Visions of sugar plums....pebble rugs

Okay it wasn't really sugar plums, but I did envision a cool new handmade pebble rug in my craft room.

image from www.shelterness.com

have you seen these rugs, they are so cool. Over Thanksgiving I felt one first hand(foot) at my sister-in-laws. Oh it was so soft and awesome, it just made your toes curl to walk across it.

Now being a crafty individual, I thought Mm.... I could make this. I did the research , I do know how to wet felt and if that didn't work then I would make really big yo-yo's out of felt then wash, dry and sew together. It did sound feasible.

Yeah right! I started with a  lovely big bag of assorted brown and cream alpaca fleece.  I rolled and mushed soap over my stones creating pebbles just the right size felting them down to the desired shape. My thought was start small in rug size and grow as I found the time. I had this bright idea to wet felt all my stones then, run them through the washer and dryer to finish the felting process. Sounded good until I tried it.

 What happens when you try and felt  alpaca pebbles in a net bag. Oh what a mess!

Some times good ideas late in the day doesn't come out all the way like you planned. After I wet felted my (I should note my fleece was unprocessed, maybe that was the problem) pebbles I placed them in a netted bag and tossed them into the washer to rinse out the soap. Possibly this could have been my first mistake. Some felted up great stayed in shape made really cool  felted rocks. But the majority totally went the opposite direction and made matted creatures of unknown dimensions. They would be cute if I added in eyes and gave them a little hair cut. These were NOT the cool fun felted pebbles I envisioned.

Can you see the white cording, all twisted and knotted in the matted fleece?

What caused them not to stay together I am not sure. Maybe it was the netting and it pulled the fibers out of the bag. There was a few surprises in my alpaca fleece. I had purchased it a few years ago at a music/craft festival. Was told it was unprocessed and would have vegetable matter in it. It did. Plus a few bunny droppings too.
So your asking; did it make pebbles, Yes it did. But not as many as I had thought I had felted, some I had to did around for, some shrunk, which is good, some flattened out, there are flat rocks, some just dissolved into the matted creatures and others are just odd.

I will try the big felt yo-yo's and see how they come out. This was an experiment, A little success yes, no failures when it comes to creating something handmade. I have enough to make a mug rug or pot holder. We will see.

Hairy yes, but a hair cut and re felting may be in order. but stone like nevertheless.

bunny by-product.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014 !!!!

-TNfrmgrl