Booklist
Wool felt is a textural fiber medium that can be manipulated into flat or three-dimensional shapes. Olson focuses here on wet felting, which transforms raw wool fleece into cloth using water, soap, and agitation. As it becomes cloth, it can be handled to form flat pieces that will be recognizable as felt fabric, or into other shapes that can be used as embellishments. A short section also describes needle (also known as dry) felting, which uses barbed needles to tangle the fibers of several pieces of wool fleece, combining them into one solid piece of felt. Included are 12 projects inspired by Alice in Wonderland and the feel of that fantasy world. Some are purely decorative, such as a felted teapot and teacups, while most are also utilitarian, including a pincushion, egg cozies, a handbag, slippers, and more. An overview of the techniques and materials is illustrated with clear photographs, as are the projects, which include step-by-step directions and materials lists. A large sheet of templates is folded and tucked into a back pocket.
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Make your own felt with wool tops and use it to make twelve fairy tale and Alice in Wonderland inspired projects. This book covers various felt techniques from simple flat work to using a mold and adding surface details. All the patterns are on a sheet in a handy pocket inside the back cover where they can be kept once cut out for future use.
This is an ideal book for anybody who has complained about the poor quality and limited color range of acrylic felt. If you make your own it can be as thick as you need it to be as well as patterned or shaped. All you need to start are wool tops, a bamboo mat and various household items. The first part of this book is dedicated to showing how to do all the methods in easy to follow stages. All the photographs are a good size and it is simple to see what you need to do for each step. This is not a craft I have attempted or knew much about (wool allergy) so I was surprised how little you needed to buy to make your own felt or how easy a technique it is to master. Once you know the basics you can make variegated felt, embed wool shapes for a patterned look, use resists and molds and needle felt for more detail. The projects are pretty and rather impressive, the type of things that would make great gifts. From the beautiful floral teacozy on the cover to the lovely bag on the back you can also make a lampshade, peg bag, egg cozies, pincushion, sewing case and even slippers or bootees. Try a few basic embroidery stitches (more clear diagrams) but mostly this is not a book about sewing and a machine is not used, just a needle and thread. Items which look as though they might have been sewn together are usually constructed using 3D molding methods so you dont have to be keen on sewing to make these items. This is a very user-friendly primer that is accessible to the total beginner.
