In this blog post I will show you how to make a felted vest which can be worn in four different ways. This vest is made from natural wool and for felting I have used different techniques.
Materials: pre-felt, merino wool, yarn, silk fibers, sheep’s wool locks.
Felting the vest
If you are going to make a vest in the clothing size from 38 to 42 (EU size), you will need 115 cms of pre-felt. I divided the fabric into four and basted the centre and the location of the armholes, so that they are easier to see. I also marked the place of the collar, which is 20-30 cms from the edge. After that I cut out the armholes.
For the first layer, I laid out the decor and covered it with a thin layer of merino wool. After that, I laid out the prepared pre-wool. The third layer is merino and the last one is again the decor.
The first decor
Laying the merino wool on the pre-felt.
The second decor.
The second decor.
When making this vest you have to keep in mind that it is meant to be worn in four different ways.
After laying out the merino wool and adding the decor I dampened the material with lukewarm soap water and pressed the air out of it. If the decor moves, you can just quickly fix it and move on. After that I rolled the material about 70-100 times from each side. Then I cut and finished the armholes. Next step was rinsing the material and rubbing it with soap. It is best to use a course mat for doing that. After that, you can put the vest into the washing machine and set the machine on rinsing mode. You could also just rinse it with lukewarm water by hand and roll the product about 20 times from each direction and let it dry. When this step was finished, I pulled and straightened the edges and steamed the product. When finishing, use your fantasy – you can embroid different pearls and beads, use different patterns, buttons or hooks.
