I am in love. In love with a new craft. Felting and upcycling old jumpers/ sweater. Tis the season to be shopping at jumble sales. I'd love to shop at charity shops (thrift stores) , but these days they are prohibitively expensive.
This week I have been mostly making children's booties and wristwarmers for a craft show this weekend.
For those of you new to felting old jumpers/ sweaters, here's a how to guide.
1. Get your hands on some old items, which must be more than 65% animal fibre (wool, cashmere, mohair).
2. Put them in you washing machine on a hot (60%) wash. Try to add other items to help agitate the wool, but don't forget that it is a)hot and b) the colours will run.
3. When you get them out, bundle them into the tumble dryer and wack them onto a hot programme. (I like to keep the lint and use to stuff other projects!)
NB People often say that you need to put the jumpers/ sweaters into pillowcases to prevent damage to the washing machine.
4. When you have removed the objects from the dryer check to see if you have felted them enough. A truly felted jumper/ sweater will not fray at all when cut. Incidentally I have never had a jumper felt in only one cycle, but then again I have a very modern machine.
So that's it really. Remember that when you are making your object, if you iron the felted fabric, it will stretch . So therefore iron it before you cut it out (but I prefer not to iron where possible because it makes it less fluffy)
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