Felted wool is so very expensive, but so nice. I've heard you can felt your own, so I gave it a try. I pulled a pair of off-white wool pants from my donate bag and cut them apart. I washed the resulting fabric on high, and dried it on high. Not quite good enough. I have a front-loader, and I think it needs to soak. So I then soaked the wool fabric from the pants in a hot tub of water, and stirred with a wooden spoon. After the water cooled on it's own, I again ran it through my washer on hot and high, and high in the dryer. Voila! Really nice felted wool.
So then I pulled two wool blazers from my donation bag. Nice buttons to harvest there too! Then I went thrifting. What fun! I didn't care the size or condition of the garment. Just the color and quality of the wool. I found these four blazers. They are getting felted tomorrow, and I'll let you know the result. For very few dollars, I expect to have some nice wool felt. Now I'm on the look-out for some green wool thrift items, for stems and leaves.
Oooh, also found a really nice pair of silk ladies slacks. $6. Didn't buy them, but if they are still there I might. That's a lot of silk, and I have been collecting silk ties too. Oh, the possibilities. So many projects, so little time.
Be sure to add a little soap when you are washing or soaking the wool. Soap + agitation are the two things that cause things to felt (whether we want them to ... or not).
ReplyDeleteHappy thrifting--I predict that you'll have a great felt stash soon.