First ever roving :D *finished*

[Love Bunny]

Okay so I've just dreaded up 3 bags of roving and this is what I've got so far :





I am going for long thin DE's. I might experiment with some fatter ones once my towels have dried off a bit!

This is only the first felt so I'm going to do them another couple of times after this because I've got a few cracks on some of them.

What do you think? Any pointers would be great ! I'm having so much fun!

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New pic




I'm going to machine them like DSM said and see how they go I've felted them 3 times now

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Finished (: I wanna some experiements now to make some pretty accents any suggestions??

[ScarletLady]

They look good hon, are they still wet?

I normally felt about 5 times

[Love Bunny]

Yeah they're still a bit soggy at the mo but I wanted to know I was on the right track !

[ScarletLady]

I thought they looked wet - you'll be surprised how much they puff up when they're dry. They look very evenly felted though hon, great for a first go

[Love Bunny]

Brilliant! Thats good to know they pouf out, I was getting concerned when people said they split the roving into three, I tried it and it came out like a soggy strand of hair

[ScarletLady]

Where did you get it from? Some roving is thicker than others - I split Wingham wool into thirds for medium thickness dreads

[Love Bunny]

I have a batch from Sara's Texture Crafts and a batch from ForestFibers, the stuff I use for those is the forstfibers one theyre quite a nice thickness now I've noticed!

[NaturalistDesigns]

I love forestfibres

They look really good for your first try! Envious!

[MrsEss]

Some of STC roving can be split into 4ths, I can't actually split into half anymore - they still seem too chunky to me now

Looking good so far hun, I second the felting about 4 or 5 times. you can do less, but they floof up like crazy once they're installed.
The red at the bottom of this pic hadn't been felted enough, so you can see the difference with well felted & impatient installs!!!


I hoewever, now do my roving in the washing machine, even if it's for the 2nd & 4th felt it definitely helps "knit" the fibre together. (wool wash though!!) You shouldn't be able to tear the roving apart once it's felted properly. I've bought roving dreads in the past that I could've ripped up with ease.

[Love Bunny]

Awesomeee going to give them a spin now! x

[MrsEss]

In a pillow case!!! I knot the top so that none escape

[ScarletLady]

Do you just bung them all in? I was wondering how they stayed separate...or is it a case of do the first felt by hand so they don't mash together??

I have a load of SE's to do for an order and I was thinking of giving the washing machine thing a go - do you just put them in on a standard wool wash?

[Love Bunny]

I'm using one of these : drawstring mesh bag!



Its supposed to be for nappies but I think it works rather well

[MrsEss]

yeah, that'll work!!

[Love Bunny]

I just worked with some merino silk blend and it is DIVINE!

[ScarletLady]

I have some of that too - it's great for needle felting

[MrsEss]

I have the blueberry or whatever it is from Sara. It is truly divine.

[tr1angl3]

Do you just bung them all in? I was wondering how they stayed separate...or is it a case of do the first felt by hand so they don't mash together??

I have a load of SE's to do for an order and I was thinking of giving the washing machine thing a go - do you just put them in on a standard wool wash?

Check out Miasma's tutorial, it's really good: viewtopic.php?f=65&t=11016

[Love Bunny]

Done

[MrsEss]

ooh, they're awesome!

You can do anything really for accents. you could needle felt bits on, add some embroidery threads, or you could wrap bits round em like I do.

honestly, you've just gotta play & see what you like.

[Love Bunny]

I am deffinatly going to invest in a felting needle next

[MrsEss]

Forest fibres. I got 10, arrived in a little plastic box, so easy to store.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 1448wt_911

the ones I got ^

[Love Bunny]

Brilliant ! I think I'll join you on that one

How would you go about felting accents then? Just stabbing bits of loose fiber onto the dread?

[ScarletLady]

That's basically it Jess - check youtube for some great tutorials

[Love Bunny]

that sounds so technical!

Awesome can't wait to give it a go! wool is so much fun!