https://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/felted-wool-flower-scarf • Posted by Stacie G.
I made this scarf for my mom, but I am going to have to make one for myself because I love it so much! Eep!
I made this scarf for my mom, but I am going to have to make one for myself because I love it so much! Eep!
Felting Tutorial: Ok so I want to preface this with the statement that FELTING IS REALLY EASY but it was (still is) a lot of trial and error for me, but usually the errors I made I could fix. You need wispy feeling wool that has been combed out if you want the best results. FOR THE SCARF: I did not use the green wool, I used Green wool fabric. It HAS to be 100% wool for the felting process to work correctly.
First you take your base color and make the leaves or just cut a flower shape out of wool fabric. Then you arrange the wispy wool on top of it kind of like this. There will be a lot of shaping later so do not worry about being perfect. Plus, felting this way is not a precise art. :)
Next you need the center of the flower. Take another color of wool and tie a little knot, make sure it is LOOSE. Then, put the open ends of the knot on top of your soon-to- be flower petals.
Next, mix the hot water and the dish soap together and pour it over the middle of the flower. Knead the knot into place over the rest of the flower. You should do this for 30seconds to one minute. Make sure you do not add too much water, you do not want your wool swimming in it or fibers to float away!
After you have the middle in place, then add water to the rest of the petals and gently knead them like you did the middle. You can kind of shape them into place during this stage.
Next, with a tea towel or 2 paper towels, put one side of the towel on each side of the flower and make a ball. Then, between your hands, gently roll flower (with a towel side, or 2 paper towels on each side) into a ball and knead/roll GENTLY. This is where a lot of the felting takes place so you need to move the fibers around a lot so they stick to each other! (this takes about 2 mins)
Unfold the flower and if you think it is not sticking together very well, add more water and do the previous steps again. Reshape the petals if you wish. This is where the trial and error comes in, you just need to decide what you want your flowers to look like! :)
After you are done, you can either make your flower into a broach, hairclip, whatever! Or you can sew them together like I did into a scarf! If you make a scarf, make sure there are smaller flowers around the neck, otherwise it looks goofy and does not fit right. Good luck, I hope things work out if you try this! Please feel free to contact me on my blog if you want more help! :)