot over and rub some more. Do a roll or two, roll the bubble wrap up tightly and roll like a rolling pin for a minute or so. Then flatten it out again and peel back a corner of the plastic to see what's going on.



Dont be afraid to touch it, it it super thin and still very delicate at this stage, so cover her up and carry on rubbing and rolling and spraying. You don't want your scarf to be sopping wet but not dry either.



I like to finish off my projects by hand be it booties, bags or scarves. I like to pick it up and rub it between my palms that way I can check it over to see if there are any areas ( the edges especially ) that need any extra attention.

When you are happy that it has felted well and it has shrunk the way you wanted it to, put it in the sink with boiling water for a few minutes. Be careful not to scold yourself! Wring it out and rinse again in warm water or cold water no matter. Wring it out then lay out to dry.




So this is the finished article, I hope you like it and liked the tutorial, I like to put a beginners spin on things to let people know that you don't have to be afraid of what looks like a complicated process with lots of scary equipment, I like to simplify. Simple is good!

6 comments:

ACL Studio and Gallery said...

Just found your post after spending the day experimenting with cobweb felting. Not sure of the durability of my own and still in creative stages.

Plumfish said...

fantastic! thankyou so much for sharing!!

Susan said...

Thank you for the photo tutorial! I love cobweb felt and have been looking for videos or tutorials for a couple days now. They are few and far between!

biddermom said...

just found 'cobwebs ' and then found the tutorial. wow, thanks for sharing , i can hardly wait to do this.

Retoños Fieltro said...

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Anonymous said...

That was enjoyable to read, thanks for posting it.


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