Tutorial: Make a Felt Rug

Last week, I was sitting on a proverbial egg.  Fret, nausea, excitement: I was all over the place.

I was the lead on a craft project for Nora’s class. Each year every class makes something — something big and wonderful – to be auctioned off as a fundraiser.

We made a wool felt rug.  Or, wall hanging, I guess.  Since the thought of it getting walked on makes me queasy. Not that it’s sacred; it just wouldn’t hold up to foot traffic.

It was by far the biggest crafting endeavor I’ve been a part of.   I felt like Christo. With insomnia.

Not that I’m complaining. I’m the one who found this crazy idea.

I was poking around the internet looking for a craft project with some wow factor that the kids could actually help execute.  This isn’t strictly necessary, but it makes it special.  However, the things kindergarteners specialize in making — sticky, lopsided things — are things no adult wants to buy.  So the trick was to find something that didn’t need skill, just energy.

I found some basic instructions for making a wool felt rug using the stomping power of kids.  (The woman who published the instructions is also the supplier of the wool batts we used.) We picked a simple cherry blossom design, as “Cherry Blossom” is the name of my daughter’s class.

All we needed was 10 pounds of wool, 2 gallons of water, some rope, old sheets and a few ten foot 2x4s.  No problem!

Here’s How it All Went Down

We split the thick wool batts apart, and laid down a base layer on a large bedsheet, making sure that the grain of each layer was facing the same direction. The grain of subsequent layers was laid in the opposite direction as the one before it. We used a total of 7 or 8 layers.

The pattern was applied in thin layers using colored roving. The layers must be thin in order to felt to the base layer.

We wet the surface with hot soapy water, then covered it all with sheets and wet it again. Next, we carefully walked all over the surface.

Once completely wet and walked on, we rolled it around two 10 foot 2×4 boards that had been nailed together and tied ropes every eight inches, so hold the design in place.

Stomping time!

This is a really great work out. Especially for the gluts.

Next, we transported the rug to the school, where kids of all ages stomped on it and used it as a balance beam all week long. Periodically, we unrolled it and re-rolled it in the opposite direction.

This is the rug after a week of stomping. It has reached the “soft felt” stage. I did a bit more hot water, soap and stomping, just to be sure it was going to hold together for the next phase.

The door of this 30 lb capacity washer cannot be opened once the wash cycle has started. I almost vomited as I watched, terrified all our work would come flying apart. But it felted up quite nicely.

The rug, after 3 washings. Crinkly and with a hole in the top layer.

We used a needle felting technique to tack down any parts of the design that weren’t sticking to the base layers. This technique concealed the hole, to our joy.

To “block” or even out the work, we pulled on opposite ends, and used steam irons over the entire surface.

Almost done, edges are still ragged.

In a brave moment, I trimmed the edges. Some say, like handmade pasta, handmade felt should not be cut. They are better at making felt than we are. I used a square and an eight foot 4×4 board as a guide. I scored my cuts with a razor blade and then trimmed along the score with a scissors. It could use a decorative edge, but we wanted to quit while we were ahead. The final size is around 8 x 5 feet.

I did not do this alone!  I had the most amazing team comprised of grown-ups, kindergarteners and eighth graders. Everyone did a fantastic job!  Thank you!

And the rug earned $700 to support our school!

So, what’s the biggest craft project you’ve ever done?  We’re looking for ideas for next year.