In this section, we'll be exploring various methods of felting and fulling to create wearable garments, accessories, and art pieces.

What exactly is felt, anyway? Here's what Merriam Webster has to say:

a : a cloth made of wool and fur often mixed with natural or synthetic fibers through the action of heat, moisture, chemicals, and pressure b : a firm woven cloth of wool or cotton heavily napped and shrunk

Awesome. Now that we have an idea of what felt is, let's examine how we can actually go about creating it. There are three main widely used methods for creating felt (or felting):

Needle felting is a dry method of felting, where the fibers are physically pushed together and intertwined with the use of a barbed needle. This needle is repetitively pushed into the fiber mass, relying on the physical action of the one-way barbs and the cuticle of the wool fibers to compact and fuse together, creating felt.

Wet felting uses hot water and soap to help expand the cuticle of the wool fibers, and relies on physical manipulation to fuse the fibers into felt. This process tends to leave a smoother finish, but is not suitable for creating small details.

Fulling is the process of turning a previously knit or crochetted piece into a fused fabric by beginning with a feltable yarn, such as wool or alpaca, creating the piece larger than the size of your desired final result, and processing as if to wet felt. This process can also be done in a washer and dryer instead of by physically manipulating the piece by hand.

There are many different ways to combine felting methods, as well. Want some finished details on your new wet-felted hat? Bust out your felting needles and needle-felt some cute little stars right on there! I assure you, it's just as much a part of your new fabric as the wet-felted section. Is your new needle-felted bracelet just a little fuzzier than you hoped it would be, even though the fabric is nice and dense? What about doing a little wet-felting over the top to smooth down the external fibers! Trial and error will give you a vast set of combinations to make your felted piece reflect your specific personality!