slippers!

This is something I have been wanting to make for months and I finally took the plunge and ordered some gotland wool a few weeks ago. Gotland is one of the courser wools and is reputed to be hard-wearing, hence very good for making shoes and bags. I was planning to use a simple heart-shaped template for my slippers but then I saw this post by Nada on Felting and Fiber Studio and knew I had to try her template instead!

Sorry, I forgot to take pictures while laying out the wool and felting but I used 2 layers of deep purple merino on the inside and 2 layers of grey gotland on the outside, rolled 200 times before cutting the resist out.

I rubbed with warm soapy water, inside and out for a few more minutes before inserting shoe lasts* and popping them in the washing machine.

Here are the slippers after fulling:

I was glad I opted to put the decoration on after fulling, as with the yellow pod, the gotland completely overwhelmed the purple merino.

And after adding some needle felted decoration (I used some spaced dyed prefelt for this):

They are very comfy but could do with some non-slip treatment on the soles, while it is fun "skating" round the house on our wooden floors I know it is only a matter of time before I hurt myself....

*My shoe lasts were made using the cheap and cheerful method from Ruth Lanes' book- this is a fantastic reference guide for all things felt and it will save you the cost of buying shoe lasts so is a bargain! If you are new to felting and short of money, this is the ONE book I recommend you buy.