Information provided by Shelby Cefaratti
This is supplemental information for the article “Feltmaking” by Shelby Cefaratti, in the Summer 2000 issue of Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot magazine.
Before you invest a lot of time and effort into any felt project, it is a good idea to make a sample. The sample will become an invaluable tool telling you information about the hand of the felt, percentage of shrinkage to expect and a starting point to figure out how much wool to gather for the project.
Make a flat piece of felt and
record the following information:
| Base | Your sample should be a 12" square—1 oz. of fiber |
| Layers | How many layers did you use? |
| Time | How long does it take to reach the soft felt stage? |
| How much time does it take to reach the hard felt stage? | |
| Final measurement | What are the dimensions of the final piece of felt? |
| Shrinkage formula | (A - B) / A x 100 = percentage of shrinkage |
A = measurement before felting |
(_______- _______) / ________x 100 = X |
B = measurement after felting |
Please reference chapter six of Fundamentals of Feltmaking by Patricia Spark for more information on felting calculations.
More information about feltmaking.
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http://www.weavespindye.org/html/felting.html
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