Making Felt and a New Magazine

Handmade felt is a lovely material and can bring a new dimension to many sewing and needlework projects. It is not difficult to make as a new magazine demonstrates.

Handmade felt is simply the result of matting and squashing woolen fibers together to form a dense fabric. There are many different ways of doing this - usually on purpose, however accidents do happen! Who hasn't experienced that horrible sinking feeling, when realizing that the teeny doll sized sweater which has come out of the washing machine started life as your best new wool jumper.

These needn't be complete disasters though, and often something can be saved from the experience. After all, you now have a piece of pure wool felt! This can be made into a variety of objects - a bag or purse, cushion cover, hot waterbottle cover, hat etc.

For many people the inadvertent felting of a garment is their first experience of the craft. Hopefully it will also provide an introduction into one of the techniques and give inspiration to find out more about feltmaking.

I have made felt for many years, using the wet felt process. I have even studied the subject for a City and Guilds qualification, so it is a craft that I have a passion about. I love the way that starting with a few loose fibres, a wonderfully hardwearing fabric can be made. I finished my last project a week or so ago, which is a felt wrap, made from angora, cashmere and merino, with some silk surface decoration. It had a slightly more fluffy finish than I was expecting, with the cashmere and angora ‘blooming’ more than I anticipated. However that actually enhanced the overall finish.

A new magazine, Felt, has just been published by Interweave Publishing. This special magazine is dedicated to felt making in all of its guises.

I eagerly awaited my copy of the magazine. I was wise and preordered it. Living in Spain I needed to buy my copy from an international supplier – Scottish Fibres Ltd. US readers can of course by the magazine from stores or direct from Interweave Publishing.

I have written a review of the magazine that can be read in more detail in this Suite101 article - Review of Felt Magazine.