Well I hit the ginger nut biscuits hard & am feeling much better now :o)
I joined the fun with the `join in & Make` on Working with Felt for these slippers, & followed the tutorial on there. Its the first time Ive felted slippers, and really enjoyed making them (hard work though - they took the best part of 7 hours). I decided to use Norwegian wool fibre as Ive heard that it is harder wearing than merino, its certainly coarser. I did my usual thing of jumping straight in, and allowed for the same rate of shrinkage as merino... This did not shrink anywhere near as fast as merino! So I really had to work them to get them to the right size. I thinks thats a good thing though; I really love the texture of the felt & it is very dense and hard - feels perfect for footwear.
I used mostly grey fibre, but for the 7th & final layer I used white for humbug stripes. So now they are dark and light grey stripes.
I have just finished sewing the leather soles on. I can imagine a viking wearing these for some reason. Cant wait for Gary to get home & try them on...
4 comments:
They look lovely, hope he likes them! I love the greys!
We just got some shoe lasts to try felting around. I had found a site a while ago which showed you how to do it straight onto the lasts and then put them through the washing machine....but now can't find it again!!
I did actually have a go at making a pair in that way a couple of years ago, I made a couple of mistakes; used merino & only did about 4 or 5 layers, they were just way too soft...like thick socks. Rachael likes them though.
I personally found that method really fiddly... For me making them with a resist, then shaping them was easier. I`ll see if I can track down the info I had on the polystyrene last/washer method, for you.
I made lasts of Garys feet for these slippers; put him in thin socks, sellotaped his feet up, slipped the socks off then stuffed em :o) I got that from Helens blog at www.deeplyfelt.com, who in turn got it from www.sallypointer.com costume page
They came in useful for size & shaping ... I still had his feet here even though he was at work :o)
I think we will probably try the resist method and then put them on the lasts at the end just to shape them. After felting polystyrene eggs in that method I could image a whole foot would be really tricky to do!! We will have to have a play and see what works soon as my other slippers have completely worn out!!
Gorgeous slippers, my hubby would love them to, especially as he's a viking desendant hehehe
And ginger nut bikkies, oh yummmmmmmmm there a need not just a want lol
xoxoxoxo
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