Tutorial: Felt beads

[emy]

thankyou so much for sharing your tutorial i love your site also, your creations are amazing

I was wondering if you could tell me, is there a particular soap that is best to use? Or a particular type of soap that you should specifically not use?

thankyou once again

[lise]

Emy, the soap is usefull in feltmaking for 2 things:
Its PH helps to open up the scales on the wool fiber's surface. They tangle with friction and then lock. Moisture and heat do this as well, soap just does it further.
It acts as a lubricant when you felt so you don't disturb the fibers too much and they stay where you want them to be.
That said,  a neutral PH soap like dove won't help in the PH factor, and a soap that doesn't lather much won't be very good either.
Now I'm a felter so I've got my hands in soapy water a lot, so I try to use a soap that doesn't damage my skin too much. I try to stay away from using detergents like dish soap all the time because they're harsher on the skin and the environment. (though they make great foam and fast!)  And I like soaps that have a discreet scent too because the smell will stay in the wool no matter how much I rinse and I don't like that.

Wow, I wonder how much more I can write about soap!
A lot of fellow american felters use Ivory. I never have though so I can't vouch for it...

rabid.dustbunny let me know about that shop if you remember it, my parents have a beach house in St Nazaire, so I'm very likely to spend some time around there next summer...

[Rebel]

Thank you all!
A great source for wool roving is www.outbackfibers.c om They have the best colors IMO.
olenka, for the green bracelet, the beads are the same, except when I roll them between my palms, I don't try to make a perfectly round bead, so they come out a bit uneven, but that's how I like them
rabid.dustbunny , thanks for the comments on my website!  Are you a fellow Frenchie, or just good at the language?

How much/how many ounces do you recommend purchasing? I was interested in making these bracelets and maybe a small handbag. Since you have experience I thought I'd see what you recommend. Thanks so much and you do great work!

 mk

[lise]

Ah Rebel, that one's tough! I never purchase wool in ounces! The imperial system is a nightmare for me, but I tried a conversion website, and  it gives me 200g = about 7 oz, that's the weight of a medium sized handbag, like this one .
A bead doesn't weigh much though, it won't even make a difference on my letter scale!

When I first started buying wool, I liked assorted packs with a lot of different colors in it. I got some off ebay (can't remember the seller's ID), and I think outback fibers makes sampler packs as well now.  And I got a bunch of natural (white) wool that I dye myself, so that I have more freedom with the color choices.
Off course I'd recommend you check local farms as well. Personally I really prefer buying from local and smaller businesses where I know the sheeps are treated well.

Also, go for merino or corriedale, or similar fine wools because they felt much faster than coarse wools. Wool that's too white might not felt well because of the harsh treatments it goes through since it's necessarily bleached. Not to mention that's it's not eco-friendly.
I like to know what kind of dyes the farmer uses on the wool as well, and I really try to go for organic/plant dyes as well, but again, that's an issue I'm pretty concerned about  but I don't want to sound like I'm lecturing  

[beadgirl]

I love it!  I want to try making some of these!

[iLoVeCaReBeArS]

Would it work to tear apart some felt I have, and use that instead of wool?

[lise]

Alice in chains, Nope that's not going to work. The felt you already have is probably synthetic felt. Only wool (or animal fibers) has the properties to felt. Polyester wool is made with barbed needles (felting needles, thoudands of them) poking in and out of the fibers to tangle them. there's no water or soap involved.
But don't despair and check your local yarn store; they might have some carded wool. Or if there's a spinning supplies store nearby, they'd certainly have it.

[stargirl52]

I LOVE THEM! They look like little pompoms! How did you make the 2nd to last bracelet (the pink wide one)? Is it peyote stitch?
-G.

[connie149th]

those are ALL so cute!!!! i need to make some! thanks for the tutorial!

[KatDr5]

MWAHAHA I have plans for these. Thank you! I am livin fat and happy in inspiration nation!!!