Since arriving in Guanajuato, I have been felting like crazy in preparation for summer. I plan to have a nice little collection of things to sell at the concerts and music festivals we are attending during our three months back in the States, and felted bracelets are going to be a major part of that. I love needle felting, and it feels good to be creating with wool again! Since it has been my obsession for the last few days, I thought I would share some of the progress with you.
I spent over 3 days working on my first "Light Show" bracelet! I have to work faster than that if I want to have a collection. This piece was created almost entirely by needle felting, with just some minor wet felting to tighten things up.
I spent over 3 days working on my first "Light Show" bracelet! I have to work faster than that if I want to have a collection. This piece was created almost entirely by needle felting, with just some minor wet felting to tighten things up.
Needle felting is the process of turning wool fibers into felt by stabbing the wool with a needle thousands of times. The needle has tiny barbs or notches on the tip that grab hairs and lock them together. Needless to say, it is a long process. I decided to try a different method for my next bracelets.
Pre-shaping the Wool
First I selected some colors and thought a bit about the shape and plan of several more bracelets. I layered the wool and lightly needle felted it together, just a few pokes, to hold the shape. This is in preparation for another process called wet felting. Wet felting is supposed to shrink the shapes quite a bit, so I made them larger than I want the final outcome to be.
Wet felting is a more traditional form of felting in which you rub the wool vigorously with soap and hot water. The soap and hot water cause the scales of the hairs to open up, and the rubbing pushes and tightens them into each other. Then you rinse in cold water to close the scales and lock the wool into felt. Wet felting all of these shapes took about an hour. Then you have to wait for them to completely dry before continuing to touch up the shape and add detail with the needle.
Finishing Touches
After the shaped dried over-night, I was ready to work on the details! I started with two of the bangles. I really like how they turned out. I didn't know exactly how I was going to detail them, but they soon told me what they wanted to be. That is one thing I really love about felting… as you work, the wool often evolves naturally into beautiful things, if you don't fight it and let it inspire you.