Oh how I LOVE felt!
I discovered it over a year ago and am amazed at the limitless amount of items that can be crafted from pieces of dyed, carded wool. Be prepared to see many more felt projects created by kids on my blog in the near future.
Since, in this class, I have so many different age groups (from 3 to 8), I decided the first project would be a basic one.
During the games at the beginning of class, I use this little ball to roll to the children:
It's also very nice to squeeze or roll gently in little hands as a type of "stress ball" - hence the name I've come up with "Stress-less Ball"
It was originally made as one of 3 juggling balls by my boyfriend at a festival last year. We met a lovely woman called Emma who taught us how to felt all types of things - juggling balls being one of them.
Just look at all the pretty colours we get to work with today!
Our supplies: The inner ball is made with balloons filled with rice. 1 container hot soapy water, 1 container cold water, laundry tablet bags, Carded dyed wool in layers
The children learned the wool came from sheep, shorn by the farmer, dyed by Kerry Woolen Mills in their factory, posted to me - now ready to be made by the children into felt.
They learned that felt is created by relaxing the fibres of the wool in warm soapy water- like you'd relax in a nice warm bubble bath - scrubbing it between your hand to bind and shrink the fibres. Then you shock the fibres to stick together by putting them into cold water. Needless to say they had great fun with this imagery - I was very pleased that I had plenty of towels and a mop to hand as some imaginations went into overdrive!
Hot, Cold, Scrub, Shrink, Shrink, Shrink.....
TA-DAH!
They also made felt stringy-thingys to tie on their wrists, around their neck or attached to a hairslide and wear in their hair like a dread-lock! This is simply felt rolled in the soapy water, then cold and repeated until fibres are bound together.
And there you have it - the first of many felting projects - Good, clean, wet FUN!
Next week.....willow framed Dream-catchers & Soul Shields!
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