FELTING 3D OBJECTS: FELTING AROUND AN OBJECT THAT CAN BE DEFLATED

Technique 3: Felting around an object that can be deflated e.g. a ball or balloon

• To begin this felting process, I started with a balloon which I blew up so it was fairly big but still soft.
• Holding the balloon the right way up with the opening at the bottom, I added the first few layers at the top.
• I held the wool in place on the balloon and covered it in netting ( holding the netting in place in a bunch by the balloon opening).
• Then, I gently dipped the balloon in a bowl of hot water. I patted the water into the wool to make sure the wool soaked it up.
• I then removed the netting and applied more layers of wool to the rest of the balloon to make sure there was an evenly distributed layer.
• I placed the netting carefully back onto the balloon to keep the wool in its place whilst I wet the wool and applied some soap.
• Once the wool was all wet, it was much easier to handle as it held its shape.
• I  removed the netting and placed the wool coated balloon into a plastic bag to felt it. I used this bag as I found that this way I could rub and felt the wool evenly before working directly with the wool. I made sure that the wool had soaked up plenty of soap and hot water before this so that it felted quicker and easier.

• I then removed the bag and undid the knot in the balloon to release some air out of it. I then tied it back up. This allowed the wool to shrink.
• I rubbed the wool some more to make sure it had been felted a good amount, and when I was happy with the way it looked I gently squeezed the excess water out of the wool.

• I then put it in the tumble dryer. (Yes, with the balloon inside!) As the balloon at this point wasn't stretched out much it seemed to handle heat from the dryer fine.
• Every few minutes, I took it out of the dryer and let some more air out of the balloon, allowing the wool to further felt and shrink down.
• When the wool was dry, I let the rest of the air out of the balloon and put it back in the packet to use again.

Possibly a technique to use to make light shades

I really like the results from using this technique. I managed to create a piece and it be an even thickness all over, and using the dryer worked really well. It keeps it's shape and has a great finish to it. I'm definitely going to revisit this technique on a larger scale.

I was apprehensive about trying this technique as I am very conscious about single use plastics and I know that balloons aren't good for the environment. For this sample I used a balloon that I already had, and made sure to be careful with it and used a piece of string to tie it up so that I could use the same balloon several times.

Another option for this which would be better would be to use a ball that could easily be inflated and deflated as it would last forever. Balloons would probably eventually become weak and break after a few uses.

🌱Kat Webb🌱