Crochet and Felting
Monday June 29, 2009
In response to my crochet interests poll, a visitor named Carol Ann posted the following comment:
I'm crocheting bowls and totes to be felted-much quicker than knitting and very satisfying. I would be interested in more felting projects.
Thanks for the comment and suggestions, Carol Ann. I appreciate your input.
Felting is a hot topic these days. For those of you who are interested in felting your crochet, I wanted to point out that About.com's knitting Guide, Sarah E. White, is an expert felter. She has written quite a few detailed articles about felting, which I think would also be helpful to crocheters who are interested in felting. Here are links to a few of Sarah's articles:
- How to felt
- Felting in a front loading washing machine
- Felting without a machine
- Make a felted swatch
I hope you will find this information helpful.
Now I'd like to open the floor for comments and suggestions from readers.
- Would you be interested in seeing patterns for felted crochet projects?
- Have you ever felted a crochet project?
- How did it turn out?
- Do you have any felting tips to share?
Comments
Yes i am interested in crocheted felting instructions and patterns –No-never have done felting before. I knit and crochet but prefer to crochet. Thanks
Yes, I would like to see more crochet felting patterns, especially something a bit more cutting edge? fashionable? Less run-of-the-mill? I have felted before and really enjoy the process, but am tired of the pedestrian projects!
I have felted many items – mostly bowls, coasters & hot pads. In fact I’ve even been lucky enough to sell a few on Etsy.com. I’ve also felted larger pieces that I treat as fabric to be cut and combined with other materials for embellishment on bags and wall hangings.
I think the most important thing for new felters to know is that every combination of machine, yarn, hook and stitch will yield a different result, so it’s important to do a test swatch first. Also, if your item doesn’t seem dense enough after one round through the wash, just run it through again. The more wet heat and agitation you expose the piece to, the more dense it will become and the less distinct your stitches will be.
Thanks for the comments, ladies.
Kay, thanks for sharing all those fantastic tips. I really like your idea of creating large pieces to be used as fabric.
I love felting and would love more projects! I have made some purses and eyeglass cases. I just felted a variegated blue yarn purse where I used a synthetic green mohair for just the top of the purse and am waiting to sew on store-bought handles (my first time doing this; usually I just crochet, attach, and felt handles). I haven’t really followed a pattern, but would like to do some more complicated pieces.
My felting tips: put item in a lingerie bag so any loose fibers don’t go in washing machine. You can use straight stitch markers or pins to help maintain shape as item is drying (lay item on towel and push markers into item and towel to anchor). I have made ruffles on top of bags and an eyeglass case, and they looked beautiful (just make sure to pinch them in place as they dry)! I usually try to find a button (or bead from my jewelry making) to add as a closer after I felt it–bring purse with you when you shop for a button– as buttonholes shrink a lot (and can always be stitched a little on both sides if too large). Also, I have found items felt faster when I only add a few things in the washer. I have heard about using a (new, clean) plunger in a bucket with soap and water, which I have not tried as yet. One thing that didn’t work out as well as I had hoped: I tried decorating a black bag with white yarn I sewed on, but the stitches looked sloppy when I felted it as they shrunk differently. Some friends suggested that next time I separate the 4-ply yarn in the second color (because I wanted it to be a thin decoration) and sew it on after I felt the piece.
I would love to learn to do felted slippers, hats, bowls, and rugs as well as more complicated purses (more shaping, using decorative patterns within purse). Patterns and tutorials would be great! I would also like to learn more about lining items, adding hardware (hooks, etc.), pockets, and embellishing. If possible, I would love to see a rug pattern with a sort of plaid to it (how gorgeous would that be!). I prefer patterns that show what the item should look like at steps along the way as well as the finished project.
I have also been felting plain strips of yarn to use as wreath hangers. In this online photo, you can see a project I made with ribbon, but I have since been making the strips by crocheting and felting brown or grey heathered yarn as I found a lot of ribbons didn’t look right with this project. Plus, the felted piece stayed on the styrofoam better than the ribbon did when I used a hot glue gun (it held the weight better; I had to use nails as well as the glue to hold the ribbon). You could felt a red strip for hanging Xmas wreaths, brown for autumn, etc. http://www.craftstylish.com/item/45933/welcomed-by-nature-door-decoration-created-by-collected-materials
I love to crochet and do a bit of knitting myself. I would love to see some fourth of July projects. If you think that your going to keep ribbon on styrofoam with hot glue, you are wrong. You can just take a tapestry needle and some yarn the same color as the ribbon to keep it together better. No i have never done it before but it is a good idea. I would also love to see some more difficult patterns as well. I have some orders that are a pain to fill. There are 10 orders to fill, 2 of them i have already done. Be sure that you have a plan if you are planning on selling some.
I just thought of some more cool projects I would like to see: felted Christmas stockings and ornaments.