How to felt with crochet motif inside

[france1974]

Hi everyone ! I need some help about a project that I would like to make... See picture of the blue bolero... I know how to crochet and how to felt but I did not have any luck by felting with crochet motif. The fiber don't stick onto the crochet and the result is not neat as the picture... I use alpaca fiber and my crochet motif is made of the same fiber (I used a spindle to make the yarn). I put fiber on the motif and behind it, but the fiber do not felt on the crochet ! Here is some picture of my tesst... see it's not nice

Any advice on how to achive something like this picture ?

[MTRuth]

I wrote a response earlier but then the forum acted up so it got lost. I don't crochet and it's really hard to tell from the photo how it is attached. But it looks so neat to me that perhaps the felt and crochet are made separately and then stitched together?

When I add free motion machine stitched lace to felt, I always stitch loose wool around the edges so the felt has something to grab on to on the stitched thread. I'm not sure how you do that with crochet but perhaps leave loose yarn ends around the edge? The loose ends could then be incorporated into the middle of the felt so they would be covered but would provide stability.

[Shepherdess]

Hi France. Alpaca does not felt as quickly as wool so it will take a little more work. The crochet is very small and tight so it will be harder to felt too. I think if it were me I would felt my piece to the prefelt stage then cut the holes. Put the crochet in and needle felt the prefelt into the edge of the crochet. Add some loose wool the other side and needle felt it into the crochet and the prefelt. The crochet is trying to get smaller and the hole is trying to get bigger. They are fighting each other. You may want to make the hole a little small and bunch the crochet up a little to help with the shrinkage problem.

let us know how it goes.

[lyn]

I agree with Ruth. It looks too neat to have been felted together and the felting process would certainly have made the crochet less precise than it is. So I guess the jacket was made, the crochet was done, the holes were cut then the bits stitched together.

Hats off to the designer/maker - it's beautiful!

[france1974]

thank you everyone for your precious suggestions. I will try tomorrow again and I will let you know about the results