Don’t have any old sweaters? Check the thrift store, your neighbor’s yard sale or online auctions for suitable finds.
As well as what the sweater is made of, the general rule is that the heavier the sweater, the heavier the felt resulting from it. Hence, for a heavy-weight project, a sweater made from heavy wool yarn would work well, while for a lighter-weight project, use lighter wool yarn, or alpaca or cashmere.
Separate the sleeves, front and back.
Use a setting on the machine that allows for a good wash without there being too much water. Part of the success of felting relies on agitation or friction on the woolen object, so it shouldn’t be swamped by water. So basically––a low water level plus high agitation. Sometimes it is good to include clothing that enjoys a hot cycle wash, to act as weights on the sweater pieces and help them to shrink and felt up––think jeans and towels.
If you feel that the washing machine has adequately felted the sweater pieces, simply allow them to air dry on the clothes line without using the dryer.
The dryer step can help introduce “tightness” or “fullness” to the felt if it’s looking a little shabby or loose after just the washing process.
If the sweater pieces have not shrunk or you can still discern the pattern or texture of the sweater, the pieces need to go through the whole process again, until felted properly. You can also snip a bit at the edges of the felt––if it frays, it needs to be put through the wash and dry cycles again; if not, it’s felt. You may have to repeat the process several times with very heavy woolen sweaters, while a cashmere or alpaca might only take one wash and dry cycle. If it hasn’t worked the first time and you didn’t use a pair of jeans or a towel to add weight and something for the pieces to bump into, do so for the second wash.
A felted blanket. Join various felted pieces together to form a patchwork felted blanket; you can incorporate other fabrics and embellishment materials such as lace and ribbon to complete the look. Felted bangles. Wrap the felt around a bangle base that needs jazzing up. Glue in place. Tuft out the felt until you’re happy with how it looks. Or, leave the felt flat and sew on embroidered flowers, sequins, beads, ribbon petals, etc. until the whole bangle is covered. A felted purse. Felted potholders. Felt dolls, toys or figurines. Felt accessories, such as flowers, hair bows, etc. Felt laptop cover.
