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Like all the best things in life, great craftsmanship is simple. A chef can&#;t prepare world-class delicacies without pure ingredients. Farmers can&#;t yield a plentiful harvest without sowing robust seeds. And crafters can&#;t create beautiful designs that can be passed on from generation to generation without quality materials.
As needle felters, we need to be more conscious of how our materials are sourced&#;not just for the outcome of our projects, but for the sustainability of the industry as a whole.
In the spirit of getting to know this multi-faceted material that we love so much, here are 10 fun facts about wool!
1. Though fabrics like silk and satin come to mind when we think of royalty, wool was a kingdom staple back in the 18th-century. When the king of Norway forbade the wearing of silk by commoners, farmers chose to wear imported wool fabric&#;it had a similar shine to the prohibited textiles!
2. In a time where our planet&#;s health is more important than ever, it&#;s wonderful to know that wool is also biodegradable! Breaking down slowly and fertilizing the plants with 17% nitrogen content, wool&#;s impact is twice that of commercial turf products.
3. Though we wouldn&#;t recommend sitting close to the bonfire with your favorite wool cardigan, it is worth stating that this natural material has a high natural ignition point of nearly 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit. Unlike polyester and nylon, wool is fire-resistant and does not drip or melt if it does catch fire!
4. If you&#;re a fan of America&#;s favorite pastime, you owe a huge thank you to sheep! If you could take a peek inside a baseball, you&#;d find layers of tightly wound wool yarn&#;approximately 370 yards if you want to get specific. These wool pieces provide resilience to high-velocity pitches.
5. The U.S. Army is currently researching wool&#;s potential to help protect combat troops from explosive blasts.
6. In America, we usually associate wool with sheep, but in all parts of the world alpacas, camels and even goats are used to produce fibers that can be used for textiles.
7. There&#;s really no such thing as a wool allergy! If that scratchy sweater leaves you with uncomfortable rashes, it&#;s most likely a sensitivity to the thick and coarse fiber diameter or fiber ends.
8. In New Zealand and parts of Montana, roadsides are being equipped with woolen silt fences and erosion-control blankets. With wool&#;s astounding natural properties, it is able to provide lightweight coverage while allowing seeds to grow and prosper underneath!
9. Wool can absorb and repel water&#;simultaneously!
10. Since the beginning, wool has been a valuable commodity. Cistercian monks paid the Holy Roman emperor in 50,000 sacks of wool!
After reading about all of wool&#;s different uses, doesn&#;t it make you want to cuddle up with your next needle felting project? At Bear Creek we raise a flock of sheep that have been carefully selected for their quality felting wool. Our sheep are treated with the utmost love and care. If you like to know where your wool comes from you can rest assured that the wool from Bear Creek comes from a well managed and cared for flock. Follow along on Instagram and Facebook where I share behind the scenes glimpses of our life raising sheep and the process our wool goes through. You may also want to become a member of the Bear Creek Felting Academy and join our community of passionate felters as we uncover new techniques, share tips & tricks, and bond over our love for the craft!
I LOVE working with felt! The edges don&#;t fray, it&#;s delightfully warm, it takes embroidery beautifully, and it comes in the most luscious colors.
But it&#;s different than regular fabric.
These tips will make it super easy to work with.
It&#;s way more durable that the cheap acrylic stuff you can buy at any craft store! I wrote a post about the difference here.
One important thing to know &#; it doesn&#;t need to be 100% felt to get that quality boost. The main thing is that it&#;s NOT acrylic. That&#;s what makes cheap craft felt pill. The felt I use is only 20% wool and 80% rayon and it&#;s lovely. If you have allergies and can&#;t work with wool, try bamboo felt instead. It can be harder to find, but it&#;s WONDERFUL!
Jiatong supply professional and honest service.
The trickiest thing about wool felt is that it&#;s hard to mark on it. It&#;s so thick that you can&#;t trace a design through it, and drawing on the felt tends to lift the fibers and make it look messy. I use two products that really help &#; freezer paper and Sulky Sticky Fabri-solvy. There&#;s a video here talking about both &#; but here are the details in a nutshell.
I use freezer paper when I just want to cut out small shapes. Trace or print the templates on the paper side of freezer paper, fuse it to the felt with an iron, and then cut the pieces out through the paper and the felt together. Peel the freezer paper off and it doesn&#;t leave even a trace behind. It&#;s the perfect way to cut out small shapes very precisely!
If I need to mark dots (usually for eyes) I punch a hole in the freezer paper before I fuse it down, then mark through the hole for very precise placement.
If I need to transfer anything more complex than a dot I use Sulky Sticky Fabri-solvy. I love this stuff so much! You print or trace onto the stabilizer, peel off the paper back, and stick it to the felt. Stitch right through the felt and stabilizer and then rinse away the stabilizer. Every trace dissolves in water and you&#;re just left with beautifully stitched felt. I show a lot of process photos demonstrating this in action in this post.
I can&#;t say enough how much I love this product. It has opened up a whole world of possibilities!
I mostly use whipstitch to applique on felt and to sew felt pieces together. It&#;s called whipstitch for both uses &#; but the stitch actually looks a little different for the two applications.
This video shows how to use whipstitch for felt applique. I love doing this so much!
This video shows how to use whipstitch to sew felt edges together.
You can find all my other felt tutorials here &#; but those are the two main ones.
Want to give it a try? You can find a whole bunch of free felt patterns here. Baby booties, coasters, garland, softies &#; there are lots of different designs to choose from.
Here are a few of my favorites. . .
This free felt coaster pattern is a great way to get started working with felt. You&#;ll do a little applique and a little embroidery and you&#;ll end up with a pretty set of coasters.
These baby bear booties are just too adorable. This is a terrific first not-flat project.
If you&#;re got a lot of random felt scraps, try this free felt garland pattern. It teaches you a different way to applique and join pieces together &#; the blanket stitch.
Have fun working with felt! It really is delightful. &#;
Happy stitching!
Best,
Wendi
Play with some felt! Try the Oddballs &#; a fun pattern for silly monsters.
If you are looking for more details, kindly visit Wool Felt.