Animal hair was one of the first materials that our ancestors learned to use to create clothes and bedding, which they replaced with modern mattresses.
Especially the art of felting, or, as it is called scientifically, felting was developed among nomads. They resorted to this craft in the manufacture of their homes - yurts - and warm shoes. It was from nomadic tribes that our ancestors learned to felts, which were a real salvation in winter cold.
Today, such ethno-shoes, like other products from natural wool, are in great fashion, including because of their environmental friendliness.
Of course, it is naive to hope that you can immediately learn how to make felt carpets or elegant felt boots that look more like boots. But what prevents you from making slippers from natural wool? Decorated with initials or a funny inscription, they will become an original and exclusive gift to your beloved man, father or grandfather, who will wear them with pleasure and gratitude.
What you need to felting slippers
For the manufacture of such products, it is enough to have at hand a very simple set of tools, such as scissors and a pencil, as well as:
- water
- soap;
- a film with pimples, like the one used for packaging household appliances;
- oilcloth;
- paper.
Wool slippers: master class
On a sheet of paper you need to draw the contours of the feet of the person for whom the shoe is intended. To facilitate the task, you can simply trace with a pencil his old home slippers. Then proceed as follows:
- draw a dashed line around each part with an allowance of 1 cm for shrinkage;
- transfer sketches to oilcloth and cut out;
- carefully wrap the resulting parts with wool for felting in several layers so that they are not visible (try so that the wool does not come off the skein);
- blanks are placed on a film with bubbles;
- a rather saturated soapy solution is prepared and poured into a spray bottle;
- thoroughly moisten the workpieces and cover the free edge of the film with bubbles.
The felting time, during which future wool slippers should be periodically vigorously kneaded with hands, should be about two hours. After that, the film can be removed. Next, you should roll them with your hands until the felt begins to move away from the templates from oilcloths located inside the workpiece.
The process of forming home shoes
When the parts are already well-knit, you can start making slippers from wool.
To do this, cut openings for the leg (the size should be slightly smaller than necessary, since it usually increases during the formation of the product). Then they remove the oilcloth from both slippers and begin to give them the desired shape, constantly wetting the hands in a soapy solution.
This is a rather time-consuming process, which on average can take about an hour. After this period, wool slippers should be washed under running water, squeezed out, cut off the excess parts with scissors and put to dry on the heating battery.
Edging: what you need to work
Felting from the wool of slippers (for beginners it is advisable to choose simple models) can be finished after the shoes are thoroughly washed and dried. However, if you want to make home slippers that will last long enough, then they should be edged.
To do this, you will need:
- brush mat;
- filament needles (No. 38);
- wool for edging (matching the color of slippers or contrasting tones).
How to fringe
For products to last longer, their edges need processing. It is called a fringing, and in order to produce it, you need:
- tear off a piece of wool and stretch it a little;
- beat with a needle on the outside of the slipper along the edge of the cut;
- raise a strip of wool;
- to lead it over the edge and inside the slipper, nailing and leveling the needle from all sides;
- process the second slipper in the same way;
- Steam both slippers with an iron using a cloth.
The last operation should not be performed if it is supposed to decorate the products with embroidery, since the needle does not penetrate well through the heat-treated wool.
Next, you need to sew the soles with heels, which will make the slippers more comfortable to wear.
Dressing
To make home slippers made of wool not only warm and comfortable, but also beautiful, they can be decorated. There are many ways to do this. For example, on the front side of the upper part you can embroider the name of the one for whom slippers were made. Another option is to make an application. To do this, you can sew or stick pieces of fabric cut in the form of flowers or leaves, or make parts of wool of a different color by felting. Volumetric jewelry will look especially beautiful.
As for warm children's slippers, which can also be made by folding wool, it is best to stick figures of animals and cartoon characters carved from fabric on them and sew them around the edge with colored threads.
Homemade wool shoes: what you need
When you master the art of felting, you can take on the creation of more serious products. For example, try making slippers made of camel wool or pointed shoes in ethnic style. In the latter case, the product will have to be decorated with embroidery, as well as sewn at the top of the cuffs, knitted from thick yarn of the same shade or color of the future decor.
In addition to spun wool, you will also need:
- medium-thick laminate or other similar material for making the template;
- water;
- bamboo mat;
- laundry soap;
- grid;
- needle and knitting needles;
- yarn;
- leather.
How to make wool shoes with curled socks
Work on such a rather complex product begins with the manufacture of the template. For this:
- circle the leg;
- measure in length;
- multiplied by 0.5 (the resulting figure gives an increase, which should be taken into account when cutting the template);
- an increase in width is also calculated;
- cut out a pattern resembling the shape of a felt boot, but without ankle, with a high heel and a curved nose.
Now proceed to the layout. 200 g of wool is used. They are laid out in two layers: one along and the other across.
Then:
- cover the template, hidden on both sides with wool, a mesh on top, then watered with warm water;
- press it with her hands, soap and stroke her fingers;
- after 10-15 minutes, the mesh is removed and processing continues;
- turn the workpiece over and begin to stroke it with your hands now on the other side;
- they draw the excess along the contour and ensure that they are thinned;
- wrap them on the workpiece and rub in again, paying special attention to the nose so that holes do not form on it;
- lay out 2 more layers of wool on each side and repeat all operations;
- cut both slippers from the heel towards the toe and take out the template;
- rub the product inside and out with your hands;
- make out the toe and heel, giving the sneaker the desired shape;
- I begin to roll the product, rolling it into a roll in different positions.
The latter procedure requires special attention and patience, since the quality of slippers depends on it. It is recommended to roll first in all directions 50 times, pressing not too hard, and then - 100 times more intensively. In this case, wool slippers should be moistened periodically with hot water and washed.
At the end of the process of creating slippers, they are put on pads. If there are no ready-made ones, it is possible to make such a device from a synthetic winterizer, which is wrapped with tape, giving the desired shape.
Cut the edges of the slippers and wipe where necessary. Then the products are rinsed in a washing machine and squeezed (no more than 400 revolutions). After that, the slippers are put on the pads again and dried. When they dry, sew a leather sole.
On 5 knitting needles knit elastic in 40-46 rows. Fold it twice in length and sew to slippers. Embroidered on the surface of products, including curved socks, ornament with threads of contrasting color.
If you don’t like the shape of the sneaker, then you can make shoes of a more familiar silhouette.
Now you know how to slip slippers from wool (the master class is presented above), and you can please your dear men or children with a useful gift.