If you’ve ever experienced a felting project gone or in the process of going wrong, you can attest to the frustration and disappointment it can cause you. All that wasted time, effort and beautiful wool – what a shame. It may seem like the only option is to start over and try again, or completely abandon the idea and move on to a new felting idea. However, this is not necessary. You have options. There are ways to save your felted art piece. In this guide I will explain 10 ways to prevent and fix the most common felting problems. With these felting hacks, you never need to abandon a project or hide it in the back of the closet until the moths completely devour it.
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# 1. You can’t stand the sight of it
Maybe you chose the wrong colour combination, or the shape is just a bit too ‘funky’ for you, perhaps the image is less like a dog and more like a lama. Maybe you can’t but your finger on it, but you know you hate it. There’s no fixing a bad relationship so my advice is to let is go. Give it away if your not too embarrassed by it, and if you are then see steps ‘2. Re-felting completely felted fabric’ and ’10. Exploring other destinies for your felt’ below.
# 2. Re-felting completely felted fabric
This may surprise you but you can re-felt completely felted fabric. First you must undo all your hard work of coaxing those wool fibers to intertwine and lock during the felting process. This can be done easily by brushing it with a hand carder. The sharp angled teeth of the carder pulls up individual fibers releasing them from the felt. If you have a design on one side that you would like to maintain be careful not to card the underside too much or too aggressively as it will cause holes to occur. Once you have carded the underside, paying particular attention to release the fibers around the edges, you can now either lay your felt on top of a prepared bed of wool or lay wool directly on top of the carded felt and felt away.
# 3. Repairing a hole or a thin spot in your felt
I suggest reaching for one of two things: get the needle felting tool out or your hand carders. To fix a thin spot with the felting needle, turn your felt inside out or back to front. Use the same colour wool on the back and needle felt it in until it is as thick as the rest of the felt. Turn it over and do the same on the front if you need to fix up the design. Once that is done, keep wet felting so that it blends in with the rest of the felt. To use the hand carder, turn the felt over and brush the felt over the thin spot, the fibers will be loosened and should look woolly. Once that is done, lay more of the same wool over the fibers and wet felt it in. To see a full description of these two processes, see ‘How to repair a hole or thin spot in your felt‘.
# 4. Fixing wavy and wonky edges
Wavy edges occur when the center of the felt is felted more than the outer edges. Wonky edges occur when your edge line isn’t straight. There are a few techniques you can use to fix these problems, they are: wash and scrub the edges even more, use a dowel rod to roll the edges, furl the edges, and iron the edges. To see a full description of these processes, see ‘How to fix wavy and wonky edges on your felting fabric‘.
to roll the edges, furl the edges, and iron the edges. To see a full description of these processes, see ‘
# 5. Decorations that won’t stay put
To prevent migrating parts during the felting process there are a few important things to remember: Felt as gently as possible, use felting wool, lay wispy bits of wool in layers, consider whether your felting equipment is causing the problem, and use a needle felting tool to felt it in place. To see a full description of these processes, see ‘How to make unruly decorations stay put during the wet felting process’ (coming soon).
# 6. Sewing – a useful auxiliary skill
If you are a felter and you don’t know how to sew then you are missing a trick. Sewing is a seriously useful skill in and of itself, and when it comes to felting it can often save a project from complete failure. Perhaps your slippers didn’t shrink enough, or you want to re-create your felt into something different than your original intention, perhaps you’ve stuffed a felted cushion and need to seal the hole, or sew a zipper into a bag. Whatever the reason, having sewing as a tool in the toolbox gives you more options for fixing a myriad of felting problems. If learning a whole new skill sounds intimidating, start with a needle and thread and hand sew something simple like a straight seam.
# 7. The secret of shaping felt is in the drying
I’ve heard of adding diluted glue to their felt to make it hold its shape. This may work but it didn’t for me, it just made the felt feel horrible and crusty. If you are trying to get your 3D felt to hold a particular shape, stuff it with wool or place it over or inside an object that has the shape you want (like an upturned bowl for instance) and let it dry like that. My favorite method for making round vessels is felt around a flexible rubber ball and when it is dry I deflate the ball with a ball pump. To get more details on how to felt a round shaped vessel using a ball, see ‘3D felting: making a vessel using a rubber ball’.
# 8. A dull and lifeless felt
Did your felt turn out dull and uninspiring? Your needle felting tool or needle and thread are your go-to tools to fix this problem.
Sewing is not only useful for fixing problems but also embellishing felt and adding another dimension to your art. Yekaterina Mokeyeva is a phenomenal fiber artist that uses this technique to bring her work to another level. You can view her work at https://www.feuer-und-wasser.com/
Needle felting in a wet felted piece after it has been felted can be very effective and gratifying. You can totally change the look of your felt or just touch it up enough to sharpen an image or give it more detail.
# 9. It just won’t felt
This may seem obvious, but not all wool is equal in its felting properties, some felt better than others. If you use a fiber that doesn’t felt don’t use it by itself on top of the wool, mix it with another fiber first or lay wool fibers on top of it. For instance, when I use muskox fiber I need to mix it (using a drum carder, blending board, or hand carders) with felting wool such as merino or corridale, using 30% muskox to 70% felting wool. Perhaps you don’t want to cut your fiber with another one, like silk top for instance. In that case, you can lay wispy bit of the silk that will be grabbed by wool fibers underneath, or you can lay wispy bits of wool fiber over top of the non-felting fiber so it is sandwiched between the two where it can’t escape.
If it is just the decorations on the surface of your felt that won’t felt see step 5 E ‘Decorations that won’t stay put’ for details.
# 10. Exploring other destinies for your felt
Sometimes the problem is simply that the project didn’t work out or that you just don’t like it. In these instances, it can be really disappointing but with a little creativity you can out a positive spin on the experience and no one but you will know about your original felting idea that didn’t pan out. Take a few moments to think about how to best use your felt for something else. Would it make good coasters or trivet? or can you cut it into a pattern for a sewing project like a cushion or slippers? There are really endless options when your felt is 2D, rectangular and large. Other options for 3D felt are to make it into a bag or a tea cosy. If you feel that your felt is beyond any of these redeeming measures you can always use it as backing for a needle felting project (see my 2D needle felting tutorial for ideas – coming soon). Alternatively, you can wet felt directly on top of it by carding it first to pull up the fibers, then lay your wool on top and wet felt away.
Other felting articles you might be interested in
If you found this information useful, you might be interested in check out these other articles. How to repair a hole or a thin spot in your felt, and How to fix wavy and wonky edges on your felting fabric.
More tips and tricks
If you would like to learn more tips and tricks on how to fix your felting problems, check out ‘Wet Felting and What to Do When Things Go Wrong?‘ by Sally Gulbrandsen.
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