Felted Stone Rug

[Cheebz]

I want one for my kitchen!

[bubblegum_phoenix]

Looks like we all want a tut  I keep imagining how good it would feel under my poor tired feet, I had a dreaded rug for about a week before Ceefer (aka "helper" kitty) chewed all the dreads off 

[subloke]

WHOA!  Thanks for the enthusiastic response!!  I'm so excited about this project and having others respond the same makes me smile... 

I'd be happy to share my method...  and, beware, it will bring with it the madness...  This was definitely a big project and I was sort of wondering what I got myself into while in the middle of it.

I started out just winding the wool I wanted to use into round balls.  Some were pretty little and some were bigger.  As I went along I started making bigger ones as I was realizing how many I was going to need.  I tucked the ends of the yarn into the ball as best I could and then hand felted them in hot water with a little dish soap.  I googled "felted balls" and combined ideas from a number of available tutorials. 

As I went along, again realizing what I had gotten myself into, I started hand-felting them just a bit and then stuffed them into the legs of cheap pantyhose.  I tied off after each ball with a twist tie and got as many into the leg as possible.  I then threw these into a zippered pillowcase that I use for felting sweaters and threw them in the washer on hot.  This helped speed up the process considerably.  A few of them still needed work so they got another turn at hand felting.  After they were felted, I flattened them out while they were still wet.  This gave them a more stone-like appearance and also spread them out to make them bigger around.

Once they were (almost) dry, I started to sew them together by hand.  I used a long, sharp tapestry needle and some nylon twine I had on hand.  I just started with one, added another, securing the new one to the first and kept adding.  The shape sort of created itself, as I would just pull out a "stone" to fit the available space. 

I hope this helps anyone who wants to try it.  It'll be a while before I get around to making another, but when I do I'll take pictures along the way.

[kelliz]

Thanks so much!   I'm going to have to try this out!  I just love it!

[nataluna]

this ...rocks (!!!)

 
 
 

[bubblegum_phoenix]

heehee,    yea but isnt being part of madness what being a crafters all about? I wonder how much wool my SO will let me get... 

[TheWomanMonster]

Oh that is just too cool.
You HAVE to make another one and take more pictures!

[lilymarcella]

ooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooh!   

[kiwiblue]

You Rock Im Hitting  The Button Im So going to try felting now !!

[RecycleMicol]

Yikes.  I love this.  I did hit This Rocks!
RM