Felting fever!

Two weeks ago I did a Saturday felt-making course at my local college and it was great. I had such a fun time and learned a lot more about the process than I had found on the Internet. I decided to do the course because I wanted to be shown how to do it properly rather than trying to work it out from youtube videos.
This is what we did.

Those big wooden things are called carders, they're basically two big dog brushes that help you blend different colours of the tops (top quality wool used for felting).

Then you lay your tops alternating between horizontal and vertical layers (this makes it stronger) on a towel with bubble wrap on top, and add any other threads.

Cover the tops with netting and squirt all over it with warm water with a bit of washing-up liquid, put a plastic bag on your hand and rub over it gently until it's all wet and soapy.

Wrap it around a wooden pole and put lots of pressure on it as you roll it back and forth. This is the part when all the fibres in the wool rub and knot together and it will begin to shrink. You also have to keep turning it 90 degrees so that it shrinks evenly. When you roll it out flat, gently pull at the fibres and see if they come apart freely, if they do then you need to keep rolling until they're tight.

Rinse the piece in water. To get a bobbly effect throw it onto the floor or table a few times until you get the desired effect.

This what it looks like once it had finally dried. I'm not sure which way up I want it!

Before and after of another experimental piece.

Here is some of the work of the other people on the course.

  I highly recommend having a go at wet felting if you can. I'm super inspired by the whole process and will have a go at doing some more of my own. Next on my list of crafts to try is needle felting. Have you tried it?

I'm listening to:  Smokin' In The Boy's Room by Mötley Crüe (going to see them with Def Leppard and Steel Panther in December)