Tutorial: Wet-Felt Vessel

[lexis]

Here's the beginning of the Wet Felting Vessel Tutorial-
I have to stagger the pics and the posts, so bear with me here- there's TONS of info-
This project is also something that can be done over a few days- so i am going to cut up the tute for that reason.  Plus- I'll probably need a few days to sort it out.
If I forget anything along the way please feel free to let me know!  In the meantime- familiarize yourself with the 'Mongolian Wet felting tutorial' http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=56350.0
for basic technique and such- This could be a more intermediate project depending on your skills. but i promise i will try my best to make it easy.

let's start everyone with materials and supplies-



And prepping your Balloon as a mold-

The container on the far right is the container i used instead of the glass or jar on the top picture-
This is important. you need something shallow and wide enough to comfortably sit your filled ballon in while doing other things (see picture below)
 try out a few things and see what works for you. The metal bowl pictured was bought in a 2-pack at the dollar store for ....a dollar.   
It will wobble no matter what..especially with soap on it...so be careful here. the extra air helps it from totally exploding if it bounces away on you. hopefully. this is for one of those good humoured days. 

When you get to the step of laying the fibres you'll cover the whole thing in a thin layer of soap and water. This helps the fibres stick. BUT- Also more of a challenge if the ballon decides to make a run for it across your table... Gentle touches help here.... dont bounce around and get all excited quite yet. that will come soon enough.... 


Your pantyhose! Cut the legs off and tie. Save the pantyhose legs for another felt project. 

***THREE more things I remembered you DEFINITELY need for this project:
1. An extra set of hands. Preferably attached to a body -  This should probably be a friend or someone you at least like... lol. after you've used their hands- feel free to tell 'em to get lost. 
2. ***Good music. Something uppity- to keep you movin' & shakin' ...May I suggest some good n' proper rockn'roll..?
3. A microwave to keep things consistently warm. NOT crucial! You can still do this project without it. Just keep running the hot water on your taps. 
More below.  Thank you beautiful mods for moving this.

[radal16]

Man, now I gotta sit around with a balloon full of water for who knows how many days

[lexis]

I tried this once already today and lost it all! arg! so lets try this one more time.
LAYING THE FIBRES!!!

First Layer- Pictures 1-6
So you have everything you need, music blaring- lets go. The balloon is ready and covered in a thin layer of soap and water (dish soap works best) The first layer of fibres go from the top to the bottom- in a vertical direction.(pic. 1)  Fluff out your roving until it is thin and even and lay down onto balloon- making sure the fibres meet close to the base (pic. 2) Be sure to fill all gaps seen with this layer until no balloon shows through (pic. 5 &6)
The Second Layer- Pictures 7 &8
This is in the opposite direction - horizontally. Wind the roving thinly yet evenly around the mold until you get to the bottom.
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The Third & Forth Layers- Pictures 9 &10
You can choose to use two or 3 (or more) different colours for each layer- This is where experimenting with all sorts of different tones, fibres, additions, etc. come in handy. Play around and see what turns out. I chose a contrasting colour that worked really well. Keep in mind that the fibres will mesh together and blend the colours.

Lay the next fibre layers in alternate directions as in previous steps.
Forth layer not shown in picture 
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Now this next step is where you need that extra set of friendly hands... and your pantyhose. 
 
**Note that there are only 3 hands in the photo- one was missing for camera work. 
Stretch the pantyhose as wide as you can and gently pull over your fibre covered balloon. Try to get the whole thing to sit as far inside the hose as possible. This is probably the most tedious job of all. once you are finished stand back, thank your friend and admire your work so far.
Good job. 
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Picture 1 is what you should be admiring.
Picture 2 turn whole thing upsidedown,
Picture 3 pull stocking/panyhose taught
Picture 4 secure well with balloon tie outside of pantyhose hole.
Picture 5 tie balloon and pantyhose together tightly with elastic band
Voila!
Tune in again soon for my next post on Felting and fulling the fibres.
Thanks for watching .  

[lexis]

How are we doing so far?? Everything make sense? I hope so... Here goes another step in this process:

Wetting and the first stages of felting the Vessel


Pic.1- I am using a certain un-named bottle filled with hot water and dish soap. (my water isnt yellow- lol- that's the dishsoap)
Pic. 2- note holes in lid. I used a needle over a flame to poke holes through the lid. easy-peasy.
Pic. 3- Squeeze water onto your tied up balloon/hose project, and while doing so- gently squeeze the surface of the fibres down into the balloon (Pic. 4 & 5) The fibres are initially water resistant, and act more like a sponge. I find squeezing or pressing the fibres down helps to aborb the water faster- as well as push out all air bubbles.
Pic. 6- what you want to see is foam coming up through the pantyhose. no foam? add more soap to your mixture and keep dousing in water. Keep your water warm by throwing the bottle into the microwave for a minute or so.
Pic. 7 & 8- Once the surface is completely foamy and saturated with your warm water and soap mixture, begin to gently rub the entire surface. Remember to rub everywhere, including the opening and the where the knots are tied. 
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Important After rubbing entire surface, wipe away foam on balloon (Pic. 1) and inspect closely..
What you want to see is fibres poking through the hose. (Pic. 2)
This is when you want to stop and gently peel off the hose.(Pic. 1 Below)
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Pic. 1-During this stage of the felting process- an initial skin forms on the surface of the fibres- **The fibres can still shift! So be careful removing the hose, as the fibres have slightly felted to it.
This is the stage where you do extra smoothing and adjusting of your fibres before continuing the process. As in all wet felting.
Pics. 2-4- The mouth of the vessel needs some adjusting, as it is most likely the spot where most shifting happens. you dont have to do this step but it does make things easier later on.. you can just as easily trim the opening with scissors when it is dry, I prefer the slight control here. Fan out the wet fibres as much as possible with your fingertips and spread out, I folded the fibres back onto the vessel, to make the opening thicker (Pic. 3) Smoothing and flattening all around.

**the balloon has more than likely cooled off by now. Ah-ha! this is where the water in the balloon comes in handy.
Gently put your vessel back into the panyhose- tied end of the balloon poking out of the opening like before- and re-wet with a little more water- but don't soak it.
Now- pop the whole thing into the microwave and nuke it for a minute. Not too long! ~ just a minute to warm the water inside the balloon!~ Once its nice and steamy its time to bounce, plop and squish....

[lexis]

See? I was right! lol 
Re-tie your pantyhose a little tighter than before and bounce (Pic. 1), plop (Pic. 2), and squish (Pic. 3) your balloon, for more felting. 

to be continued.......... ......

[GraceOblivious]

Lexis,  awesomeness.  Awaiting next stage with baited breath...... eek! 

[lexis]

Thanks Grace
Almost finished- Lets see what else i can load up here...


Ah-ha! yes. The pinch test. After about 10-20 minutes of wrastlin' with your balloon (bounceplopsquish) you want to give the ol' pinch test to see how your fibres have felted. Just pinch the surface- and look closely to see if the fibres move or shift when you do. If they do- keep on bouncin'and add more soap/water mix as needed, if they don't and it all wrinkles up like the picture on the right, great. next step. 
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Popping the balloon and rinsing

Pictures 1 &2- rinse your balloon under cold tap water in a slow stream. You want to pop the balloon in your sink- because its full of water.
Pictures 3 & 4- gently turn your vessel insideout, rinse thoroughly.

Next up: FULLING!

[lexis]

Fulling the Vessel
Get out your towel for the table, and your sushi/bamboo matts. I use 2 sushi matts overlapping one another.

Pictures 1-3- roll up your vessel in one direction, and starting with gentle pressure and building up pressure, roll about 20 times
Pictures 4-6- unroll, and change directions of your vessel on the matts, rolling again about 20 times.
Continually change directions and full for a total of 10-20 minutes. Change the layout of the vessel as well, going from side to side as well as top and bottom.
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Picture 1- close up inspection to make sure fibres are fulled-you can see the two colours of fibres have meshed into one another. That's what you're looking for. 
Picture 2-3- final rinse in cold water - mush about like it is dough. all of this abuse is making the felt stronger and tougher.
Picture 4- LOL! My lame attempt at an action shot of me throwing the vessel onto the table. Feel free to whack it down a few times just for the fun of it.
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WHOO! Last picture!!!!

Picture 1 & 2- Put another balloon into the opening of the vessel and fill it up with air until the balloon stretches out and the balloon looks like it is popping over the mouth of the vessel.
Picture 3- Push, smoothe and roll your wet felt vessel around to block the final shape.

*Optional for smoother surface-Picture not included- Very carefully steam your vessel with an iron set to 'wool'. I also spray the inside and outside with spray starch before steam ironing-this helps the vessel hold its shape. Do NOT leave on the surface too long or you may melt the balloon.  Be especially careful around the mouth of the vessel where the balloon sticks out. This step will also help speed drying.

Picture 4- Hang your vessel to dry somewhere, and admire your hard work. Check on the balloon occasionally and in a day or two - the balloon will have deflated quite a bit, pop it and let interior of vessel to continue to dry on a flat surface.

When vessel is dry, you can continue to add further embellishments with needle felting. 

VOILA!!!! Whattya think of them apples?  I HOPE this is coherent and simple enough for everyone. Please please please contact me with any questions or concerns. AND Most Importantly - Have fun!!!

Finished Vessels: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=83752.0
(again...in the wrong board!   I WILL learn eventually!   )

[chipper]

A-MAZ-ING!!!  these are awesome and my kids are totally excited about trying (me?  I think that with all their "help" we are waiting for a warm April day so that we can do this outside  )   We did experiment with some little bouncy balls and got these   

no where as cool as yours.  We can't wait to give this a try.  with this awesome tute we can't go wrong!
Thanks!
--chipp

[Verrito]

good tutorial!!! looks not to hard!

I'll try, i don't know when...    but i will...

thank you

V.