Felting wool is the process of turning unspun wool (from sheep, or other animals like alpaca), into a more solid piece of fabric. The wool fibers have tiny overlapping scales on them and by agitating them with rubbing, warm water, and soap, they open up and grab onto each other. Once the wool has been agitated, we roll it in a towel 100 times. At this point the fibers hold on to each other and compress, causing the entire piece to shrink. This is the "wet" felting method that we love to use.

Other ways to felt are to stab dry wool fleece with felting needles, or to 'accidentally' wash a wool sweater in hot water. It shrinks! Sometimes we use the washing method on purpose to make felted slippers.

Yes! This making project is super fun for everyone. For very young children, we recommend that an adult cuts out the template and the wool shapes for them. The embroidery thread and beads are small can be skipped, as they are optional.

No, our Beginner Wool Felting Kits are made to be for everyone. All you need is soap & water, and a couple of things you already have, like a big towel.

When I make the larger pieces of felted wall art, I always start with a wet felted sheet of felt, just like in the kit. Some pieces get extra embellishments with embroidery and needle felting to add detail and shading.

You can use hand soap, a bar of glycerine soap, or anything really. The soap helps to make the wool more slippery to work with, and it can adjust the pH of the water. This causes the microscopic scales on the wool fibers to open up and grab on to each other. Soap also cleans the wool, removing the natural oil lanolin, dirt, and dye that might be present.

You can make a series of Hearts, Flowers, or Leaves in 1-2 hours. If you lay out the layers of wool fleece quickly, then your longest part will be the 30 min, or so, of agitation (using your hands to rub the soapy wool). After some towel rolling, you will be able to cut out the template and then the wool. The final step is embellishment of the shapes with beads and thread, which is optional.

Yes, sometimes. I love to dye and spin wool! For our felting kits, the wool is commercial dyed from a trusted source in Texas, as we want them all to be the same. Hand dyeing would add extra steps, and can have a lot of variety, especially when using plants. I'm learning a lot about natural plant dyes and this year we are even harvesting our own Japanese indigo. Some of the materials used in the finished wall art includes hand dyed and hand spun wool.