We’ve taught a lot of people how to nuno felt. In our eleven years of business, we’ve introduced thousands (literally!) of students to the beautiful art of nuno felting. This means we’ve met a lot of incredible people, seen many draw-dropping felted items and also seen our fair share of mishaps. Today, we’ll be sharing Sharon’s favorite tips for solving the top 5 most common nuno felting problems we see.
We’ll be discussing the problems we see, specifically, in our nuno felted scarf class, but you can apply all these problems to any nuno felting project you’re working on.
1. Your felt is lumpy
Take the lumpy wool off and re-draft it thinner this time. Focus on consistent, even drafting. If your wool is drafted on too thickly or too thinly it won’t felt into the silk properly. Remember, the barbs on your fiber have to get all the way through the silk to the back in order to adhere properly. Sharon says, “Wool works better as a team”. If you don’t have enough wool, it doesn’t have the power to get through the silk. But, if you have too much wool, it just felts to itself and not the silk. Practice nice, even, drafting and this will prevent unwanted lumps and bumps.
2. Your embellishments are falling off
First of all, don’t panic! We see this felting problem all the time. Draft a super thin veil of wool over your embellishments. If you put too much wool as this veil, you won’t be able to see your embellishments, but a nice thin layer will envelop them and get them to stick and stay put. Coax the embellishments into your project by gently (GENTLY!) rolling them with this cobweb of wool overtop. Sharon’s advice? Think of wool as your felting ‘glue’. Wherever you need something to stick, add a thin veil of wool!
3. Your wool won’t felt into the silk
There’s a few possibilities for this situation. Firstly, you may have rolled your project too aggressively. When your project in your rolling kit, roll gently, gently, gently. Sharon always states the importance of “coaxing” your fibers through the silk. It’s a gentle process. Secondly, the silk you’re attempting to felt may be too thick. We suggest using 8 momme or less silk in order for the wool to be able to work through the weave. While it’s completely possible to felt through fabric considerably heavier than 8 momme, it takes a considerable amount of time and patience. Thirdly, you may not be using enough water. Don’t be afraid of water! It’s better to have too much water than not enough. If you’re not using enough water, your project won’t felt.
4. Your project is taking FOREVER to felt
You may not have enough soap. Soap opens the cuticle of the wool and allows it to felt faster. Soap also slightly alters the pH of the wool and makes it a little ‘sticky’. This little ‘stick’ speeds up the felting process. This being said, it is possible to have TOO much soap. You’ll know you have too much soap if suds are bubbling at the sides of your rolling kit when it is rolled up. If this is the case, you can easily solve it by unrolling your bundle, gently blot your project with a clean towel to soak up some of the soap and then sprinkling it with clean water. You may need to repeat if the suds keep coming.
5. You thought you were done….but now it doesn’t look finished
Keep felting! You can pick up where you left off. Even if you’ve let the scarf dry, you can continue to felt it. Here is Sharon’s go-to “Cigar Roll Method”. Get your piece wet and soapy again. Lay it out with the design up, then tightly roll the piece up on itself. Then wrap it up in a hand towel and roll it firmly on the table, back and forth, 25 times, applying pressure as you roll. Unroll it, then roll it up from the other end, re-wrap it in the towel and re-roll, applying pressure for 25 times. This process helps the scarf ‘full’ evenly across the entire piece. Don’t roll more than 25 times in a row, or you’ll risk felting your item into a permanent jelly roll! Sharon says this trick fixes all sorts of nuno felting problems!
Perhaps Sharon’s best piece of advice is this:
“In both teaching students, and my own work, I don’t like to use the word ‘mistake’. I think that when we’re learning a creative process, everything we do, whether it turns out how we wanted to or not, is a learning experience. There are no mistakes, there’s only different results.”
She continued to tell me a story about a student who tried her cigar-roll method at home, but rolled 50 continuous times (instead of 25) and ended up felting her piece into a permanent ‘jelly roll’. The student came in, in tears, to seek advice from Sharon. What did they do? They cut her piece into two inch sections and turned it into beautiful flowers instead of a scarf. “See”, says Sharon, “no such thing as mistakes”.
Liked this post about the 5 most common nuno felting problems? Want more great felting advice and inspiration? For a list of our favorite felting tools click here. See the amazing things out students have made here. Check out our full schedule of classes here and shop our wide variety of wool roving, fabrics, fibers and more for felting in our online store.
Hello Sharon, thank you for posting this site, definitely helpful suggestions and observations💕🐈 Susanna
I was told to use Artfelt paper, but I see a lot of felting in making scarves uses bubble wrap. How can I use the Artfelt paper I have already purchased in making a scarf? I appreciate your suggestions and expertise.
Hello Sharon,
We don’t use Artfelt paper in any of our felting projects. Though we know of people who do use it, it just didn’t speak to us the same way. Our method for Nuno felting is to lay down bubble wrap (or in our case, pool covering), then your silk scarf, then your roving and fibers, followed by a layer of nylon mesh netting. We can use this kit over and over and over again, which is great because that means less waste, and less money. From our own years of experience, we can tell you that you don’t need Artfelt paper, though if you like it, you should continue to use it!
I use a dryer because it is way less work than this method if you are felting a massive garment. Just putting that out there for people that you don’t have to roll by hand a bunch of times especially if you can’t because of a disability or if you’re just lazy like me lol.
Hello Kate!
Thank you for the input, you’re absolutely right. Our beginning level Nuno Felted Scarf class is done in the dryer. It’s such a great way to save stress on your arms, shoulders and back and it works so quickly! When our students run into problems once they head home after the workshop, we find that fixing problems the old fashioned way, via rolling, is the way to go and often eliminates any further issues.
The Gentle Roller from Australia is more controlled than throwing it in the dryer, especially for clothing. I would never put it in the dryer
Hi Heather! Thanks for the comment! In our experience, a no-heat dryer with a piece tightly wrapped has always produced excellent results in a short amount of time, however, we know lots of people who have success with rollers similar to those. Whatever floats your boat, right? The beauty of creating is that we all do it differently and felting, specifically, is completed through so many different processes. Thank you so much for reading! Happy felting!
I’ve been using Moreno wool. Can I use coridale also? Just a newbie to Nuno felting, but I love it!
Hello Sis!
While merino is best for Nuno felting, you certainly can use Corriedale. Keep in mind that Corriedale is a coarser fiber, so it won’t be as soft and the resulting felt may be ‘furrier’ then merino. Happy felting!
I need to make samples before I felt my scarf. what silk do you recommend to use for my square samples. I don’t want to pay alot since their samples but I really want to make sure Im felting correctly.
Thank you in advance,
Beckie Collett
Hello Beckie,
Because you’re making a lot of samples, I would opt for a more affordable silk such as a natural colored chiffon, gauze or mesh. Any silk in the 3-18 momme range will work well, though the lower the momme, the sheerer the fabric, the easier to felt. Hope that helps!
I have been throwing this question out everywhere..why my felt is so fuzzy even after trying all the right things..? Ialso wonder if “over felting” can cause this. Can you help?
Hello Stacey!
Typically, ‘fuzzy’ felt is seen in pieces that haven’t been felted enough. Over felted felt is very, very firm with many less fibers sticking out away from the piece. How experienced a felter are you? We often see beginners who think their piece has been very well felted, when in reality, the piece could be felted more. One of our favorite tips for beginners is “when you think you’re done, keep going!”. This fuzz could also be caused by the type of roving you’re using, or the quality of the roving. Do you know what type you’re using? Merino, corriedale, blue face Leicester, etc?
Greetings Ladies: I am new to Nuno felting, and I’ve been watching lots of youtube videos to show me how to do it. I noticed that this craft is very popular in Eastern Europe/Russia. They often use a sander without the sand paper, instead of so much rolling. Or maybe just ‘in addition to’. Have you ever tried using this technique? Any thoughts on it?
Hello Catherine!
Thanks so much for your comment. We have tested the sander method and we have a couple of thoughts. Firstly, it’s very loud! We enjoy the peacefulness of felting and find that, personally, we can’t stand listening to the sander. We do, however, use a no-heat dryer for most of our felting and only use manual rolling under special circumstances. The ‘thump’ of the no-heat dryer isn’t nearly as loud or disruptive. We’ve also found that using the sander, the project can get away from you very quickly! It does work, but you must be extremely mindful and check the felting progression very, very often. The sander is by no means a ‘gentle’ way of felting, so it will felt your item quickly – too quickly if you’re not very careful! Hope this helps. We’re so glad you asked!
Having a hard time with nunofelting. I lay down my silk guaze and then 2 layers of wool roving. Even though I even out my edges as I felt to be straight I still end up with silk guaze pulling back from the edges and my roving is stilling out with the silk about 1/2 from edge. Help want am I doing wrong?
Try rubbing first. Cover the lay out with very fine plastic used for decorating. Wet hands and use plenty of soap. Lightly rub the wool side until it is migrating through the silk. Use very open weave silk.
i’m in the strange place of nuno felting a wedding dress made of lace, and feeling the despair of the wool not migrating across. Wondering if i used too much force, or soap, or water. But after reading your article i think i just need more calm and patience and it will hopefully fix itself to the carrier fabric.
thanks!
Can u over roll your felt
Hi,
Thank you for this, it’s very helpful. I have a question: I felted a scarf and it feels very stiff. Is there any way I can make the piece more bendable?
Hello Veronica,
Unfortunately, there isn’t really a great way to do so. Our advice: draft lighter and with less roving on your next scarf, and/or use a thinner weight silk.