Guest Author - Lili Pintea-Reed

Every Spring pet owners are often overwhelmed the amazing quantity of pet hair that little Fido manages to shed all over every conceivable object in the house. It can seem really overwhelming. But you can use your pet’s shedding! Yes.. You can make felt.. Now almost everyone has mad felt but perhaps not known it. If you have ever had the laundry day disaster where your good 100 percent wool sweater went through the washer and dryer –you have made felt. It may well have gone from full figure size to that of a postage stamp. Yes –that’s felt – compressed natural fiber. I wrote an article about taking old sweaters (one calls them jumpers in the UK) and making felt from them Make Felt from Old Sweaters Now you can make use of another freely available source of fiber Pet Combings.

I joke to my pets that they can earn their keep (other than hunting mice and bugs) by giving me the shadings and combing to make felt. The basic process works on any natural fiber grown by animals. UKKKKK. You may say! Let’s get real. All animal fiber came from animals much less ….ummm… tidy than the well washed family pet. Pet undercoat which you comb out of the main coat every Spring is actually a high quality fiber similar to cashmere. It can be handspun into yarn for knitting , crochet, weaving projects. I run a Web site where I custom spin yarn from pet combings and make items for doting pet owners.

But anyone can make felt. It is very easy. Its a fun project for kids --- and adults too!

DIRECTIONS:

Preparation:
Wash the pet. If your pet tends to have a "pet odor" rinse with vinegar water or lemon juice water to "de-smell." Or use an odor remover shampoo. Then keep the clean pet from running amok into the mud and leaves until it is dry.

Comb the pet to get the fine undercoat. Take combings and then place in a sack to keep it from blowing off everywhere.

When you have around an ounce of fiber make a sample of felt.

Making a Sample:
Take the once of fiber and place it on either a piece of sturdy cloth or some bubble wrap. Make thin layers of fiber first having most go in one direction until you form a square. Then Make the next layer at right angles to the fiber direction of the layer below until the square is covered. Repeat these fine layers until the fiber is all distributed.

Wet the fluffy fiber square and lightly pat down the fibers. Then take hot soapy water and pour carefully over the damp square. Roll the cloth or bubble wrap with the damp felt in it – rather like a jelly roll. Roll this felt jelly roll for 100 turns. Open and re-soak with hot soapy water. Roll again into a jelly roll and roll another hundred turns. Open and view. It should look like a nice damp piece of felt.

Carefully, flip it off onto a drying rack and let dry. It should have shrunk a good bit and –goodness --- looks just like felt.! Congratulations! You are felt maker. You can use this sample process to make many felt squares for a project, or make a bigger piece using the same methods. You can add other yarn scraps and ribbons to make an "Artwork." The possibilities are endless.

International Felt Makers
Every Spring pet owners are often overwhelmed the amazing quantity of pet hair that little Fido manages to shed all over every conceivable object in the house. It can seem really overwhelming. But you can use your pet’s shedding! Yes.. You can make felt.. Now almost everyone has mad felt but perhaps not known it. If you have ever had the laundry day disaster where your good 100 percent wool sweater went through the washer and dryer –you have made felt. It may well have gone from full figure size to that of a postage stamp. Yes –that’s felt – compressed natural fiber. I wrote an article about taking old sweaters (one calls them jumpers in the UK) and making felt from them Make Felt from Old Sweaters Now you can make use of another freely available source of fiber Pet Combings.

I joke to my pets that they can earn their keep (other than hunting mice and bugs) by giving me the shadings and combing to make felt. The basic process works on any natural fiber grown by animals. UKKKKK. You may say! Let’s get real. All animal fiber came from animals much less ….ummm… tidy than the well washed family pet. Pet undercoat which you comb out of the main coat every Spring is actually a high quality fiber similar to cashmere. It can be handspun into yarn for knitting , crochet, weaving projects. I run a Web site where I custom spin yarn from pet combings and make items for doting pet owners.

But anyone can make felt. It is very easy. Its a fun project for kids --- and adults too!

DIRECTIONS:

Preparation:
Wash the pet. If your pet tends to have a "pet odor" rinse with vinegar water or lemon juice water to "de-smell." Or use an odor remover shampoo. Then keep the clean pet from running amok into the mud and leaves until it is dry.

Comb the pet to get the fine undercoat. Take combings and then place in a sack to keep it from blowing off everywhere.

When you have around an ounce of fiber make a sample of felt.

Making a Sample:
Take the once of fiber and place it on either a piece of sturdy cloth or some bubble wrap. Make thin layers of fiber first having most go in one direction until you form a square. Then Make the next layer at right angles to the fiber direction of the layer below until the square is covered. Repeat these fine layers until the fiber is all distributed.

Wet the fluffy fiber square and lightly pat down the fibers. Then take hot soapy water and pour carefully over the damp square. Roll the cloth or bubble wrap with the damp felt in it – rather like a jelly roll. Roll this felt jelly roll for 100 turns. Open and re-soak with hot soapy water. Roll again into a jelly roll and roll another hundred turns. Open and view. It should look like a nice damp piece of felt.

Carefully, flip it off onto a drying rack and let dry. It should have shrunk a good bit and –goodness --- looks just like felt.! Congratulations! You are felt maker. You can use this sample process to make many felt squares for a project, or make a bigger piece using the same methods. You can add other yarn scraps and ribbons to make an "Artwork." The possibilities are endless.

International Felt Makers
Every Spring pet owners are often overwhelmed the amazing quantity of pet hair that little Fido manages to shed all over every conceivable object in the house. It can seem really overwhelming. But you can use your pet’s shedding! Yes.. You can make felt.. Now almost everyone has mad felt but perhaps not known it. If you have ever had the laundry day disaster where your good 100 percent wool sweater went through the washer and dryer –you have made felt. It may well have gone from full figure size to that of a postage stamp. Yes –that’s felt – compressed natural fiber. I wrote an article about taking old sweaters (one calls them jumpers in the UK) and making felt from them Make Felt from Old Sweaters Now you can make use of another freely available source of fiber Pet Combings.

I joke to my pets that they can earn their keep (other than hunting mice and bugs) by giving me the shadings and combing to make felt. The basic process works on any natural fiber grown by animals. UKKKKK. You may say! Let’s get real. All animal fiber came from animals much less ….ummm… tidy than the well washed family pet. Pet undercoat which you comb out of the main coat every Spring is actually a high quality fiber similar to cashmere. It can be handspun into yarn for knitting , crochet, weaving projects. I run a Web site where I custom spin yarn from pet combings and make items for doting pet owners.

But anyone can make felt. It is very easy. Its a fun project for kids --- and adults too!

DIRECTIONS:

Preparation:
Wash the pet. If your pet tends to have a "pet odor" rinse with vinegar water or lemon juice water to "de-smell." Or use an odor remover shampoo. Then keep the clean pet from running amok into the mud and leaves until it is dry.

Comb the pet to get the fine undercoat. Take combings and then place in a sack to keep it from blowing off everywhere.

When you have around an ounce of fiber make a sample of felt.

Making a Sample:
Take the once of fiber and place it on either a piece of sturdy cloth or some bubble wrap. Make thin layers of fiber first having most go in one direction until you form a square. Then Make the next layer at right angles to the fiber direction of the layer below until the square is covered. Repeat these fine layers until the fiber is all distributed.

Wet the fluffy fiber square and lightly pat down the fibers. Then take hot soapy water and pour carefully over the damp square. Roll the cloth or bubble wrap with the damp felt in it – rather like a jelly roll. Roll this felt jelly roll for 100 turns. Open and re-soak with hot soapy water. Roll again into a jelly roll and roll another hundred turns. Open and view. It should look like a nice damp piece of felt.

Carefully, flip it off onto a drying rack and let dry. It should have shrunk a good bit and –goodness --- looks just like felt.! Congratulations! You are felt maker. You can use this sample process to make many felt squares for a project, or make a bigger piece using the same methods. You can add other yarn scraps and ribbons to make an "Artwork." The possibilities are endless.

International Felt Makers
http://www.antel.demon.co.uk/ifa/ifa.htm

North American Feltmakers
http://www.ncn.com/~spider/spark.htm/a>

There are several articles and directions for knit and crocheted felt at:
http://www.woolworks.com