Keenly felt: at our place, felting rules
11.1.2022
Translation: Eva Francis
A few weeks ago my wife and daughter took up a new hobby: dry felting. We’ve been felting non-stop ever since.
So it’s two weeks before Christmas and time for a family meeting. Time in fact, to discuss this year’s decorations. For the first time ever, we opt to rent our Christmas tree, and in the future we’ll do the same. Besides that, we string a few fairy lights around the house. My daughter folds a paper angel for the front door. Finished. We’re not big on Christmas light displays that flash 24 hours a day.
«Maybe I’ll make a few felt figures too», my wife says casually. That’d be a nice little idea. A sort of souvenir for the guests celebrating Christmas with us. Homemade, not store-bought.
Days turn into weeks
The felting has been going on ever since. The original plan to spend two afternoons making figures for our guests must’ve quickly gone out of the window. The figures my wife and daughter are creating are elaborate. Both of them spend hours with their wool and needles. Evening after evening they sit in the living room, felting. Christmas comes, Christmas goes. There isn’t enough time to finish the figures for our guests.
No matter, they both keep going. The whole enterprise has since taken on some momentum: one figure initially took a whole evening to complete, whereas now they can crank out two within the same amount of time.
And just like that, one fairy after another emerges. Then gnomes, wizards and toadstools. Pipe cleaners turn to arms, legs and walking poles. Sometimes styrofoam balls serve as heads. Some figures get a hat, others a flower in their woollen hair. The felt is taking over. What started out as an offhand comment has since mutated into a veritable production line with no end in sight.
My wife says there’s something meditative about dry felting. She can switch off and lose herself in it while also being creative. What’s more, she appreciates the fact that she can dedicate herself to just one activity. At long last, an end to multi-tasking. Maybe she’ll listen to one more podcast as she works. Done.
My daughter likes the fact that she can create such amazing figures with just a few pieces of equipment. At the moment she’s quite taken with various Disney princesses. After «Belle» from «Beauty and the Beast» and a figure that looks like Rapunzel, more will apparently follow.
But what will my wife make next? «Now I want to try out some other new things. Egg warmers, pot stands and stuff like that,» she says, smiling.
Long live the felt!
What you need to start dry felting
Felt set for beginners
Here’s how it works
During dry felting individual strands of wool are packed together until a sturdy structure or body is created. Felting needles are long, thin and tipped with a fine barb. Find out more in the following video.
Patrick Bardelli
Senior Editor
Patrick.Bardelli@digitecgalaxus.chFrom radio journalist to product tester and storyteller, jogger to gravel bike novice and fitness enthusiast with barbells and dumbbells. I'm excited to see where the journey'll take me next.
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