Try this free wet felting project for beginners tutorial if you are new to wet felting. In this tutorial you will learn the basics of wet felting while creating a beautiful wall hanging that can be framed or used like a piece of fabric to create anything you like. I will cover what equipment and materials you need and go through the step by step process to complete this simple wet felting for beginners project. Felting is a kid-friendly activity, and can be done indoors or outside.
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What is wet felting?
Wet felting is the process of creating a wool fabric from wool fibers using water, heat and soap. More information on how the fibers interweave and lock into place can be found on wikipedia.
How to wet felt
Tip: Give yourself at least 5 hours to complete this project. As you become more fluently with your new felting skills you will be able to complete your felting projects in much less time.
Supplies needed
To begin, we need to gather some felting equipment, you may have most of this lying around the house. Other equipment can be purchased, however, I recommend trying wet felting out at least once to know for sure you like it before investing in good equipment.
Felting mat (such as bubble wrap) Square sheet of paper (8 inches by 8 inches) Jar or spray bottle Pool noodle Mesh screen Large bowl Liquid soap (I used Murphy’s oil soap) Plastic bag Plastic sheet Two towels Sponge (optional for soaking up water) Knee pads (optional)
Supply notes:
I use an 8 cm diameter pool noodle Bowl should hold about 4 L A plastic shopping bag will do I used a thick plastic pillow case bag for the plastic sheet The towels are for under the felting mat and one for drying your hands Knee pads are highly recommended if you felt on the floor like I do
Choose your wool
Now for some creative decisions! You’ll need to source some wool. The options are endless and knowing what to use can be a challenge. My recommendation for your first time is to use something that felts easily and quickly.
For this project I suggest using merino felting wool. Roving is generally sold by the ounce, 1, 2, or 3 ounces. This is actually quite a lot of wool to invest in if you are unsure of your commitment to the hobby.
To save you come money I recommend buying a fiber sample pack such as the assorted merino roving and mixed fiber sample pack. This 7 oz fiber sample pack will give you a range of wool colours and different fiber types to experiment with.
In the picture below there is 1.5 oz of my background wool (the turquoise and purple) and almost two oz of the silk top which I will use for the decoration (blue, white and green).
You are unlikely to need this much for the decoration, but I would recommend having about of at least three colours to make 2.5 oz total.
The silk top is optional, but if you are interested in adding a beautiful texture and shimmer to your creation, I recommend mulberry silk fiber.
Directions
Step 1. Get set up
Tip: If you decide to felting outside, lay the wool out inside the house so a breeze or a puff or wind doesn’t blow the fibers around. Then, move the party outside once the fibers have been wet down in place and are not going to be blown about.
Lay your towel down with the 12 inch square piece of paper in the middle. Then place one piece of bubble wrap on top, bubble side facing up. The piece of paper will serve as a guide for the edges of the roving.
Step 2. Pulling the fibers
The fibers need to be pulled in small bits called shingles. That’s right, like shingles on a roof. To do this first tear the roving down the middle into two long pieces, then again so you have 4 long strips. Then hold one length of the wool loosely between your thumb and fingers about 10 cm away from the end. With your other hand, use your thumb and index finger to gently tease out the wispy end of the fiber in one motion.
Your shingle should be wispy, about 1 cm in width and at least 5 cm in length. Keeping your hands loose and being gentle is important to avoid breaking the fibers into short sections.
Although this technique is being taught in ‘wet felting for beginners’ it is the technique you will use for almost all of your felting projects, no matter what skill level you advance to. It is that important.
Step 3. Laying the wool fibers
Working from left to right layout small shingles of the wool in one direction in overlapping rows. When you gently tease the roving out you’ll notice that the edge under your thumb has a straight edge and the other is much more irregular. It is important that the edge of your felting is lined with the straight edge.
Step 4. The second layer
Once the first layer is created you will create another layer on top with the shingles facing 90 degrees to the first layer. Again, remember the rows of shingles should overlap one another.
If you would like to see a 13 minute video on how to lay your wool fibers out, check out Katia Mokeyeva’s tutorial.
Step 5. The third layer
A third and final layer is needed. This layer should be 90 degrees (perpendicular) to the second layer, i.e. the same direction as the first layer.
Step 6. Reinforce the edges
To finish off the third layer, reinforce the edges. To do this, add a single row around the edges. Each shingle should be perpendicular to the layer below.
Step 7. Sprinkle on warm soapy water
Add a teaspoon of liquid soap to the jar and fill it with lukewarm water.
Lay the fly screen gently over the wool and make sure it covers all edges.
Take the jar of warm soapy water and slowly pour it down the back of your hand and fingers as you move it above the fly screen.
Step 8. Spread the water
To spread the water and soak all the wool, take a plastic shopping bag and scrunch it up into a ball. Gently rub the shopping bag around the top of the fly screen to spread the water, adding little or no weight to bag. The fly screen should not move. Do this for about 1 minute.
Step 9. Mop up excess water
To remove excess water lay a towel down over the fly screen and gently press down. We want to leave some water behind so that the wool is wet but not enough that is leaking from the edges.
Step 10. Remove fiber glass screen
Now gently lift off the fly screen by peeling it away from one edge. Make sure that the fibers are not moved in the process. If the fibers stick to the screen you may need to re-wet as in Step 5 and leave more water in step 7.
Step 11. Add decorations to the wool
Now it is time to decorate the piece. So far, we have just created a ‘blank canvas’. The design you use is up to you. You can easily add or remove bits of wool as the background is separate at the moment due to the process of wetting it down first. Once you are happy with your decorations repeat steps 5 to 8 to wet down the decoration layer. If you are looking for ideas, I recommend checking out pinterest, to see many beautiful felted landscape wall hangings.
Step 12. Begin felting
It is time to being felting. First, we must create a felted skin on the piece. This is important so that we can increase the agitation later on and avoid creating holes or moving the decorations. It is important to be very very gentle initially. To do this, lay the other piece of bubble wrap (bubble side down) on the piece. Then take a sheet of clear plastic bag and lay that over it.
Gently roll the pool noodle over the piece. This will spread the soapy water and add pressure to help create that felted ‘skin’ on the surface of the wool. Do this for about a minute.
Step 13. Gently rub the wool
Next, add a little soapy water to the top of the plastic and spread it around with your hands. It is important to add gentle pressure as you rub the piece without moving the bubble wrap or plastic, so you may need to reapply some water and soap as necessary to ensure lubrication. The amount of pressure needed is only the weight of your hands. The middle of the piece will felt faster than the edges so work on the edges twice as much as anywhere else.
Step 14. Do the pinch test
After 10 minutes of this gentle rubbing it is time to check your progress. Lift one corner of the bubble wrap and pinch the top layer of the piece. If the fibers are loose and come away easily you will need to repeat Step 10. If they have formed a felted ‘skin’ then take the clear plastic sheet off and slowly flip your piece over and repeat step 10 on the backside of the piece. As you flip it water is likely to leak out, clean this up from your area with the spare towel. Water management is important wool that has too much water added to it won’t felt as quickly.
Step 15. Roll the felt
With a good felted ‘skin’, it is now time to roll it for a bit. Roll the piece (blubble wrap and everything) up in the pool noodle. If you like you can tie some string around it, but I don’t both because we only do this for a few minutes. Roll it along using both hands. After 30 seconds re-roll it with the piece turned 90 degrees so it shrinks evenly in each direction.
Step 16. Scrubbing the edges
Once both sides have a good ‘skin’ we can start fulling the piece to get it really felt. Start with the edges and once they are done you may find you don’t need to felt the center. This is because as you agitate the edges the middle is also agitated. Remove the top plastic sheet and bubble wrap.
Drizzle on some hot, non-soapy water to a single edge of the piece. Placing the tips of your fingers on the corner gently move the piece back and forth over the bubble wrap underneath. The agitation and heat will quickly felt and shrink the piece in that area so only do this for a few seconds or so before moving up the edge. I like to count to 4 then move my finger tips up along the edge and repeat all the way to the next corner. Once one edge is done move onto the next and add hot water prior to scrubbing it back and forth. Do this until all edges are done.
Tip: Too much water will actually slow the felting process down. So it is important to manage the amount of water there is soaking the felt (and potentially your floor). If there is too much water just cover with the fly screen with a towel or soak it up with a sponge. This is also good way of getting rid of cold water before adding hot water to the felt.
Step 17. Edge management
Once the edges are felted you may notice them become wavy, or the corners may be elongated. The are ways to even out the edges and corners and make them look more regular if you would like, however, there is nothing wrong with leaving them like this. Extra felting is needed in these areas to make them shrink more. If that doesn’t work for you, visit How to finish felt edges and fix mistakes.
Step 18. Rinse the felt with fresh water
Once you are happy with the extent of shrinkage (about 30% of the original size) it is time to gently squeeze out the water, rinse it in cold fresh water to get rid of the soap and iron it. 
Set your iron to steam (or the silk setting if there is silk in your felt) and spend about 10 minutes ironing to flatten out the edges and corners.
Other tutorials you might like
Recommended reading
To learn more about felting and designing and planing felting projects, look no further than the amazing book Creating Felt Artwork: Felting & Stitching by Rosie Pink.
Looking for more felting ideas for kids?
‘The Crafty Crow’ website has an amazing collection of felted art made by kids. Take a look at Cassi’s article Beginning Felting with Kids: 8 Felted Wool Crafts, for other felting ideas for kids crafting activities.