Felt is a textile material that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers together. Felt can be made of natural fibers such as wool or animal fur, or from synthetic fibers such as petroleum-based acrylic or acrylonitrile or wood pulp-based rayon.
(Source: Wikipedia)
Clear as mud, right?
Felting is a way to create things of beauty, both fabric and sculptural, through the use of a barbed needle (needle felting) or by changing the pH of the wool and using friction in a soap and water application (wet felting).
Here on Stab Things Into Existence, I’ll teach you how those processes work through photos of the processes, video tutorials, as well as introducing you to felt masters and authors who can help guide your journey into felting.
My own journey began with a 4 ounce hand dyed wool roving which I won in an online giveaway some 10 years ago:
(picture of the first ‘scarf’ I made from that roving)
The roving was beautiful, soft, and I loved petting it, but I knew I had no intention of wanting to learn how to spin yarn out of wool (no offense), and I wondered for a while what I would do with this fiber. That wondering was answered a couple of months after receiving the roving when I saw a $4 teach yourself how to needle felt kit at my local craft store.
For $4 how could I go wrong?
Two months later, every horizontal surface of my home was covered in felted wool and I was hooked! All because I took a chance to if felting was a good fit for me-and I hope that you will take that chance yourself with me here at Stab Things Into Existence!
