Have questions about felt? I can help.

[FeltOnTheFly]

Like many of you, I'm pretty lost in the forums these days. I used to scroll through Techniques and Materials regularly to answer questions about felt. Guess that won't happen any more!

Maybe we'll find a new way to use what's available to us in the form of teams. So, as a new member of this team, I'd just like to offer my services if you have any questions about felt.

I've been working with, researching and collecting felt for over a decade now. I sell wool felt, but have experience and knowledge about all kinds of felt. So, if I can help you, feel free to drop me a convo.

[Former_Member]

I do! I want to make some feather hair clips and I've seen that you do this by gluing the feathers to felt first. I have E-6000 and a hot glue gun. Which would be better to use gluing the feathers to felt?

[FeltOnTheFly]

Hi Ballyhoo!

Well, here's the dealio. E-6000 is a super strong, but super-smelly glue. If you are at all sensitive to chemical smell, I'd advise against using E-6000 for this application, since there are other options.

I glue metal to felt very successfully with Aleene's Jewel-It glue, available at the big-box craft stores, so I am sure it will work very well for feathers too. Fairly inexpensive, non-smelly, Jewel-It works like a charm. It does take some time to dry though, so plan to do your project in stages.

Hot glue...while wool felt can stand up to the heat, synthetic felts may not fare so well.

[Former_Member]

Thanks, I usually use crafting glue but I have a hot glue gun I've never used and don't know what I should use it for as opposed to epoxy or other glues.

[ChicChixnChampagne]

Hi Felt, I have a question about dyeing merino roving.
I'm needle felting my first project and don't have a color available. So I want to dye a small amount of white with a Blue Alcohol Ink that I have on hand.
Searched google, can't find out if I need to "fix" it after with heat or not.
Any response or direction is appreciated.
Thanks, Alysen.

[FeltOnTheFly]

Hi ChicChixnChampagne - As you know, with dyeing it's always a bit of a science project experiment. I haven't used Blue Alcohol Ink for dyeing roving myself, but I would think that it wouldn't hurt to dip it in a cool vinegar bath after dyeing to set the color.

[FeltOnTheFly]

Ballyhoo - I'm sure you'll find things to use that glue gun for! A glue gun is a 'staple' for any crafter. Although, with all the specialty glues available now, I'm finding that I use my glue gun less and less.

[ChicChixnChampagne]

Thanks for the answer Felt.
For anyone's info, I did dye a small amount of merino, angora and a crocheted medallion that I made out of some acrylic yarn that I had.
Waiting for the merino to dry, will rinse the 2 others in a cool vinegar rinse as Felt advises.
Oh, and I added a little 70% alcohol to the dye.
I will post with my results, whatever they are.
Alysen.