first time felting - any advice?

[~*max*~]

I will be felting for the first time soon, and I want to be sure I am doing it correcly. I have made a bag out of 100% wool w/a novelty yarn weaved in. I'll be felting it in the washing machine. Any tips, advice, things to watch for? TIA!

[GoBecGo]

I opened this thinking you were going to make flat felt, but i take it youre going to machine-felt the bag?

No tips except that one day you should try flat felting, it is soooooo fun

[~*max*~]

I am a total beginner - what is flat felting?

[liza-s]

I don't usually add any detergent when I machine-wash felt. I know some instructions recommend you do. You'll want to periodically look at your bag just to check for any strange folds/wrinkles etc. Stretch and smooth these out. Sometimes different yarns (even different colors of same type) felt differently. This can add a cool texture - but I'd hate to be surprised if I had something different in mind. Also, it takes a while in my experience to start seeing any felting. In my old top-loader it was 30 minutes, in my new front loader - I don't even time it, it seems like forever.

Good luck.

[~*max*~]

Thank you for the replies. I felted it today, through 2 wash cycles. It came out really cool, but I'm wondering if I should give it one more go - you can still see the knit pattern in parts of it, especially the bottom & sides. Does that mean I should have kept it in longer? Should it be a consistent texture, w/no signs of the knit rows?

[Whistler]

I've only felted once... a hat. But yes, when it was done there were no stitches showing. It was really fun though!

I hope you can post a picture when you're done... I'd love to see!

[GoBecGo]

Flat felting is where you fill a frame with wool fibres (we used washed and dyed fleece), pour boiling water onto it and then press it flat so that you get a big sheet of felt, rather than machine felting which is where you knit something you want too big and then felt it in a hot wash or two.

[liza-s]

I have felted some items and I could still make out faint stitches. It can depend on the yarn & how big your stitches were - but in most cases you shouldn't see any. I think the biggest test is whether or not you have made piece of fabric, meaning it won't unravel if cut. I'd wouldn't cut into my first bag though just to see what happened - it would have scared me. However, if you like the look & size of your bag, I'd just go with this. It will be stronger & thicker though the more felted it is.