Patty does wonderful felting, both wet and dry. I love this wonderful lion hotpad she made for me!
Here’s a close-up showing the great detailing in the mane and features. Patty started with a partly wet-felted mat, and a thin sheet of partly wet-felted yellow. She cut the lion out of the yellow, then finished wet-felting it all together. The outline was done with needle-felting. Seaview is having a felting party in February to play more with this technique — this won’t be a regular meeting, but at a private home. Contact us through this website or come to the February meeting if you’d like to join us.
When you are doing wet felting, you need a solution of hot, soapy water. A technique Valerie shared with us at a mini-workshop in 2006 involves using small amounts of very hot water, and scooping up a little liquid soap to coat the hands. Frequently remove the now-cold water from the wool with a sponge or towel, and reapply very hot water from your airpot/Thermos. Scoop up more liquid soap, and scrub (gently) away. Valerie said that you can use liquid dish soap, but she prefers the recipe below.
I like to call it Soap Goop, and it’s from Pat Sparks’ book Fundamentals of Felting. She calls it Cold Soap Gel.
Cold Soap Gel Recipe
1/2 cup powdered White King Soap, or 1/2 cup grated bar soap (can be homemade)
. . . . . plus . . . .
1 gallon very hot water (simmering) — The water must be soft or distilled.
Mix well until all soap dissolves. Allow to cool overnight. Ivory Soap works well for this.
