![[Valid RSS]](/valid-rss.png "Validate my RSS feed")
I’m prepping for the next Church of Craft meeting at the moment. I can’t reveal the project we’ll be doing quite yet, but I will say it involves felted sweaters. So, I’ve just felted a pile of thrifted sweaters in my washer and dryer, and learned some interesting things in the process. Thought I’d pass them along:
Fiber is important. Natually, you need wool to make felt. (Pun intended?) Mohair and cashmere also felt up nicely. I’ve read a lot of stuff around the web that says any sweater with at least 50% wool can be felted. But I picked up an 80% wool/20% nylon sweater, and I wasn’t too happy with the results. It took an additional trip through my washer and dryer in order to felt properly, and now it’s scratchier than the all-wool sweaters. For the record, the 75% wool/25% cashmere sweater I felted came out much thicker and stiffer in texture than the all-wool ones.
Watch for moth holes! I thought I was scoring big when I got a 100% wool sweater with a few little moth holes for a dollar. Little did I know that the felting process would enlarge those holes, and reveal many more. That sweater is flippin’ perforated! Ah well, it’s an opportunity to try out that sweater-embroidery technique in Craftivity.
Lint, Linty Lint-Lint-Lint. Who knew? It gets everywhere. I had to wipe bits of felt out of my washing machine afterward. And I found it helpful to stop my dryer every 30 minutes or so and clean out the big honkin’ glob in the lint-trap. Once the sweaters were dry, I ran a lint-roller over them to pick up the blobs that were still clinging.
Interestingly, the wool/cashmere sweater picked up a lot of pilling on its surface. I think this happened because I felted it twice (since the wool/nylon one needed another go, I tossed them all back in). Next time, I’d felt this blend only one time — it did beautifully, and actually looked a little worse after the second wash. But, removing the pilling is easy — just get a pumice stone, like the ones you buy in drugstores to grind the callouses off your heels. It’ll also pull off pills.
Tiny patterns may not survive. One of my sweaters had a lovely, delicate heathered pattern of violet and green. I thought it would look great felted, but the felting process blurred a lot of the pattern out. Now it’s a fairly uniform purple. Not the end of the world, just interesting.
. . . All that said, this felting thing is fun, and I can’t wait to start stitching up my pile of soft, fuzzy fabric!
Read more about felting here and here.
You can patch the holes in a felted sweater by needle felting embellishments over them. My favorite options are:
1. Find a cookie cutter slightly larger than the hole, fill it with wool roving, and jab with a felting needle until the whole area is felted down. This gives you a beautifully regular shape that can be repeated in multiple places on the same project. (I have a number of sets of cookie cutters that are different sizes of the same motif.)
2. Needle felt scraps of wool (other animal fibers work as well, I solicit scraps from all my knitter friends) to your felted sweater to create linear decorations that cover small holes.
3. Create a 3-d embellishment that can emerge from the hole. For example, a small bouquet can be needle felted through a hole so that it looks like a boutonnière a small portion of a face can be needle felted in such a way that it looks like someone is peeking out of the hole.
You can patch the holes in a felted sweater by needle felting embellishments over them. My favorite options are:
1. Find a cookie cutter slightly larger than the hole, fill it with wool roving, and jab with a felting needle until the whole area is felted down. This gives you a beautifully regular shape that can be repeated in multiple places on the same project. (I have a number of sets of cookie cutters that are different sizes of the same motif.)
2. Needle felt scraps of wool (other animal fibers work as well, I solicit scraps from all my knitter friends) to your felted sweater to create linear decorations that cover small holes.
3. Create a 3-d embellishment that can emerge from the hole. For example, a small bouquet can be needle felted through a hole so that it looks like a boutonnière a small portion of a face can be needle felted in such a way that it looks like someone is peeking out of the hole.
Oh those are such great tips! Thanks for sharing. I’ve been doing a lot of felting of sweaters lately and this will really help out. I got a whole bunch for free from the consignment shop I work at, but now I’m starting to run low and I will need to start digging at the thrift store for them and your fiber content tip will really help me find what I’m looking for. You rock sister D, I can’t wait to see what you are scheming up for the next meeting!
Oh those are such great tips! Thanks for sharing. I’ve been doing a lot of felting of sweaters lately and this will really help out. I got a whole bunch for free from the consignment shop I work at, but now I’m starting to run low and I will need to start digging at the thrift store for them and your fiber content tip will really help me find what I’m looking for. You rock sister D, I can’t wait to see what you are scheming up for the next meeting!
[...] great use of sweaters from the thrift store is to felt them. Diane of the Crafty Pod talks all about it here in this great post she wrote up about [...]
[...] you want to go grab some sweaters to use right now, this day, this second – Sister Diane wrote up what she learned from felting sweaters and I wrote up this tutorial on recycling a sweater for [...]
Hello all…OK, enough..stop right where you are. Do not put another sweater in your washer without first enclosing it in a mesh bag or I like to use a pillow case and rubber band the top shut. All those loose fibers you keep talking about are KILLING your machine! I have been site surfing and almost everyone is leaving out this step. Believe me..your washing machine motor and pump will thank you. Of course if you have a washer death wish, this is the fastest way to put it out of it’s misery. Hope this advice helps…have fun felting.
Hello all…OK, enough..stop right where you are. Do not put another sweater in your washer without first enclosing it in a mesh bag or I like to use a pillow case and rubber band the top shut. All those loose fibers you keep talking about are KILLING your machine! I have been site surfing and almost everyone is leaving out this step. Believe me..your washing machine motor and pump will thank you. Of course if you have a washer death wish, this is the fastest way to put it out of it’s misery. Hope this advice helps…have fun felting.
Right you are, Janet, and thanks for calling attention to my omission. I learned this very important precaution after this post, and have included it in my live classes and subsequent posts on felting, but had completely forgotten to stop back here and add it. Great advice, to be sure!
Right you are, Janet, and thanks for calling attention to my omission. I learned this very important precaution after this post, and have included it in my live classes and subsequent posts on felting, but had completely forgotten to stop back here and add it. Great advice, to be sure!
[...] Step one: Shrink a sweater. Put a sweater into the washing machine using hot water and a little bit of soap. Dry it in the dryer. You should have a sweater that is about 20-30% smaller than before. (repeat?) Here are some tips. [...]
Very useful post again, thanks! I am currently looking at felting sweaters but cannot find any locally. Our weather is far too warm for wool or cashmere sweaters. Only a few upmarket shops sell some and they are really expensive. Do you perhaps know of any online sources where I can find good priced sweaters to felt?
Very useful post again, thanks! I am currently looking at felting sweaters but cannot find any locally. Our weather is far too warm for wool or cashmere sweaters. Only a few upmarket shops sell some and they are really expensive. Do you perhaps know of any online sources where I can find good priced sweaters to felt?