In the quilting world, there is an endless number of things on the market to magically make me become an amazing quilter....I admit to falling into the trap more than once. I love watching videos and going to quilt shows to be mesmerized by demonstrations of quilters' tools. I must admit, I am blown away by the abundance of ingenuity in the quilting world.
Trending this year....the felted wool pressing mat.
Oh, yes, I wanted one when I saw them being used....c'mon, admit it...you did too!
I love my DIY iron board, but what if I had a felted wool pressing mat? Could my quilt pressing be sooooo much more satisfying?I had to know.
This post was created after visiting many online stores placing the magical felted wool pressing mat into my cart only to leave it abandoned in the virtual aisle waiting to be put back on the shelf by the virtual stock person because the DIY voice in my head kept saying, "Hey, I wonder if I can make one?"
I have no idea if my felted wool pressing mat performs like the ones I left abandoned in my cart. I do know that creating this was fun and it felt kind of adventurous because I could find no DIY, made from scratch, felted wool pressing mat tutorials on the world wide web.
So, this is my adventure creating a felted wool pressing mat.....
I crocheted a large rectangle using inexpensive 100% wool yarn. I got tired of crocheting at about 38 x 28 inches and figured that was good enough for my experiment.
After stitching in my loose ends (not sure if this matters but it feels necessary).
I tossed my rectangle into the wash with some towels and set the machine to HOT. I added a drop or two of detergent and closed the lid, pushed start and hoped for the best!
I have some experience in felting so I knew this was going to require patience and a watchful eye. One of the important things to note here is that the spin cycle will create creases in your hours of crochet (don't ask).....do not let your machine go to spin!
It took 5 cycles to get my nicely crocheted rectangle to become
this ---------------------->
I know, it doesn't look very impressive but wait...
Shaving is a very important part of a felted piece's beauty. Shave, shave, shave...a lot!
Shave it some more...trim it and oh my!
It looks like it could be a REAL felted wool pressing mat!
Let me say again, that I don't know if my DIY felted wool pressing mat performs like others but I am pretty impressed with the flatness of my block!
My mat is not as thick as purchased mats but it still works well and I can use it on any surface without worry AND I created a hinge in mine so I can take it with me to classes. I can use it open if I have room or folded if I have a smaller space....HA!...Two sizes in one!
My finished size is 26 x 12. Those of you with math skills can figure the shrink percentage precisely but I'm going say as a general rule make your square or rectangle 50% bigger than the size you want to end up with should you want to go on this adventure.
I love my DIY felted wool pressing mat!
