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Post by blueberry on Mar 14, 2012 14:51:14 GMT
I've got all my bits and pieces together, I've bought and read the fab rosiepink e-book and I'm all set to try some wet felting ;D
I have a question...I've dug out some silk caps that I had stashed away and I was wondering if I could use them in my wet felting?
And if so, how? Do I tear the fibres apart? Will they survive?
Thank you in advance x
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Post by MTRuth on Mar 14, 2012 17:02:44 GMT
Sarah - what fun! I can't wait to see how you like it. What kind of wool are you using? Silk caps are very easy to wet felt onto the surface of your wool. Most of the time they don't even require any extra wool to hold them down. Silk caps come in very thin layers but usually when you buy them they are all stuck together. I pull the very thin layers apart and then lay them on top of the wool to be felted. For your first time, you might want to put very thin wisps of wool over the areas of the silk cap so that you make sure it felts into the wool easily. The silk cap will give you a beautiful surface sheen.
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Post by zed on Mar 14, 2012 17:39:49 GMT
I've only used sik hankies, which are similar. This is a couple of laeyers of merino with a whole silk hankie on top  Silk Hankie by zedster01, on Flickr you can pull them apart to make roving, which you can cut to the length you want.  Roving from silk hankies by zedster01, on Flickr poke a hole in the middle, then pull apart with your fingers |
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Post by blueberry on Mar 14, 2012 19:58:38 GMT
Thank you for your replies, and Zed for the photos!! I'm must confess I'm not sure what roving is though...  Thank you for the tips, I'm definitely going to include some silk! I really can't wait to have a go ;D |
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Post by Shepherdess on Mar 15, 2012 3:20:29 GMT
What people call roving is actualy combed top like in your avitar picture. Roving is just one step less in the prossess.
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Post by Shepherdess on Mar 15, 2012 3:23:42 GMT
I use caps on hats. if they get lost in the wool you can shave the surface with a disposable razor. shave it and the silk will show again.
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Post by zed on Mar 15, 2012 8:48:34 GMT
I don't know if there's a correct name for the silk hankie roving, it just means that it stretches out into long strands when you pull (a loop really) I do have a little photo tutorial I made for another site. I'll make a pdf and put it on the studio site.
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Post by zed on Mar 15, 2012 11:52:22 GMT
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Post by Shepherdess on Mar 15, 2012 12:29:41 GMT
Nice how to Zed. A tip I got from someone was to gently bounce the pull on the edges to get them to let go and stretch out. It works for me the thick edge sometimes doesn't want to stretch out. once you get it started it goes easy. Silk caps don't seem to have as much of and edge.
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Post by blueberry on Mar 15, 2012 14:17:01 GMT
Brilliant tutorial thanks! Hopefully even I can manage that  And thanks for the tip about shaving, though not sure my other half is going to feel the same way if I end up blunting his razors hehehe ;D ETA I'm using merino wool |
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Post by Shepherdess on Mar 15, 2012 21:28:24 GMT
I don't have that problem, my hubby has a beard. he hates shaving. I buy the cheap ones 10 for a dollar at the dollar store.
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Post by karen on Mar 16, 2012 2:41:14 GMT
That tutorial is great zed, i dont think i've seen that one before. I always make a mess of silk hankies, they catch on everything lol
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Post by zed on Mar 16, 2012 8:36:37 GMT
My hands are terrible from gardening and wet felting. Silk hankies and microfibre cloths attach like magnets A bit of moisturiser helps. |
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And thanks for the tip about shaving, though not sure my other half is going to feel the same way if I end up blunting his razors hehehe ;D
