Felting Slippers from Sparse Wool

Today, again, the fashion tends to go hand in handlabor, the manufacture of jewelry and clothing patterns in ancient traditional ways. And now it was the turn to the fact that the handicraftsmen began to manually roll valenki and slippers made of wool!

Felting slippers is a rather laborious task, requiring attention, time and perseverance. Although, to be honest, it is unlikely that you will have to sit during this procedure.

So, the felting begins with the fact thata model is invented: slippers can be with curved noses, like Turkish ones, or without backs - flip-flops, or usual "cats", like they were called in ancient times.

"Cats" also differ:

1. on the height of the pagolens (only covering the foot or half boots with a bell, cut or solid);
2. by color (plain or with a pattern of several colors of wool);
3. on decorations (with embroidery, appliqué, broochesor beads, fur osoyuzhkoy or sewn embellishments in the form of artificial flowers, also made by hand from cloth, leather or from a stocked material).

Based on the chosen model, the master shouldto get the raw material. Felting slippers requires special wool, which can be purchased either in specialized handicraft shops, such as the "Lölöka" store, or ordered from the online store. To buy wool through the World Wide Web is almost twice cheaper than in the store, but this will take two weeks.

Further felting out of the wool slippers goes toPreparatory stage: you need to make a pattern. To do this, the newspaper should draw future home shoes "in profile", just as it is depicted by children. You can even take your sock and traverse it.

Then this figure is increased by one-third bythe entire contour: when the felting of slippers goes into the stage of immediate "rolling", the wool shrinks about 3 times. The ready-made pattern is transferred to polyethylene, folded on the upper part, opposite the foot, and the contour of the pattern is transferred again. Thus, one pattern is obtained, along which there will be a felling of two slippers, which will then be cut into two parts.

To make it clearer, you can put two sock in front of you, by connecting them closely to those holes where the leg is shoved - so the pattern for felting should look like.

Now crocheting goes into the stage of laying the wool on a pattern. It should be laid in even thin layers, slightly protruding the pattern so that it is possible to fold the excess. In no case should the hair cut with scissors, just tear! Otherwise, the connecting "seams" will turn out to be coarse, strongly protruding above the common surface, which will greatly damage the appearance of the product.

After laying the first layer you need a coat slightlymoisten with a warm soapy solution and turn the pattern over. Wrapping the protruding woolen excess on yourself, the same manner is laid the first layer of the other side. Wetted, turned over. Surplus bends.

The second layer of wool is laid across the first. The stacking algorithm is repeated. You can lay the third layer, and if you want - and the fourth. Only observe the transverse styling of the wool and the uniformity of its distribution!

Now you need to wet the hair with soap and water andeven can be soaped with a piece of soap and gently rubed in circular motions, so that the top layer "fell" into a solid base, on which you could not see the direction of the rows. You need to do this on both sides.

Then the master proceeds to the process of "rolling away". To do this, you need a rolling pin: the workpiece is rolled out like a test, in different directions, for about half an hour.

Cutting the resulting part in the middle and removingfrom within a pattern, we will get two details. The next action will be "washing" slippers in soapy water. They need to crumple, squeeze, rub - how would you wash a heavily soiled gauze. Excellent for this old-fashioned washing boards such as "wave."

Experienced craftswomen use at this stagewashing machines - machines - they perfectly "beat off" woolen products. Sometimes resort to scalding parts in order to reduce their volume. During this action, you need to pay special attention to the places of joining the layers of wool: they must be constantly smoothed, so that they practically merge with the main cloth.

When the volume more or less decreases, the slippers are worn on the foot or on the mannequin and begin to rub out, from time to time soaping, already in this position giving things the necessary shape.

The finished product is put to dry in air (but noton the battery) in a straightened form, trying not to spoil the form. After drying, you need to carefully trim the edge of the razor, decorate the slippers to taste. You can sew a rubber sole - then they will serve much longer!