making felt hats

I picked up a copy of "Fabulous Felt Hats", by Chad Alilce Hagen,
for a dollar and have a few questions about it. I don't want to
have to acquire raw wool just to experiment with this stuff and
I don't want to sink money into fancy soaps. Just to get a feel
for the materials, could I just take some cotton yarn and some
ivory soap and try to convert the yarn into felt?
--
Ignorantly,
Allan Adler
* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My actions and
* comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near Boston.

Hi Allan:

I'm a bit of a 'lurker' in this disc. group.

I've never made felt myself, but I think it might be worth a try with
the cotton yarn & Ivory soap as an experiment. Who knows, you might
discover something unique. Why don't you try Goodwill Stores, Salvation
Army Stores for wool yarn. Sometimes people close up family estates &
want to dispose of sewing, kniting, etc. supplies.

Good luck with your felt hat projects!

Carol S.
"golfingcrafter"

(Carol S.) writes:

I've never made felt myself, but I think it might be worth a try with
the cotton yarn & Ivory soap as an experiment. Who knows, you might
discover something unique. Why don't you try Goodwill Stores, Salvation
Army Stores for wool yarn. Sometimes people close up family estates &
want to dispose of sewing, kniting, etc. supplies.
Good luck with your felt hat projects!

Thanks. I just noticed I have a bag of cotton balls. One reason to wonder
about using ivory soap is that the book seems to emphasize soaps containing
olive oil. I suspected that might have to do with oil repelling water, but
soap, after all, is supposed to be used with water. Anyway, I have the cotton
balls and the ivory and have nothing to lose. More when I know more...
--
Ignorantly,
Allan Adler
* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My actions and
* comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near Boston.

On Aug 21, 9:25 pm, Allan Adler wrote:
(Carol S.) writes:
I've never made felt myself, but I think it might be worth a try with
the cotton yarn & Ivory soap as an experiment. Who knows, you might
discover something unique. Why don't you try Goodwill Stores, Salvation
Army Stores for wool yarn. Sometimes people close up family estates &
want to dispose of sewing, kniting, etc. supplies.
Good luck with your felt hat projects!

Thanks. I just noticed I have a bag of cotton balls. One reason to wonder
about using ivory soap is that the book seems to emphasize soaps containing
olive oil. I suspected that might have to do with oil repelling water, but
soap, after all, is supposed to be used with water. Anyway, I have the cotton
balls and the ivory and have nothing to lose. More when I know more...
--
Ignorantly,
Allan Adler
* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My actions and
* comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near Boston.

In this book, What is the material that is recommended? I've only
heard of felting wool, and the soap was never so important as the
temp. of the water and the amount of aggitation.
Make sure to post results so everyoe can learn. Luck in you
experiment.
Cynthia
Nanaluvsewe.com

I was about to make that point. I made a hat by knitting wool and then
using heavy agitation in hot water through several cycles of the washing
machine until I got it to the degree of felting that I wanted. Then I
blocked it on a sweater dryer, using a ball of wadded plastic grocery bags
until it dried. It held its shape all winter, but now it's gone flat while
sitting (a lot of things have found their way on top of it) and I'm about to
repeat the hot water and blocking process for the coming winter.

"Cynthia&nana" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Aug 21, 9:25 pm, Allan Adler wrote:
(Carol S.) writes:
I've never made felt myself, but I think it might be worth a try with
the cotton yarn & Ivory soap as an experiment. Who knows, you might
discover something unique. Why don't you try Goodwill Stores,
Salvation
Army Stores for wool yarn. Sometimes people close up family estates &
want to dispose of sewing, kniting, etc. supplies.
Good luck with your felt hat projects!

Thanks. I just noticed I have a bag of cotton balls. One reason to wonder
about using ivory soap is that the book seems to emphasize soaps
containing
olive oil. I suspected that might have to do with oil repelling water,
but
soap, after all, is supposed to be used with water. Anyway, I have the
cotton
balls and the ivory and have nothing to lose. More when I know more...
--
Ignorantly,
Allan Adler
* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My
actions and
* comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near
Boston.

In this book, What is the material that is recommended? I've only
heard of felting wool, and the soap was never so important as the
temp. of the water and the amount of aggitation.
Make sure to post results so everyoe can learn. Luck in you
experiment.
Cynthia
Nanaluvsewe.com

Here's a link to a pattern, if anyone is interested:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...%3Den%26sa%3DN


"Cynthia&nana" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Aug 21, 9:25 pm, Allan Adler wrote:
(Carol S.) writes:
I've never made felt myself, but I think it might be worth a try with
the cotton yarn & Ivory soap as an experiment. Who knows, you might
discover something unique. Why don't you try Goodwill Stores,
Salvation
Army Stores for wool yarn. Sometimes people close up family estates &
want to dispose of sewing, kniting, etc. supplies.
Good luck with your felt hat projects!

Thanks. I just noticed I have a bag of cotton balls. One reason to wonder
about using ivory soap is that the book seems to emphasize soaps
containing
olive oil. I suspected that might have to do with oil repelling water,
but
soap, after all, is supposed to be used with water. Anyway, I have the
cotton
balls and the ivory and have nothing to lose. More when I know more...
--
Ignorantly,
Allan Adler
* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My
actions and
* comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near
Boston.

In this book, What is the material that is recommended? I've only
heard of felting wool, and the soap was never so important as the
temp. of the water and the amount of aggitation.
Make sure to post results so everyoe can learn. Luck in you
experiment.
Cynthia
Nanaluvsewe.com

I found the pattern I used:

http://webhome.idirect.com/~quanah/patfelthat.html

"Cynthia&nana" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Aug 21, 9:25 pm, Allan Adler wrote:
(Carol S.) writes:
I've never made felt myself, but I think it might be worth a try with
the cotton yarn & Ivory soap as an experiment. Who knows, you might
discover something unique. Why don't you try Goodwill Stores,
Salvation
Army Stores for wool yarn. Sometimes people close up family estates &
want to dispose of sewing, kniting, etc. supplies.
Good luck with your felt hat projects!

Thanks. I just noticed I have a bag of cotton balls. One reason to wonder
about using ivory soap is that the book seems to emphasize soaps
containing
olive oil. I suspected that might have to do with oil repelling water,
but
soap, after all, is supposed to be used with water. Anyway, I have the
cotton
balls and the ivory and have nothing to lose. More when I know more...
--
Ignorantly,
Allan Adler
* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My
actions and
* comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near
Boston.

In this book, What is the material that is recommended? I've only
heard of felting wool, and the soap was never so important as the
temp. of the water and the amount of aggitation.
Make sure to post results so everyoe can learn. Luck in you
experiment.
Cynthia
Nanaluvsewe.com