Wet Felting

Wet felting is a common handwork project for preschoolers, easy to manage and with great results. I've been asked again and again for directions and what type of projects to do; here is a list of favorite links to get you started:

First felting project

Tips for beginning felters

Find old washboards for felting (glass ones are best) on eBay -- category Home & Garden, subcategory Kitchen

Felt Balls -- we make felt balls with large jingle bells inside them every Christmas as cat toys

How to make felt beads

So You'd Like To... felt a bar of soap
Amazon list by Hamilton Armstrong (includes directions and links to great felting books)

So You'd Like To... felt an Easter egg
another list by Hamilton Armstrong, also with great book suggestions

Making cute wet felted doll slippers

Felted Merino Scarf

Another project for flat pieces of felt is these adorable Felt Baby Shoes

Or try making Jingle-Bell Slippers this Christmas!

How to felt a hat
You can buy a GREAT Felted Hat Kit from A Toy Garden

and this blog has a ton of other links and resources

Subcategories of wet felting include knitting then felting OR crocheting then felting; see,
"The Sophie Bag" and The French Market Bag (both links include FREE patterns for bags which are knitted then felted). This is usually done using a washing machine.

Wet felting is the handwork focus for our third preschool unit: Insects. For that unit we recommend a great book for beginners:

by Anne Einset Vickrey

Felting fabric in the washing machine is explored in the preschool unit: Sun, Moon & Shadow. The book we recommend there is Exploring Textile Arts: the ultimate guide to manipulating, coloring, and embellishing fabrics. This is a great use for old sweaters!

Last but not least, to purchase large amounts of a single color we recommend that you visit the nice people at A Child's Dream Come True.

HAVE FUN!