Textile Felt making

What You Will Need

• large, round-stick sushi mat
• piece of small-bubble warp, a bit larger than the mat
• tutu net, a bit bigger than the mat again
• merino wool top in any choice colours you like, but it should be approx 25-30gms
• warm water in a bowl or a cup
• soap
• scraps of wool yarn and open weave fabric
• Maybe paper to cover the table from getting wet

What to do

When all those things are prepared, fold paper in half and spread it on the table-where you are working. Or just spread the sushi mat out on the towel and then add the bubble wraps, making sure the bubbles if up, over the paper or sushi mat.
Take a piece of merino wool top. about 45cms long then divide it down the middle, lengthwise, to make two easy-to-use lengths. From one of these lengths, pull a tuft of wool and place it on the bubble warp. Here is a visual image of what the texts explained.

To pull off a tuft of wool, hold a length 8-10cms from the end, and with your other hand, hold the end of the length between your fingertips and your palm, then pull carefully-because if you pull too firmly the wool will resist you.

This is the first wool laid-make sure when you laid out the wools,

 they should ran horizontally.

Keep putting the tufts of wool on the bubble warp, with the fibres running in the same directions, until you have completed a row. Then start over from the left, making another row, and other until it is a rectangle wool, like shown in this image. You can also lay brown paper underneath the bubble wrap.

To get an even coverage of wool, gently overlap the tufts. 
Second tufts of wools layout in the first row

Make a second layer, however this time the wool fibres should run the opposite direction. On the first layer the fibres ran west to east, but on the second layer the fibres will run north to south. It is your decision to use whatever colours you desire. But make sure to mix them or you can use a plain coulour. But personal I rather use different colours because you get interesting contrasts and shades.

                 This is the first layer of wool row complete.
After that, make a second layer, however this time the wool fibres must run in the opposite directions. On the first layer the fibres ran west to east, but on the second layer the fibres should run north to south using different colours you desire.

second layer of wood image, finished

                                    This is the third layer with the colours mixed together. 

To mix colours together use two brushes, where you put a section of the fibre onto one side of the brush and then using the free one, cover the one which have the fibre and pull it.

This is the fourth layer. Lay merino wool down running the same way as the second layer. Plus if you want to decorate the felt to keep it from been plain, add scrapes of wool yarn, open weave fabric, wisps of different colours of merino wool on to embellish it, threads and strings.

Get a hot water from a kettle which you will put in a plastic bowl. Take that bowl containing the water over to the sink where you must open the cold water tap and add few drops in so that the hot water could become warm. Get a bar soap after that and take those to the place you are working. After place a tutu net over the wool and gently sprinkle water with it and then run the bar soap over the tutu net. Keep repeating those steps till the wool is saturated. But make sure to not add too much water where the wool could be swimming. Then using your fingers carefully rub over the tutu net or push it down with your fingers until it is flat.

Soon as the wool is flat with all the materials glue together correctly, take off. Turn it around on the other side and rub it again carefully in a circular motion. Showing here, a bubble wrap can also be use to rub over the net in a circular motion for awhile.

After that is done, remove the tutu net from the fibre and carefully place the fibre on the mat showing above this image at the bottom.

When rolling the mat over the fibre make sure the mat is secure tightly over the fibre.

When you roll up the mat over the wool, this is how it will become. When it is in this state, hold the mat between your palms, carefully rub it till you start to see water or fume coming out. Unroll the mat then repeat step nine and ten till you come to this finish piece, picture at the bottom.