Felting bags made of wool begins with the creation of a design. The master considers what it should be and what decorative elements will be present on it. Does it mean a valve, a metal fastener, handles made of wool or other material? All these details are worked out in advance when creating a sketch. There may be several sketches, depending on the number of ideas. If felting bags of wool implies the presence of a pattern, you need to select material in advance to create it. After that, you can start building the template.
Determination of shrinkage coefficient
Before starting work, it is important to consider the shrinkage coefficient for those types of wool from which the bag will be made, and take it into account. For different material, it will be different, therefore it is advisable to find out the exact value in practice and pre-dump a small piece.
Most often, masters use carded or merino wool. The material of the Trinity factory is popular among Russian specialists . It produces various types of felting wool. If you already have experience and you know in advance what result to expect from a particular manufacturer, it is best to use its product.
When a mixture of merino and Trinity wool is used for work, the shrinkage coefficient is approximately 45–50%. When using bags made of felted wool from Latvian manufacture for felting, it is necessary to lay from 35 to 55%. Much depends on the skills of the master. With a shrinkage of 50%, the product often looks like a factory one.
The necessary amount of material for the bag
Due to the difference in the shrinkage coefficients of the wool of different manufacturers, it is difficult to say exactly how much material is required per product. For example, for a bag measuring 50 × 50 cm, 300 grams is usually sufficient. For small cosmetic bags and clutches with a width of 20-30 cm - 100-140 grams.
Much depends on the desired effect and quality of the coat. If you are going to make a tough bag that holds its shape well, it is recommended that felting masters use felting. For fine drapery and streamlined configurations you will need Trinity wool, merino or a mixture of them.
How to choose material for the template
After creating the sketch, you need to make a pattern or template for felting bags of wool. Its value should be larger than the total size of the product, due to the shrinkage process. All patterns are increased by a factor that was calculated in advance.
Depending on how dense the product is planned, various template materials can be used. To create a pattern of a seamless felt bag, a substrate for a laminate, bubble or greenhouse film is often used. Such options are inexpensive and easily accessible to needlewomen. And patterns can be used several times, which is very convenient.
For thin felt products, a 1 mm thick backing is also suitable. If it is not, you can use a film for a greenhouse or a bubble film, but for the latter, you need to burst the bubbles in advance so that they do not spread the wool. For denser products, a substrate under a laminate with a thickness of 3 mm is suitable.
Material layout
For beginners, it is best to start felting a bag of wool with an understanding of how to lay out the material:
- At the first stage, the wool is divided into two slides. One of them will go to the front of the bag, the second to the back.
- The combed ribbon is laid out crosswise.
- First comes the horizontal layer, and then the vertical one. The process is repeated several times until the material is finished.
- When working with a card, the classic layout method is most often used: in layers. In this case, the roll is unwound, and, depending on the condition of the wool, first it must be divided into several parts, and then begin to pinch off the strips. They should be sized to hold comfortably in the hand.
- After that, the layout begins. It is similar to the layout of a combed ribbon.
Wet felting bags made of wool: a master class
In this case, it is important to adhere to a horizontal and vertical position so that the coat lies evenly:
- Holding the strip with your left hand, with the right, pull out a piece and, spreading it, we begin to lay out on the template.
- Over the edge of the template, trying to go beyond it by 1.5 cm, you need to put the wool with blunt tips out.
- When through the mesh material with soap will be pressed to the template, it will necessarily shift to the side. Soap at the beginning of work, you can use liquid, diluting a small amount in water, and at the end go to lumpy.
Defect correction
In order to avoid the appearance of gaps, you should be safe in advance and move it yourself. We conduct a “wet” workshop on felting bags. Felting from wool is carried out using special needles and is rather laborious, but this method also exists.
So, after the first row, the second overlaps the first, with a half offset, blunt end to the edge of the template. Each row should slightly overlap the other, otherwise the material will corrode and holes will appear (hereinafter we will tell you how to dump a bag of wool step by step). The number of layers depends on how many grams of material it took to create the product.
The necessary tools for felting
The process of felting bags of wool begins after a full layout. Then, for work, you will need gloves to protect your hands, soap solution and a special mesh:
- Having covered the product with a grid, you need to sprinkle the entire surface with a solution, after which the process of respecting begins.
- At this point, all defects will become noticeable - pits, bends and other irregularities. They can be fixed by adding wool to the right places. After that, with soapy hands we begin to fool.
- Our workshop "How to dump a bag" can not do without special tools. At the initial stage, you can use an ordinary plastic soap dish to help yourself. After removing the template for tamping wool, a ceramic soap dish will work well.
- The inner surface is treated with a special rolling. And also need a ruble. It significantly facilitates wallowing and is used in the last stages.
The process can last several days intermittently. If the product is wet, it will not deteriorate.
Primary bag respect
The material should stick tightly around the template so that it can be easily turned over without worrying that something will shift. After grinding and expelling all the air from the surface, you should turn the product on the other side. Then the following process of felting begins:
- You need to bend the wool over the edges of the template and wrap it completely. Work begins on the reverse side.
- It is important to consider that when the first row is laid out, the edges will already be bent and there will be more wool there. Therefore, the first row should be offset, which will make the thickness of the product uniform. In this case, no additional seams are formed.
Pattern Extraction and Edging
The remaining layers are laid out similarly to the first layout. In order to pull out the template, it will be necessary to cut and process the edge of the semi-finished product in a special way:
- In small pieces of wool, the cut line closes, the edge rests again using soaped hands and a net. It is important to use gloves in this case so as not to shift the layers of material, otherwise ugly scars will form.
- Spread wool with dry hands. Having pressed the edge, do not shift it to the side - just continue felting the bags of wool in the usual way. At this point, the soap works like glue and firmly connects the details of the product.
- Handles can also be cut or rolled.
The product is ready!