Wet felted boots

[Rlynn (robin (she/her))]

@Belladune

Some people use hand held sanders (slightly modified to hold bubble wrap or another textured surface instead of sand paper) to speed the first step of the process up. I can’t imaging skipping that step, because I love the feeling of wool under my hands. I did get a mechanical roller/tumbler to do the last steps tho, because felting is hard work, and I like to do the part I like and let the machine do the work I don’t!

Ooohhh…okay, so maybe not my last wet felting attempt after all. It was a total sensory thing for me. Like nails on chalkboard. I could deal with it for a bit but it built up and I wanted to crawl out of my skin.

@Bigmouth

So the duct tape lasts are permanently part of the boots? Or did you remove them somehow?

The duct tape lasts are just a tool to help shape and size the boots. Shoemakers use them and you can buy plastic or wood versions. I just made my own. The downside is they were a one time thing because I wasn’t great about waterproofing them.

So after creating essentially a felt stocking, I put the duct tape last inside and agitated the felt more. As the wool shrunk up, the foot last provided the shape and prevented me from making the booties too small. Not shown is the other foot last. I made 2, one for the L foot and one for the R foot.