Make Felted Wool from Old Sweaters
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Felted wool is a fantastic fabric for doing all sorts of crafts and
sewing projects ranging from making blankets and pillows to creating
custom purses and handbags. The process of felting your own wool is
surprisingly easy. One of the best ways to make felted wool is to use
old sweaters. Not only is using sweaters to make felted wool
economical, but it is a great way to keep sweaters that would have
otherwise been discarded out of the landfill and put them to good use
instead. Here are some tips on how to make felted wool from old
sweaters.
To get started you will need an old sweater that is at
least 50% wool. You can either use a sweater that you happen to have
laying around or browse thrift stores for sweaters. Even if the sweater
has minor damage it will be fine to use since the fibers will shrink
and hide the damage when you felt it.
Once you have your
sweater begin by cutting off both sleeves and then cutting up the side
seams and across the shoulders to separate the front and back pieces of
the sweater. Also cut up the seam on each sleeve so that the pieces lay
flat rather than in a tube. You should be left with 4 pieces of the
sweater - 2 sleeves and the front and back.
Now you are ready to
felt the wool. Animal fibers like wool tend to mat very easily and
shrink when exposed to hot water which is what makes the felt. As the
fibers catch on one another and shrink the fabric becomes very dense
which makes it ideal for using in a wide variety of crafts. Although in
the past felted wool was called "boiled wool", there is no need to
actually boil the wool. Instead, you can felt it right in your washing
machine.
Put the pieces of the sweater in the clothes washer
with soap and set the cycle for hot wash, cold rinse. What happens as
the wool is exposed to hot water is the fibers shrink like crazy and
the fabric becomes very dense. When you take the pieces of wool out of
the washer they should be very small compared to when you put them in.
If after washing you still want the felted wool denser you can also
toss it in the dryer. This will continue the shrinking process and make
the felted wool tighter and denser.
Allow the wool to dry and
then use it to create or sew new items like pillows, blankets, purses,
or anything else your heart desires. The felted wool is very sturdy,
repels water and hold heat making it a great choice for any number of
crafting or sewing projects.