The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Food & crafts => Crafts => Topic started by: clickowls on March 05, 2010, 12:02:50 pm
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Am about to embark on a first ever felting experiment. Have several different breeds of sheep, so what fleece would felt the best? Have Jacob, but son wants to put through the peg loom for a rug, have Bluefaced Leicester, Greyface Dartmoor, Suffolk, the list goes on ....
The BFL is obviously the finer fleece, but is it's short staple good enough for felting? Presumably I will have to wash these fleeces first, may also need to read the book!
ANY advice most welcome.
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Hiya how are you gona be felting? via hand, needle or washing mashine?
anything will felt as long as it has a high percentage of natural animal fibres
Linz
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No you need longer fibres preferably for felting, so although the BFL is fine if you are knitting/crocheting it first (which technically is called fulling, not felting), I wouldn't recommend it for wet felting.
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O.K. thought the BFL fibres may be too short, perhaps the Jacob wool may be better suited. As to how I will be felting, by hand, eventually with children, so as hands on as possible.
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Yes I think compared to all other types, Jacob wool is probably best (greyfaced too coarse, and suffolk too downy). You will need to wash the fleece, and if possible get a pair of carders to card the wool. You will need to lay layers of the wool, so if it is not carded (and especially after washing) you will get clumpy wool that you can't distribute evenly. Alternatively, what you can do with the kids is make sausage shapes or balls, if you haven't got a carder. If you want to make big flat projects, you will definitely need to card it first.
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When I get some sheep , I may get some cotswolds (sort of been steered off of Soay's lol ) , big sheep lots of wool.
Now I know their wool is good for many things from jumpers to carpets , but would they be good for felting too ?.
Also, apart from hats , what can felt be used for as clothing ? I made a hat out of some wool from some old jumpers , years ago , it turned out like an old farmers hat lol.. but I am stumped as to what other types of clothing I could use felt for . I am not arty farty in any way , so I am not interested in making stuff for show . Just every day use clothing .
cheers
Russ
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Uh what length is a cotswold fleece - hang on - *goes to check book*
It's a long one, so yep it'd be good to felt. What can felt be used for - you can make coats, heavy duty waterproof ponchos, tents, bags, if you make them lighter you can make trousers (bit scratchy though but you can always line it I suppose). I love felt, you can use it everywhere in the house, and of course you can make hats ;) Also great for dog baskets!
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thanks Sage,
I will have to look into felting a bit more then ...never thought of it apart from hat making !!! The dog basket thing would be good as I will be making my own willow baskets for the dogs !!! could you use spaniel dog hair to make felt too ? I get huge amounts of that every day ...all goes on the compost heap at the moment , as I don't like the thought of bags of old dog hair laying about in the shed ....
I suppose you could make curtains out of felt too then (wouldn't want dog hair felt ones though ..just wool !! ::) ).
cheers
Russ
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Totally new territory there - I've never spun dog hair, and a spaniel's hair would be quite soft, and not too sure of it's felting abilities. Tell you what, you try it and tell me! ;D And felt curtains, ummm, technically yes but why in the world would you want felt curtains. I suppose it keeps the heat in, but it'll be a bit tricky to sew curtain tapes on the top. I suppose you could use eyelet punches hmmm...See, what you've made me do, I'm venturing too far out of the box now! ;D ;D *hurries back to safety of floral cotton curtains*
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lol... sorry Sage.... my aim is to make as much of everything that I need/want out of materials that I can grow or rear on my smallholding .
When I make my cutains they will be hanging off a pole , probably a metal one ?. So tabs will be used not hooks or whatever .. nice and simple .
cheers
Russ
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On the subject of easy ways to hang curtains (I should know, I'm lazy lol!)
These eyelets are fantastic, you get some that clip together rather than having to use a press to fit them but I can't find them at the minute - this link will give you the idea
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/METAL-CURTAIN-EYELETS-IN-NICKEL-OR-BLACK-16-X-40mm-NEW_W0QQitemZ170445966235QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Home_Garden_Curtains_Blinds_CurtainFixtures_Accessories_EH?hash=item27af5f0b9b (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/METAL-CURTAIN-EYELETS-IN-NICKEL-OR-BLACK-16-X-40mm-NEW_W0QQitemZ170445966235QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Home_Garden_Curtains_Blinds_CurtainFixtures_Accessories_EH?hash=item27af5f0b9b)
They look ever so funky and slide great on metal poles ;)
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Yeah that was what I was thinking, although with felt curtains I think Russ might have to weld the curtain poles to something ;D Screws aren't going to hold the weight.
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;D ;D ;D....yes I did think they would be very heavy Sage , but was just wondering if felt would work . Any curtains I do make will be heavy weight affairs anyway , I really like velvet curtains but I hate touching the stuff...I really can't touch anything velvet at all ... ::), so I won't be having velvet curtains !!!! ( if I do they will be either permanently open or closed !!! ::) ;D) .
The metal rod for the pole/rod will be some 1/2"-3/4" thick , so will be quite heavy in itself . They will be fixed to the wall with hand made coach screws , these will take the weight of two or three people hanging on them so should hold a curtain (not that I intent to hang anyone on them though !!!!) . The hanging of undesirables, will be carried out on the gallows in the yard , and from there they will be taken to the drawing bench and after drawing, the quartering will take place . The heads will....er getting off topic here .... ::)
http://www.polesdirect.com/details.asp?ID=4960
thats the sort of thing I will be making above.
The curtains can be of any material really ( apart from velvet !!!) cotten , linen or even hemp .
I have an arbour press similar to the one in the eyelet link , plus a few dies for pressing the eyelets . I got them to make tarps... so cheers Karen I will have a look what size eyelets I have ..I think the largest are about 1/2" .
cheers
Russ
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Lol! Good thing you weren't a lord in the middle ages, because you would have had to wear velvet ;D I suppose you'll be making the poles when your forge is ready?
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yes ...imagine that ....it would have been torture every minute of the day !!!
I could make the poles/rods anytime really , as I have the metal and the forge more or less ready , but I have to make the house to put the poles in first !!! :o ;D
I have the hazel and the willow growing for the wattle , plenty of clay around for the daub , got the wheat to grow for the thatch , even got the lead and lots of old glass for the leaded windows ....but I still have a few more trees to acquire yet for the frame of the house . Think I have about 1/2 of what I need at the moment .
cheers
Russ
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could you use spaniel dog hair to make felt too ?
I wouldn't bother with the spaniel fur Russ unless you don't mind the smell of dog. I've spun dog hair and the smell NEVER comes out no matter how often you wash it.
You can make very fine felt too which is lovely for lining things to add insulation. You can felt onto cloth as well to thicken it up - cotton oneside felt the other - although the cotten would look a bit shrunk up
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You're gonna be busy this summer then Russ ;D If you have a wattle and daub house, what do use for lintels? And can you drill the walls for fittings?
Marigold I was offered some dog hair for spinning - a huge bag of it. I dithered and mentioned something about the smell, and got a big tuft of it shoved under my nose, with the offer to 'sniff it, it doesn't smell' *gag*! I managed not to breathe at that time, thank god, but I realised at that moment that I know some strange people ::)
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the house is built with a timber frame , the timbers being about 6"x6" and larger . The wattle and daub is then fitted and daubed in the small squares (3'x3') that the frame makes . They tend to be called Tudor style houses or black and white timber frame houses nowdays .
So the frame is the lintel over doors and windows etc .
(http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc21/rustyme57/Little%20Woodham/-Little_Woodham.jpg)
the pic above gives an idea of the type of thing . That will be very similar to what I build in fact. I have almost got enough trees earmarked for that now . If I get a few more I can make it a bit more adventurous...but I like it as it it is in the picture really , simple .
cheers
Russ
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Oh yes, of course *smacks forehead* For some reason I was thinking of a celtic roundhouse ??? That will look lovely Russ.
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Ah Russ - will you come and build me one after? the one in the picture is lovely
:)
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Hmm just realised that my earlier message might have been misconstrued to mean that the celtic roundhouse is lovely. I mean the one you will build will be lovely if it's anything like the house ;D
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my one will look very similar to the one in the pic, it will just be the diagonals in the panels that will be slightly different in mine. It will only be a very small place by todays standards , about 30'x 12' .
But that will seem huge to me as I have lived in a 28'x10' static caravan for far too long . the house will have an upstairs making much more space . Only two bedrooms and a small bathroom upstairs , and a living room and kitchen downstairs . The living room and kitchen will be divided by a smoke bay/chimney thus giving a chimney for a rayburn type range in the kitchen, and an inglenook in the livingroom . I can add a wing later on if I want more space , but it will do me for now .
cheers
Russ
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As a person who makes felt for a living I can comment a lot on what felts....and what does not!!!
Its true that any wool will felt.....eventually ::) However some if really good and some....well lets say knit it!
Blue face and cotswold are fantastic for wet felt! suffolk and the other down type breeds are hopeless!.....(but great needlefelted!)
Other good ones for wet felt are North Ronaldsay, Shetland, Merino, corridale, gotland and Hebridean.
Needle felt wise anything can be needle felted!
We have 2 big wet felting tables 4' x 3' and are about to install a 60 inch wide needle felting machine!
Hope that helps
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You obviously have more experience than me with felting, but it's basically what I've said anyway, bar the BFL fleece, but then again, from experience, I've personally found the fibres a bit too short for wet felting by hand. I mainly use shetlands, since there's loads of them around here anyway, and they're pretty good for most fibre crafts.
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Thankyou for your advice on felting. I will try the BFL fleece and some Jacob fleece and see how I get on. A baptism of fire, need to give it a go so I can get some children to try it out on Friday!
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Only way to do it is to try ;D Good luck and have fun! :hshoe:
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I have made my first felt ball today with the Jacob wool, looks like a ball - how do I know when I am gently moulding it with the soap and water and working the wool that it is ready? How solid should the felt ball be? The one I have done is still soft, not really soft but the fibres are not going anywhere?
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Well done ;) Not too sure what you mean by the fibres not going anywhere? Here's a link to help you with the felt balls..
http://members.peak.org/~spark/feltballs.html
and another one for kids, with photos...
http://www.boogaj.com/homeschooling_maddie/2006/01/felt_beads.html