Wet Felting Experiment

This isn't just about experiment with wet felting, it is also about recycling!  It has been so unseasonably warm that I just wanted to be outside and doing something that I thought would have to wait until early summer!

I saw somewhere else on the internet that someone re-used dry lint and used it like wool roving.  Of course, I don't know where that little tidbit is and I can't remember exactly what she did.  However....I thought I would just "try" it anyway and see what happened.  It is an experiment anyway so if it failed I would just try another method, or process.

I bought a wood reed placemat from the dollar store.  I purchased the least colourful one in case the colour rubbed off.  I'm not so sure it would matter since the lint is so dark anyway

I got my tub of soapy water - just ordinary dish detergent and sprinkled it all over the lint.  After I had tried my first bit of rolling, I then realized that I had forgotten something!  I had forgotten the plastic wrap!  Oh no, it turned into an icky blob!!!!!!!

I had to start over from scratch.  Don't forget to pour some soapy water over the sandwich and rub with your hands to get all of the lint inside the sandwich nice and wet.  Pour the soapy water overtop as well, the soapy water helps to make your fingers slide over the plastic a bit easier.

As you can see in the picture above adding the plastic wrap and making the lint sandwich was better but not quite right either.

I really to do wish that I had kept a link to the website or blog where using lint in felting was used!  If anyone finds one please add it to comments! 

So, I started over and added a layer of lint, added the netting, then another layer of lint overtop.

Lots of rolling action and voila!

Netting added

 Rolling, rolling, rolling on the placemat sandwich and......

more rolling to get the friction needed to get the lint material felted to the netting.  I then turned the "sandwich" upside down and rolled it as well and again turned the sandwich piece clockwise to get the movement and friction at a different angle. 

It seems to be working!!!  It looks like the lint is fusing to the netting.

Okay, so here is my "felted sheet" waiting to dry on the placemat.  Not sure when I will get back to it but I will report back on how this experiment has gone.  I am wondering if it will be strong enough to add embellishments without  falling apart!

If I do this again I will add threads and other miscellaneous fibres to the mix as I think it would help stabilize and strengthen this new "fabric" sheet.   No, I think I will change that "if" to "when" I try this again.  I will have to collect more lint though, it certainly does use up quite a bit.  I just re-used a plastic freezer bag and left it beside the dryer.  Unfortunately, the ways things are going there won't be as much opportunity to put stuff in the dryer, I will likely be hanging my clothes out on the line with the recent arrival of weird but wonderful warm weather!

There is a give-a-way at a blog that I follow so I am trying to figure out how to link to her blog so that you can see it and enter too.. so go and see Shannon to enter


http://musingsonrealities.blogspot.ca/2012/03/have-you-entered-giveaway-yet.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter