Another Icelandic Project

For my Fibre of the Month sample and project I used Icelandic tops.. in the post I mentioned that I also often used Icelandic Kemba batts from Alafoss in Iceland.  Now I haven't felted a sample square of the Kemba as yet, but I have felted this pair of boots and recorded the shrinkage..

These have a pair of our beech branch buttons :)

Turquoise and chartreuse Icelandic wool
with duck egg blue leather soles

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Weight of finished boots: 290g

Finished flat size:  54cm  (long edge of both boots together, including waste)  x  28cm (heel/toe)

Resist size: 70.5cm x 36cm

Shrinkage:  23% x 22%

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I do love using these batts!  They come in a lovely range of colours and felt beautifully.  

For slippers I break strips off the batt and pull tufts from the strip, laying it down much the same as I would for tops. It's easier to keep a uniform thickness to the layers this way.  Also I find that you don't need to overlap the edges of the tufts as much as with tops.. so long as they are snug up against each other, and maybe overlapping just a tiny bit they are fine.  I think this is because the fibres aren't lying all neatly going in the same direction as they do with tops.  With the batts even though there is a dominant fibre direction they are quite higgledy piggledy.  I think the batts felt is easier to mould into shape too, it seems to be more pliable.

xx