A hat band changes the hat more than anything else you can buy for it. The rest of the list is care equipment — and two items on it save a hat that would otherwise be ruined.
3 min read
Felt has no grain and no weave, which makes it ideal for machine cutting and awful for a blade that expects resistance. Which machine cuts which thickness, and the settings that actually work.
7 min read
Corriedale for almost everything, cheap carded wool for the inside, merino only where it shows. Which roving suits needle felting, what it costs, and how to work out how much a project actually needs.
7 min read Beginner
Pure wool felt, wool blend and acrylic craft felt look almost identical on a shelf and behave nothing alike. What the labels mean and what each is good for.
3 min read Beginner
Oil on wool in a hot dryer needs a little care: how many drops, when to add them, which oils stain, and why undiluted oil on hot fabric is worth avoiding.
9 min read Beginner
Quilters and felters both buy wool batting and want opposite things from it. What the bonding and scrim on quilt wadding do, and why it will not felt.
3 min read Intermediate
Carded batts felt faster than combed tops and cost less per gram. What batting is, which kind to buy, and why quilters and felters want different things from it.
4 min read Beginner
Merino is the fibre most felting shops sell most of, and it is the wrong choice for about half the projects people buy it for. Here is the split.
4 min read Beginner
The honest answer: you will stab yourself, it will hurt, and that is the whole of the risk for most people. Here is what to do about it and the two rarer concerns.
4 min read Beginner
Wool prickle is a mechanical effect with a measurable threshold, not an allergy. Where merino sits on that scale, and why felting changes how it feels.
3 min read Beginner
Needles are one route to felt, and the newer one. Water, soap and friction do the whole job with nothing sharp involved: five methods with quantities, water temperatures and timings, and what to use if you only need a needle substitute.
5 min read Beginner
Felt hats are not washable. Brushing, sponging, steaming and a rubber block will handle almost everything a hat picks up — water and detergent will not.
4 min read Beginner
Sculpt wool into animals, figures and decorations with barbed needles. Start with the basics, then work up to armatures, faces and fine detail.
Warm water, soap and friction turn loose fibre into solid fabric. Learn layouts, shrinkage and resists for scarves, soaps, vessels and flat felt.
Felt merino through open-weave fabric to create light, drapey textiles. Fabric choice, fibre weight and migration, explained clearly.
Complete makes with photos at every stage — animals, flowers, ornaments and home decorations, sorted by how much experience they need.
Printable templates, measurements and shaping guides you can follow exactly, or adapt once you know what the shapes are doing.
The core techniques, one skill at a time — each written as a sequence you can follow at the table with wool in your hands.
Which needles, wool and mats are actually worth buying — what the gauges mean, what to skip, and what a starter kit really needs.
The knitting side of working with wool — leaf patterns, casting on, needle sizes and knitting faster — including the pieces that go on to be felted.
Why leaves fall when they do, what a cobweb actually is, and the seasonal makes that follow from both.
What to do with the pumpkin once it is carved — cooking from fresh, including the parts most people throw away.
