Lisa's Felted Art: ***Felted Hat***

Wet felted hat made with Alpaca wool and a ceramic flower button

I've been wanting to make a felted hat for the longest time. The other day I was in the yarn shop and, low and behold, they had alpaca wool, something I have been looking for and wanting to try for felting. I have watched several videos on how to wet felt a hat, so here is a combination of techniques that I used to make my felted hat...

Step 1: Partially fill a water balloon with warm water and then blow it up to about twice as large as you want the finished hat to be and put it tied end in a bowl. The bowl and water in the balloon will help to keep things from moving around too much.

Step 2: Wet and cover the balloon with a thin layer of dish soap.

Step 3: Place sections of wool (I used alpaca) over the balloon.

Step 4: Continue placing the wool over the balloon going in the same direction.

Step 5: Complete one layer of wool around the balloon.

Step 6: Using a spray bottled filled with warm soapy water, wet down all of the wool.

Step 7: Wrap pieces of wool around the balloon going in the opposite direction.

Step 8: After spraying the wool, add a layer of thinner pieces of wool going in the original direction. Then you can add decorations or embellishments to the outside of the hat.

Step 9: Spray all of the wool to gently wet it down and then cover it with tulle (or you can use the top part of a pair of pantyhose), making sure that all the wool is covered.

Step 10: Turn the balloon and wool over and tie the pieces of tulle together where the balloon is tied.

Step 11: Fill the sink (or a large container) with warm soapy water and gently make sure all of the wool becomes wet. Then gently press the wool against the balloon to get as much water out as you can in order to move the balloon to your work area.

Step 12: With your hands and fingers, gently rub all around the tulle being careful not to move any embellishment. After rubbing for about 10 minutes or so, do a pinch test on the wool. If the wool is sticking together, you can take the tulle off to continue the felting process.

Step 13: After you have removed the tulle, continue rubbing the wool on the balloon using bubble wrap. When the wool and embellishments have felted together and you can see the wool is starting to shrink, pop the balloon (over the sink) and remove it. Rub inside and outside of the hat to make sure all of the wool is felted.

Step 14: This is the fulling stage. Fold the wool piece in a square and throw it flat in the sink. Keep turning it over and re-folding it to make sure it that as it shrinks, it maintains its shape. After several folds, refolds and throws, start rinsing the wool. Alternate rising in warm and cold water, first in warm water and then in cold water, and keep checking the shape and size. As the wool hat starts to take form, gently squeeze it to get the water out and also squeeze it in a towel so you can try the hat on to make sure it is forming into the size and shape you want for your hat.

Step 15: After you make sure all the soap has been rinsed out and the hat is the size you want, shape it and let it dry. You can trim off the edges or unwanted extra wool, but be sure to rub and felt those areas were you cut so they are not left open.

Step 16: Now it's time to add a little something extra. I have a friend who makes beautiful ceramic art and things, so I decided to add this very cute ceramic flower button she made to my alpaca wool felted hat. If you are interested in purchasing a ceramic button for your hat, please check out Lauren Mesa's Facebook page...

https://www.facebook.com/LaurenMesaArt