Felt Bracelet Materials

Series Summary

Felt is a non-woven cloth made by matting and pressing fibers together. Some felt is very soft while other types of felt can be very tough in order to form construction materials. It can be made in any color and formed into any size or shape. Felt is the oldest form of fabric known to mankind and originated before weaving and knitting. Generally, felt is made from taking natural wool fiber and adding soapy water to activate the fibers which are then causes friction and the phenomenon of felting.

In this free video series our expert crafter will teach you how to make a handmade felt bracelet. This unique craft takes natural wool and turns it into soft, fun bracelets. You will learn how to gather felt bracelet materials, lay out the layers of felt and wrap a linen cord with felt to get the bracelet shape. You will also learn how to wash your felt bracelet with soapy water and then form and pinch your bracelet into shape. Finally, get tips for adding designs and rinsing your felt bracelet to create a unique piece of jewelry.

Video Transcript

"Hi, before we start working on our hand felted bracelets, I would like to go through the materials that you are going to need to gather before you get started. We are using wool to make our hand made felt. So you need to get some kind of wool. I have here Marino which comes in a vat form or vatting form. You can buy this prepared especially for felters. It is a little bit hard to find. What might be easier to find is Roving type which comes in a rope type of arrange meant. It is the same thing; it is Marino wool. It is very soft. It is not scratchy at all so you can wear it next to your skin. I am also going to use a linen, this is actually a rug warp, but you can use any type of linen or a string that has kind of rough surface. It should not be anything that is too smooth. I am also going to use regular dish soap which is a dish detergent in here. And I am going to use hot water. The hotter the water the faster the felting will go. If you get it too hot, you are obviously going to make your hands uncomfortable. So you do not have to have extremely hot water to do this. You can just use warm water. And that should be all you need. Oh, I have a tray which I am working in. The tray is a little bumpy. That will help us toward the end to give us a rough surface to work against. It also helps keep our water and soap under control so we do not get it all over the table or all over the floor."