How to Wet Felt a Flower

Sharing is caring!

Create a beautiful flower from wool roving. Here’s how to wet felt a flower.

I had the most amazing opportunity to work with CCard of Felt a la main with LOVE who was the artist in residence at our school during the spring. CCard is an artist, designer and artisan felter, as well as a great person I got to know and work with. I was so fortunate to be a part of this experience.

As part of the artist in residence program in our school, CCard worked with all students – from kindergarten to grade 7 in the wet felting process. She started at the very beginning, introducing the students to Oliver, the sheep whose wool we used. Students went through the process of cleaning, as well as carding the wool and finally how to wet felt a flower. All the felted flowers became a hanging mural in our school.

My previous experience with wet felting was making dryer balls. This was somewhat similar, but in so many ways, a completely different experience.

What is Wet Felting?

Wet felting is a process in which you take wool roving and use agitation and friction, as well as some soap and warm water, to make a felted item.

Wool roving is wool fibres that have yet to be spun into yarn. They are thin and wispy.

It is truly amazing to watch loose fibres bind together before your eyes. It is a very satisfying and hands-on activity that was such a great experience for not only me but our students as well.

Supplies Needed to Wet Felt a Flower

I was surprised at the very simple items needed to wet felt a flower.

• 5 grams of wool roving – 3 grams of the main colour and 1-2 grams of an accent colour (you can have 1 or 2 accent colours) and then .5 grams of tencel.
• hand towel
• bubble wrap – 12×24
• mesh fabric – 12×12
• warm soapy water in a bowl – a small amount of dishwashing liquid in a small mixing bowl works great
• sponge
• bar soap; we used olive oil soap which is easy on your hands
• scissors
• small bowl with water and a bit of vinegar in it

The Wet Felting Process

This is the wet felting method shared with us by CCard.

Prepare your surface

• lay your hand towel down, opened flat; I like to use 2, but 1 will do.
• lay your bubble wrap on top, with the bubbles up.

First layer

• working on half of your bubble wrap, gently pull apart the wool roving into wispy parts and make a starburst pattern using the main colour
• simply pinch the roving and then pull so you get a small tuft

• 

• 

• make a circle with these little tufts
• you’ll want to make 2 layers of the same colour
• your roving fibers should criss-cross in direction so that they will bind together when wet felted
• it should like a fluffy mound; I tell the students that it should look like a cake

Second Layer – use a contrasting colour if you have it.

• it does not need to cover everything, but it can
• you can make a certain pattern
• you can add it to both sides

• 

• 

Third Layer – small embellishments.

• this third layer is strictly optional – you could easily make a beautiful flower using only 2 colours
• these lovely shiny bits will not felt but will remain as shiny fibres in your felting – they add a nice touch

• so you should have a fluffy mount that resembles a souffle!

Now it’s time to felt!

• cover your work with the mesh fabric

• using a sponge, dampened with the soapy water, saturate your work
• be sure to press and not rub – rubbing will distort your pattern/design
• make sure you get to the edges

• 

• 

• take a peek and make sure the edges are no longer fluffy

• get your fingertips wet and soapy with the bar soap and make sure the edges are wet
• make sure you do this on top of the mesh

• tuck in any wispy bits so that the edges are smooth – it doesn’t need to be a perfect circle, but it needs to have a clean edge
• just push those bits into the circle – you don’t want to fold over the edge

• if your work seems overly wet, blot it with your towel – directly on the wet roving
• it needs to be wet, but not dripping
• again, just press – don’t rub

• fold your bubble wrap over top so that it is sandwiched in between the bubble wrap

• roll up the bubble wrap so that it is fairly snug

• now roll it with your towel

• using flat hands, roll 20 times, back and forth

• when working with primary-aged children, we rolled it around a section of a pool noodle. This worked really well. This way of being rolled in the buttle wrap and then towel works a little faster.
• unroll and open it up and take a look
• you may notice that it now an oblong shape as the wool has started to shrink in that one direction

• rotate your felt a 1/4 turn
• cover with bubble wrap again
• roll it up in the bubble wrap like last time
• then roll it up in the towel again
• roll for 20 times

• repeat this procedure for a total of 3 times – so that you have gone all the way around and all the rolling has been done on each side.

• you should have a nice piece of felt
• you will notice that the fibres have started to bind together
• it will not be fully felted at this point, but it is close
• there should be no fluffy fibres anywhere – check the edges

• do the pinch test – if you can pull the layers apart gently and/or pull the fibres off, it will need some more rolling
• try rolling only 10-15 times and keep checking it; you’ll want to make at least 2 rotations

How to Make a Flower

You now have a piece of felt that is ready to be shaped into a flower.

Shape the flower bud

• scrunch your flower up to create a base and the petals

• now work the base – you’ll want to roll it between your hands to encourage the fibres to keep that shape

• you’ll want about an inch to an inch and a half length
• make sure it is still damp
• roll it between your hands and rub it directly on the bubble wrap – remember you want friction in order for the fibres to maintain this shape

• 

• 

• test it every once in a while – put it down and see if it holds its shape

Optional: Make Petals

• using scissors, make a few 2.5 cm/1 inch snips around the outside edge – this will create individual petals
• round the corners so that it looks more natural
• choose an odd number of petals to have – like 5 or 7
• the cut edges now need to be felted
• using soapy fingers, gently work the edges that were just cut so that they become felted; CCard called this “tickle fingers”.
• you can stretch and manipulate the petals a bit

This part is optional. You can simply leave it as a flower bud if you wish.

Shape your flower

• manipulate the petals into an arrangement that you like – twist, turn, stretch and pinch
• some petals may stand up higher while others are lower
• some petals may overlap with each other
• remember that petals are not flat – create creases and rolls
• play with it until it looks the way you like it

This process takes time. The more you handle it, the more it will felt and stay the way you want it.

Rinse your flower in water with a touch of vinegar. This will neutralize the soap. If you leave soap on the flower, it may dry “crunchy”.

You may need to re-shape again after you’ve rinsed. Hang to dry.

The whole process requires a bit of patience, but it is very forgiving. Each flower that is made looks beautiful in its own way.

CCard turned a wet felted flower into a broach by attaching it to her clothing with a pin. It makes a unique accessory.

At school, we mounted some on canvases and tapestries that were also felted. They turned out beautifully. We had over 200 students each wet felt a flower – ranging from Kindergarten to grade 7.

Working with CCard was an exceptional opportunity. I got to work with a true artist in this field and learned so much. I can’t wait to share the other wet felting project that we did – a succulent plant.

Want to remember how to wet felt a flower? Be sure to save this to your favourite Pinterest board.