HELPFUL LINKS FOR THE BEGINNING FELTMAKER:

The Felting Forum - an entire forum dedicated to felting.
Feltmaker's List FAQ - a comprehensive list for feltmakers.
Craft Gossip's Felting Blog - felting news and reviews.

SO WHAT IS FELT AND FELTING?

True handmade felt is a non woven piece of matted material made from sheep's wool, alpaca wool, angora goat or rabbit fur, llama hair, or another animal fiber. It is not the same as the acrylic craft squares called felt that is found at most hobby and supply shops.

My felted items are not woven before fulling, or shrinking, but rather are created directly from raw and/or processed dyed fibers through the felt making techniques of wet felting, needle felting, or a combination of both. Wet felting involves applying extremely hot water, soap, and agitation to layers of carded, or combed, wool. The wool will eventually "felt" where the fibers interlock and shrink forming a durable piece of nonwoven material. Needle felting involves using long barbed needles and repeatedly poking at the wool to interweave the fibers and form surface design or sculptural items.

These processes can often times take many hours if not days to complete larger wall hangings, sculptures, and wearable items. Smaller felted items such as jewelry, pins, and wallets also take time and planning along with knowledge of the traditional and modern felt making techniques to complete successfully. I use both skilled processes of wet felting and needle felting, separately and together at times, to create my funky one-of-a-kind felted items.