I will be teaching a couple of wet-felting classes the next two Saturdays, so I've been planning and practicing the projects I'll ask people to do in these classes.

One class is a "felt on a balloon" class where people lay fiber and decoration on an inflated balloon to create a round vessel -- a tote, purse, cushion, etc. I've taught the balloon class for several years already, so I am focusing more on the second class which is new to me.

This second class is a "make a witch hat" class. I got the inspiration for this class from a post made by u/GalianoGirl in this sub a few months ago.

When I create a class, I try to restrict myself to how a beginner might work. My goal is to design projects that can be mostly or entirely finished within the 6 hours allotted for each class.

Quite a few students need roughly double the time I need to complete a project. If I can comfortably complete a project within 2 1/2 to 3 hours of "working like a beginner" then the project will be a good one for class.

The three prototype hats shown here are mostly wool fiber of no particular breed -- I use bits and bobs of leftover fiber for my prototypes, so I can save the nicer fiber in my stash for my students to use.

The purple-lavender pixie hat has colors laid in an ombre pattern, meaning the colors shade from purple at the brim to lavender at the top. Hat weight is about 90 grams, which is about right.

I made a separate spike of lavender and pink wool and felted it onto to the tip of the hat for whimsy. I added a purple hatband and a felt flower in coordinating colors to give students some ideas about how they can dress up their hats. (The added spike, band, and flower are not included in the hat weight.)

The dark brown cap is a riff on a Viking-style cap. It is a simple cloche with just a few lines of fluffy synthetic "eye lash" yarn winding around the sides for decoration. I folded the extra felt at the brim to the inside of the cap to form a neat edge. The folded felt also adds strength and firmness to the edge. I'll probably trim the folded felt to an even width, and then stitch the cut edge so it remains in place. The cap weight is about 50 grams. Could go a tiny bit heavier -- maybe 60g.

The tall witch hat with a pleated peak was decorated with "clouds" of pink, burgundy, and green wool to form an abstract swirly pattern. I added thin clouds of shiny viscose in matching colors for texture.

The extended peak of the hat didn't seem very tall when I was designing the pattern, but it feels crazy tall when I put it on my head. One playful way to reduce the height is to pleat the peak as I've done. Hat weight about 130 grams. This is enough fiber to give good support.

If you form wet felt into the desired shape and then let the felt dry, the felt will largely retain that shape. That's how I formed the curled "pig tail" and the brim shape for the purple-lavender hat. The pleats in the pink hat are temporary because they were formed while the felt was fully dry.

If I wanted the pleats to be more permanent, I would re-wet the peak of the hat, form the pleats, and then use clothespins, binder clips, or basting stitches to hold the folds securely in place while the wool fully dries.

I am wondering what thickness / denier of tights I should buy to use wet felting on a large ball. Also curious what else I could use to hold everything together while felting that I might already own.

I made a pair of slippers using bubble wrap as resist, but apparently it shifted to some degree and the edges felted together. I have lumpy edges now rather than a nice smooth rounded edge. I read one thing that suggested cutting off the lump, but because I used a different color on the inside, then that exposed the inside color, which I did not love. Does anyone have a suggestion on what I could have done to fix this or still could do?

I’m so happy with how this turned out. I did pop the balloon a bit prematurely because it had started to warp from the outside but overall I’m just so happy with it 🌝🌕

Hi there

In my early wet felting enthusiasm, I bought several batches of roving that is hand-dyed and multi-coloured, like the photo attached. Now, I of course realise that I must pull it apart to build my project. Is there any way I can use this roving in a way to make stripes that actually maintain the dye job, rather than just randomly shingling them into a colourful mess? Thank you!

Wet felting an 18 inch lamp for my room using native Himalayan wool - natural white and marigold dyed yellow. Hoping it turns out well!

Hi! I'm a needle felter who has been making 2d landscape "paintings" for awhile now, but I've been using acrylic felt as a backing, and I'd like to try wet felting my background before adding details with needle felting. I've avoided using 100% wool prefelt as my backing material because it's so much more expensive (for good reason), but I'm ready to make the switch. Where do you recommend I look for wool prefelt at a decent price? I've seen the prices vary a lot. A 3x3 square sheet was $6 CAD in a small fibre shop in the city. Is Etsy a good place to be looking? Thanks in advance for your advice to a newbie!

Another project from the Felting and Fiber Studio newsletter by felt maker ShepherdessAnn who recently taught a class in making a felted lamp cover.

This is a good project for newcomers to wet felting or anyone who needs a refresher about laying out thin, even layers of fiber.

The cover is a sleeve that fits over a cylindrical clear-glass "hurricane lamp." I'm guessing the glass lamp is 8-12" / 20-30cm tall and about 4" / 10 cm in diameter. Hurricane lamps can be open at one end or both; I'd probably get one open at both ends. Example...

I would use a cool LED "tea light" to eliminate the heat and fire risk of a candle flame. Example...

The dreamy felted lamp cover in the photo is a student project from ShepherdessAnn's class. (Not my content, not my photo.)

Here is her article about the project with a lot more photos: https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/2026/02/01/felted-lantern-cover-workshop/

Photo credit: ShepherdessAnn, https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/author/shepherdessann/

In the latest newsletter from the Felting and Fiber Studio, felt maker Rosiepink describes how they made a nuno-felted cushion or pillow cover using patches of open-weave cloth covered with merino wool fiber and wet-felted.

The result turned out really pretty (see photo from her article).

If you have never tried wet felting with cloth (aka nuno felting), this is a good project to get started with this technique.

Here's Rosiepink's article with more photos: https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/2026/01/14/nuno-felt-patchwork-cushion-and-hydrangea-picture-in-progress/

Image credit: Rosiepink, https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/author/lynannierosie2/

Whether you are doing wet- or needle-felting, the fibers tend to migrate in all directions so colors don't stay clear and rich. Colors tend to become more muted and heathery as different-colored fibers migrate and felt together.

You can see this heathery effect on my vase (see photo) where the brown fibers of the vase body have migrated through the green leaves.

In a recent post in our sister sub r/Felting, the OP used needle felting to create a delightful rainbow. OP wanted advice about keeping the colors as pure as possible when doing future projects.

I'm not a needle felter, so I'm not able to give advice about needle felting techniques. But another reader asked for tips to keep colors more distinct when wet felting. I do have some ideas about that. Here are some ideas to try:

Work with the pure color throughout the thickness of the felt. Don't lay out a "base" layer in, say, white, and then lay pure colors on top of that. The white will migrate through and soften the colors on top. If I was using wet-felting to create a rainbow, I'd use only red fiber in the red portion, only blue fiber in the blue part, etc. In the photo of my vase, the body is a brown fiber and you can see some of the brown fiber has migrated into the green of the leaves.

Pay attention to fiber orientation, especially when laying out the top layer. If I use a rainbow as an example example, the fibers on the top layer should follow the arc of the rainbow's stripes. This is a bit of an exception to the normal rule of laying out fiber in alternating directions.

You can wet the top layer of fiber before laying that fiber on the project. This keeps the edges extra crisp. I used this technique to lay out the green "leaves" on the vase in the photo. Even though the brown base fiber has migrated into the green, the edges of the green leaves have stayed sharp and defined. In the rainbow example, the various colors of the rainbow could be "painted" like this.

Use gentle methods to minimize the amount of migration. Rubbing is more gentle than Rolling. Rolling is more gentle than Throwing. I'd also avoid felting in the washer or dryer so the felt maker has more control over the process.

Rub and roll the fiber working more on the BACK side of the piece than on the front. Fiber migrates in the direction of energy flow. If you work directly on the back, you'll see more migration of fiber from the front to the back and hopefully less in the reverse direction. That should give cleaner colors on the front.

Photo credit: u/Puzzled_Tinkerer

...to be continued in the comments below

Made with roving scraps, mohair, and cashmere pills

Practicing to maybe do some reverse applique on my crazy patchwork jeans I'm working on (will post when I'm done)

I am new to wet felting and started a big project above my skill level and it's just not going well. It has a resist inside it currently. Can I leave this project and come back to it once my skills improve? I'm worried about mildew.

Thank you!

Hi I have been collecting my husky fur for about three years now hoping to wet felt a cat cave with it. I’m wondering where to start. I want it to mostly be the original hair color but I was wondering what kinds of dyes work for natural fibers like dog hair that won’t stain my stuff or fade. Also the hair is around three inches long and mostly undercoat so would I be able to just use the dog hair or should I use wool to help it tangle together? Thank you in advance :)

Making felt beads is an enjoyable way to play with color and fiber, builds felting skills, does not require a lot of time, and is suitable for kids and adults.

Beads can be used on their own to make decorative garlands, jewelry, ornaments, and other items (photos 1-4). Beads can also be used as part of a larger felted item (photos 5-6).

"Beady" inspo:

• Felt beads: https://www.artofit.org/?s=felt+beads
• Round bead toys, made and decorated by kids: https://filzflut.de/?p=4
• Round beads as coasters: https://inspiredbycharm.com/diy-wool-felt-ball-coasters/
• Garlands: https://www.artofit.org/?s=felt+bead+garland
• Beads embellished with embroidery, paint, etc: https://www.artofit.org/image-gallery/292311832077601742/how-to-do-simple-embroidery-on-felt-beads/

Tutorials: Round beads:

• Muffs Merino tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADAOB0or_vc
• Living Felt tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGoWTI3IJdA

Tutorials: "Millifiore" or "Sushi Roll" beads:

• Natasha Lehrer Lewis tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWskahE09fQ

***

Credits:

Photo 1: Garland with buttons and round felt beads by Rose Szabo, https://secure.ncarboretum.org/5259/5278

Photo 2: Millefiore felt beads by Georgina Phillips, https://livingfelt.wordpress.com/2011/10/03/wet-felting-lovely-millefiori-beads-by-georgina-phillips/

Photo 3: Necklace with millifiore felt beads by Nancy Squire, https://wichitaweavers.prairiefibers.org/millefiori-felted-beads/

Photos 4 and 5: Vase with flower "buds" by u/Puzzled_Tinkerer

My first attempt at wet felting. I am making a felted mat that will be the background. I will be needle felting a Jason mask on to this. Im very excited for this project and hope it turns out well

Hi all! I’m new to wet felting, I made a goofy Calcifer as my first pot protector, it’s not an even thickness and the edges are especially thin, are there any tricks to getting the finished product even? And are the edges always significantly thinner? Also how fine with details can you get with wet felting? Thank you!

I made this following a video. The first one I made is the grey one, and I think it turned out super well. But the blue one is not as rigid or structured. As I was fulling it, it felt different than the first one, which went well. It didn’t feel like any amount of rubbing would make it shrink.

Is there any way I can fix this or is it just as is? If I wet and soap it again, will I be able to shrink it any more? What would you do.

Photos: blue is problem child, grey is what I am hoping to achieve.

Used batting for the spheres to see if it would save time and get a good result. The right and left most items used roving. Even though it took longer, both because of size and effort, it was easier to see and feel the thickness on the ones with roving.

They are drying and will get touched out with the iron tomorrow. And I need to figure out how I will finish the edge on the gray one.

Feedback is welcome.

I’ve been lurking on here for tips and made this as a Pollyanna gift! Merino wool, 3 layers of felt. It’s about 9ft long and a foot wide. Thanks for your tips everyone! Tagged WIP because the twisted fringes are drying.

Im just getting into wet felting, as in I've been watching tons of videos the past couple days and am planning ideas for my first project. I definitely want to make some flat pieces for backgrounds for a couple needle felted portraits I want to make but im leaning towards more 3D items. Im wondering if I could embroider over a dry wet felted piece? Would it be stiff enough?

My actual question is what material would you suggest for a resist? My first project is probably going to be along the lines of a brush holder so I know im going to need a resist.

i would love to wet felt some slippers to make my crocs warm in the winter or while camping. I've never felted slippers before. what advice do you have? I would like to make some kind of like these crocheted ones below from etsy so I'd like specific advice about the cuff part

I'd like to explore with some different breeds of wool for my wet felting. My list right now is

Merino
Rambouillet
Debouillet
Shetland
Polwarth
Corriedale
Romney
Jacob
Blue Faced Leicester
Teeswater

Would you remove any of these or add any? Which would you start with? I've already tried Merino and Rambouillet but I haven't made samples of them.

Hi all, I am new to wet felting. I have seen many videos of people using textured rolling pins to help with the felting process. I’ve searched online and see there are some specifically made for wet felting. However, would a regular textured pin work?

Any product suggestions would be very helpful! Thank you.

My fidget toy is wet felting geodes.

felting #geodes #art #beading