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This tutorial has been updated (as of April 2013)
Please click here for the new version
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This tutorial will show you how to make a 3D felted pod using a resist. A resist is usually a piece of thin plastic and is put between two layers of wool to prevent them from felting together.
If you haven’t made felt before, please take a look at our ‘how to make flat felt' tutorial as this pod tutorial presumes a little knowledge of basic wet felt making and the simple materials you will need.
The resist we are using is a circle 17cms in diameter cut from a roll of laminate flooring underlay, but you can use any thin plastic to make your resist.
Place your resist on a piece of bubble wrap on a suitable work surface.
Start laying wool, half on and half off, around the edge of the resist, like sun-rays
(bear in mind that the colour of the wool you use first will be the inside of your pod).
Continue until you have covered the edge right around.
Fill in the middle, laying the fibres horizontally.
Cover with net and sprinkle with tepid soapy water, just enough to make the wool wet, if you over-wet, mop up the excess with a sponge.
Without disturbing the fibres under the net, rub a bit of soap over the surface...
...then agitate gently in a circular motion with your fingertips for a minute (only rub the wool on the resist).
Carefully remove the net, releasing any trapped fibres, then cover the resist and wool with bubble wrap, bubble side to the wool. Gently push down to get a bit of ‘seal’, firmly grip the right-hand side of the bubble wrap and wool ‘sandwich’ and flip it over east to west, so that the resist is now upside down.
Carefully remove the bubble wrap, releasing any trapped fibres.
With wet, soapy fingers, wrap the wool ‘fringe’ onto the resist.
As before, lay wool, half on and half off, around the edge of the resist, like sun-rays.
As before, fill in the middle, laying the fibres horizontally.
Cover with net and sprinkle with tepid soapy water, just enough to make the wool wet, if you over-wet, mop up the excess with a sponge.
Without disturbing the fibres under the net, rub a bit of soap over the surface
then agitate gently in a circular motion with your fingertips for a minute (only rub the wool on the resist).
Carefully remove the net, releasing any trapped fibres, then cover the resist and wool with bubble wrap, bubble side to the wool. Gently push down to get a bit of ‘seal’, firmly grip the right-hand side of the bubble wrap and wool ‘sandwich’ and flip it over east to west.
Carefully remove the bubble wrap, releasing any trapped fibres.
As before, with wet, soapy fingers, wrap the wool ‘fringe’ onto the resist
You now have a resist with one covering of wool on each side.
Now repeat the steps detailed above so that you get two layers of wool on both sides of the resist
BUT
this time fill in the middle so that the fibres run vertically.
The next two layers will form the outside of the pod.
There are many ways to add decoration and this is just one idea.
Choose 3 or 4 colours that you like
then pull off tufts of each colour and blend them together - lay the tufts one on top the other, grip both ends one in each hand and pull apart. Lay the tufts back together and repeat the pulling apart until you are happy with the mix.
Using the blended wool, make four more layers (2 each side) in the same way as before
BUT
When you get to do the last layer on the last side, do not lay out a fringe of wool to be wrapped around – just cover the circle with wool.
This is what you have now – 4 layers of wool on each side of the resist.
This is the time to add anything else you want, for instance, you may want to incorporate Wensleydale curls or silk top.
We put a little white silk top on this pod, but it doesn’t show in the photo as it becomes transparent when wet.
Put bubble wrap underneath and on top and push together gently.
Sprinkle a little soapy water on top of the bubble wrap (to stop your skin sticking to it) then make small, gentle circles all over the wool, cupping your hands around the edges to get friction to the sides as well. After five minutes, turn the whole thing over and rub the other side for five minutes.
Repeat once more, five minutes on each side, re-positioning the bubble wrap each time so that the bubbles are in a different place.
Still keeping your pod between the sheets of bubble wrap, roll it up in a bamboo blind (or, if you prefer, around a pool noodle).
When it’s wrapped and looks like a swiss roll, upend it over a sink to drain away any surplus water.
Time to roll it – roll it gently 30 times, unwrap it, turn it a quarter turn, re-wrap it and roll gently 30 times.
Repeat until it’s been rolled and turned four times.
Turn it over and repeat the rolling four times, turning a quarter turn each time.
Repeat the rolling (gradually increasing the pressure) until the resist starts to buckle.
How you cut the resist out will determine the shape of your pod, but for this tutorial, we cut a hole in the centre of one side (taking care not to cut through the resist and the other side of the pod!)
Carefully remove the resist, and using soapy fingers, rub inside the pod and around the cut edge.
Put the pod back between the sheets of bubble wrap and roll again, 30 times each quarter turn.
Run your fingers around inside the pod to make sure there are no stray fibres felting together then turn the pod over and repeat the rolling.
Now it’s time for the shaping and fulling which can be done with just your hands or with the aid of a tool – here are some that we use:
Baby’s rattle, metal spoon and the plastic ball that measures washing liquid.
Put a sheet of bubble wrap down and make it slippery with soap.
Place your pod on the bubble wrap and ‘work’ it into the shape you want.
The edge (where the wool was wrapped around the resist) will need special attention to shrink the wrinkles.
One way to work specific areas of the pod is get your hands really soapy, then use two or three fingers inside the pod against two or three fingers outside the pod.
Another way is to use your fingers or a tool against the inside of the pod and rub it against the bubble wrap on your work surface.
Just play around and you’ll soon discover the best way for you.
When you are happy with the shape, rinse the pod to remove all the soap and add a little white vinegar to the final rinse.
Squeeze the water from the pod - but do not wring it out – then re-shape it before putting it on a rack to dry naturally.
