Happy Mother`s Day!!!!
Celebrating mothers day with yoga and wet felting was great fun! Thank you Rama Lotus for giving us the opportunity to delve into our creative beings. Thank you Tania for guiding us through a fun yoga class! You truly do inspire big and small! Last but not least thanks to all the moms and children who were able to join us. It was truly inspiring to be in a room full of mother's and children!
Wet felting is the art of taking raw wool, warm water, soap and friction to create a piece of felt. It is an old tradition dating back thousands of years. Historically and in different cultures felt making was used to make clothing, yurt roofs, boots, carpets and more. It is versatile and so much fun!!!! Below you will find the directions for wet felting your very own wall hanging.
Wet felting a wall hanging is a gradual process that I will break down into 6 easy steps.
Things you will need:
Wool batting
Carded wool
Soap
Warm water
Bubble wrap
Towel
Creativity
Step 1-Layering the wool
Put your sheet of bubble wrap down (bubbles facing up), now you are ready for step 1, making your base.
To create your base you will have to separate your batting into thin layers. Approximately 6-7 layers should suffice. To avoid holes in your work make sure that you cannot see through your layers. Add wool to areas you feel are too thin.
Step 2 - Being creative
Now the fun part! Take thin pieces of carded wool or batting and create your design. Please make sure to spread the wool on your base evenly as clumps will not felt together.
Step 3 - Wetting it down
Take an empty bottle (dish soap bottles work will for this). Begin by filling your bottle with warm water and add 3 tbs of natural dish soap. Sprinkle your soapy solution onto your work. Depending on your project you might have to fill your bottle up a few times. You are done once the wool is completely wet.
Step 4 - Binding the fibers together
The felting process is gradual. To begin place a sheet of bubble wrap (bubble face down) onto your work. With your hands press down onto the fibers. You will notice that this process begins the felting process. Once you've pressed onto your work roll your art work into the bubble wrap (like rolling up a newspaper) and towel. Gently roll your masterpiece back and forth. Unroll your work after 5 minutes and give it a check and see that all the fibers are where you want them. Roll it all back up and keep rolling! As the fibers bind together begin to roll back and forth more vigorously. If it seems like your work will never felt don`t give up! You will know that your work is done when you can no longer pull the fibers away from your each other.
Step 5- Rinse
Congradulations you`ve felted your fisrt piece of felt now you are ready to rinse it in cold water. As you rinse gently wring the cloth to felt it a little more. Dry on a flat surface.
Step 6 -Hang your art piece by sewing a dowel behind your art piece and voila you are done!
You are now a fiber artist :)
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