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!
Thanks--I may just have to try this!
ReplyDeleteI hope you do! Let me know! If nothing else, the whole felting process is very fun :)
DeleteI really want to make one of these. How much yarn did it take? Also, you don't mention drying it in the dryer after each cycle. Other tutorials I've read about felting wool (sweaters) always put it in the dryer too. I hope you will answer my questions. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI hope you try it! I used about 1 1/2 skeins of 100%wool yarn. But, it really depends on whether you use single or double crochet and how loose or tight you crochet. I've done both single and double crochet and found there to be no difference so I would use double crochet in the future. I did not dry my felted piece after each cycle. In my past experience with felting for bags, I never used the dryer, it lent to the possibility of creases. When I reached my completed felted size, I pressed my piece between towels to remove as much moister as possible and then laid it out flat to dry. If you get lucky enough to have a sunny day, that's a bonus! it usually takes a full day to dry completely. The process takes a lot of patience!
DeleteLet me know if you have more questions...I would love to know if you make one :)
I finally finished crocheting and washing it 6 times. It looks great except the edges are ripply. I noticed your photo shows ripply edges before shaving. How do you get it flat? I tried pressing it with the iron on hottest setting with steam, no difference. It's actually larger than I need - 16" x 20", I guess I can cut it down using the center area. Any hints for the rippling? Thanks
DeleteYes! That's what I did. I trimmed away the ripple using the center of the felted piece. Oh, I'm so happy you gave this a try!
DeleteThanks, I cut it down, there's just a bit of ripple, hopefully it will flatten more as I use it. Also, I ended up using 3 skeins of yarn to crochet it in double crochet, I used "I Love This Yarn" from Hobby Lobby. I still spent much less than buying one since the yarn was 40% off. It measured smaller than yours, yet took more yarn, I must crochet looser than I think. Also, I realized later that when I washed it, I let it go thru a low spin; but I have a front load washer and spinning in it isn't near as bad as a top load washer. Thanks so much for posting your instructions.
ReplyDeleteThe edges definitely have laid down over time. Mine now, has no wave in it at all. I used to have a front load washer and with earlier felting projects, I never let it go to spin, so I can't say if that could have made a difference. I have made three of these now and all have been with slightly different measurement results, so I would say there are no set results. I might just have to make another and be more precise with my process!
Deletewow that doesn't even look like a crochet project in the end! How many skiens of wool did you use? thick yarn or like 3 ply?
ReplyDeletesorry I just read back and see you answered the questions in the comments
ReplyDeleteThis was a fun experiment for me, Karen. In the comments, you can see that one of my readers tried this too. She used more yarn than I did, so it really depends on your crochet style. I hope you give it a go!
DeleteI’m totally going to try this! Off to Michaels when I have a good coupon!
ReplyDeleteI hope you have as much fun with it as I did!
DeleteThank you Suzie for your adventurous spirit and sharing your project with us. I'm going to try with a 100% wool blanket that I got at a thrift store. It is fairly felted already, but I will add it to boiling water and swish around till I think it's felted enough. I'm not sure how I'll make it thick, sewing doesn't seem good to me, maybe glue; I'll think about it. If you have any ideas it would be much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteI looked at wool blankets too! I don't know why you couldn't layer them ( I didn't think about that). Not sure, but I would think you could use either method to layer them, stitching or glueing. Let me know what you come up with and how it worked for you, I'm interested!
DeleteHow did the wool blanket work out?
DeleteI’ve got it done, it’s on it’s 4th or 5th time through hot wash with towels, I think this will be the last! When you ‘shave’ it, just take a razor and literally shave the surface? I am guessing a wool shaver (to remove pulling on clothes) would not be the choice?
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Fantastic! I used both, a battery powered knit shaver and I bought a cheap pack of disposables. Just kept switching from one to the other depending upon my patience level...lol! I'm so happy you are giving this a go!
DeleteThanks, today is shaving day! I will see if I can somehow add a picture here..
ReplyDeleteI have been using my pressing mat a lot and I love it. Thanks again for your instructions.
ReplyDeleteThis makes me soooo happy! I love mine too. Thank you for letting me know you had success!
DeleteThank you for posting your instructions. After much searching, you are the only person I found that made their own mat.
DeleteAnd I am still using my mat! I hope you give it a go, it's such a fun process!
DeleteYou said you put your piece through 5 cycles, but didn't let it spin. Did you take it out before the spin cycle, spin the rest, then put it back in to start over? Trying to figure out how you get the water out to start over if you're not spinning to complete a cycle.
ReplyDeleteOr did you just move the dial back to start over before it got to the spin cycle? So one long cycle.
With my washing machine the water drains at the end of the washing cycle before it spins so I had to be watchful and stop the cycle before it went to spin. After the final wash, I squeezed excess water out by rolling it between towels and then set it in the sun to dry the rest of the way.
DeleteI hope this helps!
Oh this is so cool! I'm mostly a knitter/crocheter and I'm dipping my toes into sewing. I'm trying to get all my supplies but as someone with many hobbies it's adding up quickly, and I don't really have space for an ironing board. I definitely have some stash wool yarn I could sacrifice to something like this instead. Do you think a darker colour would be a problem?
ReplyDeleteI hope you do try it, I love the felting process. I don't think color is an issue. Darker yarn will show more lint but that's what a masking tape roller is for!
ReplyDeleteI am still using my pressing mat. I noticed that after using it awhile, that I was getting scorch marks, so I shaved it again. I have been using an old linen tea towel over it now to prevent the scorching. Seems to be working and I still get the same results when pressing. Also, I found an old wool blanket that I washed in hot water and cut it to fit under my ironing board cover (which is cotton) so for larger items I get to have a wool pressing mat.
ReplyDelete