BEARy Wet

Okay . . . Saturday morning I felted my bear. If you've never done any felting here's a few tips.

• Set your washing machine for the smallest size load and the hottest temperature.
• Add a little bit (and I mean a little bit) of soap. The soap will help those fibers relax a little!
• Add a pair of jeans (or if you are like me . . . and your jeans will never-ever-ever fit you again after being washed in hot water . . . add a pair of sneakers. You just want something to go through the cycle and 'hit' your piece. It helps with the agitation.
• Check the item before your machine reaches the rinse cycle. If it isn't felted enough for you, turn your machine back to the beginning of the wash cycle. (It will save on your hot water!!)

Here is my bear after it went through the first wash cycle. I took him out to see how much he felted. He was still a little too loose for the fabric I was looking for, so back in he went.

Here is a close up. You can see that it is felted . . . but unfortunately you can't feel it. You will know when it is just right . . . kind of like Goldilocks knew.

Once the piece has reached the consistency you want, take it out of the wash. Don't let it go through the spin cycle . . . it could end up with folds that are hard to get rid of . . . and it could affect your ability to shape it.

Here he is all nicely felted. I took him upstairs to my kitchen sink and rinsed all the soap out of him with cool water. Now it's time to get him ready to dry.

This is the time to squeeze his toes to a nice shape, press his cheeks out, play with his ears . . . make him start to come to life!

I cut up an old towel into strips and stuffed it into his legs and his arms . . . and into his head . . . and into his chubby tummy. 

The material will help draw the moisture out and also helps for him to dry in the right shape.

Tomorrow I will take the towels out and let him finish drying. Then it will be time to give him a face and stuff him. I better start thinking of a name for him!

Come back again to see him get his face!

Until next time, keep your nose in a book or your fingers in fiber.