wet felting a doll bed

[simplynaturalfarm]

Do you guys have recommendations for wet felting a small doll bed? My daughter requested  dolly bed for her birthday and I was pondering it last night as my Mum made the other girls material beds that have handles (kind of like a softish sided bassinet with cardboard in between material to stiffen the sides), and I wondered if I could do the same thing with felt. I've never made a hard sided project besides boots and this would be more like a moses basket bassinet. Is it possible to make it stiff enough to have the sides (only about 8 inches deep) stand up? I've seen those cat caves and pods and think I just would need to work it long enough and carefully stretch and work the edges up and then probably figure out how to prop the sides up stiffly while they dry. I haven't seen anybody wet felt a large basket so maybe this is not doable, but I thought I'd ask you all. 

It would be something like this but larger - maybe 12 inches wide and 16 long. 

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And suggestions on resist pattern - should I start out with a large large oval, cut the opening (like one would a bowl pattern) and then work the sides and cut the top to whatever size I like? 

[MTRuth]

This is certainly doable. You will need to do fairly thick layers and felt it really hard.

[Shepherdess]

I think If it was me. I would do a base and the sides and then sew them together around the bottom. I think it would be easier to get the flat bottom and the steep sides in the shape you want.

[simplynaturalfarm]

That is doing it the easy way *G*. Just think how much easier felting would be with a flat sheet to work!

[Shepherdess]

I would do the side in one piece over a resist so only a little cheating.

[simplynaturalfarm]

Well, it is not completed, it needs to be trimmed, rinsed and shaped, and I might try to felt the sides a bit shorter which is why the stars on it appear to high - I wanted about 9 inch sides, and they are 12 inches right now. I did make a test one that did not shrink like this - this one started out with a 77 inch circumference which was 40% larger than the final product, but I can work almost anything down to the size I want, so I'd rather it be too big. This stuff shrunk like nothing and I lost over 55 % on the circumference but not the depth which is where I need a bit to shrink. I was very careful not to over work that direction, but it wanted to shrink there.  It was Tas browns and 56 from RH Lindsey.

The doll is a bit tight in it, BUT while she asked for a doll bed, she is not really a doll person so I don't expect her to use it much so I'd rather it not be taking up a lot of space.  I decided to felt it in one resist which was a challenge, I used roving which took me hours to do (I am used to batts and AY YI YI it takes a LONG time to put down roving on a 77 inch product - I have much better appreciation for the blanket and rug makers!) and I foolishly started at 9:30 PM last night . . trying to do this secretly when the birthday girl is not around is pretty impossible. So I started it while she was awake and worked on it til 2AM.

I wanted a bit of a white chocolate kit kat look, so the striped edges are intentional. They need to be trimmed and reworked and my 11 year old wants to do a dark brown crochet top trip so I'll think about it - I love how "natural" and bumpy it is. Some of the "embellishments" did not stick, so I have needle felting to do - I have never added embellishments before and have to do a bit more practicing, but it came out nicely and I can needle felt to fix the things that didn't work. I have nothing but natural colors here as we are allergic to a lot of things including many dyes, so it had to be in natural browns, whites, tans and blacks, but I like it so much I'm going to make myself one for a bag!

it is very intimidating to post pictures here because you guys are absolutely incredible and I just do plain practical things while adoring all of your wonderful creativity from afar and wishing I could zap just 1% of it for myself.

[Pandagirl]

You did a great job for a first time. I'm sure she'll love it. Boy that's dedication working on it until 2 am. Don't worry about sharing pictures. We all still have projects that don't turn out as expected. That's how we learn and grow as artists. And we're here to help.

[lyn]

What an achievement! You should be proud. It looks grand and I love the colours and embellishment. The way you write about your felting shows an enthusiasm that will take you a long way.

Oh, and by the way, I don't think you're alone on this forum when it comes to doing mad things like starting a project late in the evening and working into the early hours (ask me how I know).
And please don't ask me how many things I've felted that have never been seen by anybody else but they were essential in teaching me lessons.

[chookie2]

I am sure your daughter will love it. Original and well thought out- well done you! And the 2am thing -yep.

[simplynaturalfarm]

I don't bounce back from those 2 AM things like I used to so try not too often, but my husband has come wandering out a LOT of times with a "are you serious" look in his eyes when I am standing at the table with a project and he says 'You are doing this now?" LOL

When else is there time? *G*

I actually worked it more and it looks a lot nicer, but now smaller and my 11 year old said "That would make a very nice craft basket." So, she suggested I show it to the birthday girl and offer to make a slightly larger one and we'll transform this one into a craft basket with three sections and multitudes of pockets on the inside - she loves sewing baskets and has things everywhere, so I think this is turning into hers .

It is quite heavy. I normally weigh the wool for my project (If nothing else to be sure both sides have same quantity of wool), but I did not weigh this and I'm curious to know how much I ended up using. I am contemplating how to dye the wool - we have tons of beets in storage and my daughter loves pinks, reds and purples so I might be able to do the next bag with color.

Thank you for the encouragement.

[Shepherdess]

The bed turned out great, maybe she just needs a smaller doll.
You are better than me, I can not do 2am things anymore.
Do not try to dye with beets. It looks like such a good idea but it quickly fades to a dull gray. If you want natural and pink try some cochineal or madder for or alkanet for purple. The craft bag idea is a great one. Your shrinkage problem may have been in the layout. did you have more layers along the length then up and down?
We have all had and continue to have things that do not turn out the way we intended.

[Shepherdess]

I just remembered Marilyn got a nice pink with avocado skins. Here's the link. feltingandfiberstudio.com/2016/02/13/dyeing-with-avocado-skins-part-2/

[MTRuth]

The basket/doll bed turned out great. Sounds like you worked out the problems you had and learned a lot. That's the important thing. Please do post your photos, everyone starts out as a beginner and we were all there at some point. Plus as Lyn points out, we still make our own goofs and errors that usually get recycled into something else.

[viltmaaraan]

I love the doll bed too, great for your daughter, she can take it everywhere ! Love it.

[simplynaturalfarm]

I tried really hard to evenly lay everything down both directions, and I did the same number of layers going both ways, but it was roving and took me hours to do as many layers as I did. I also will add I threw it in the dryer at the end and it made it much harder, but yes it shrunk it some more, but she just scrunches her doll in it. And then hauls her legos around in it when it is time to build things, and stores odds and ends in it.