# Raw Fleece to Felted Boots



## dlskidmore

I've dabbled in a number of fiber arts, and I make all my own shoes. For next winter I'm hoping to get something a little warmer and simpler than the layers of wool socks I used in previous years.

I'm planning something basically just like:


The core features are the seamless felted boot, but with the leather overshoe to prevent wear on the felt.

But with some embroidery like modern Valenki:


I've got 8 pounds of naturally dark unwashed fleece on order. I don't yet know the condition of the fleece, the sheep were kept on thick straw bedding when I visited the farm earlier this spring, and the fleece will already be skirted.

I've done some felting from knitted articles before, but this will be my first work from raw fleece. 

I want these boots to be water resistant, so I will be lanolizing them when they are finished. Does it make any sense to wash the initial lanolin out, do the felting, and put new lanolin back in? Most of the VM can be removed through carding or combing?

I will be using primitive tools to comb/card the wool, I'm not sure yet that I'm going to do this enough to make it worth investing in good tools. Because I'm using cheap tools, I'm not too worried about getting them dirty with unwashed wool.

I think combing is best for the job, but I'll try combing too just to get a feel for it and decide which is more fun/comfortable.

Most of the things I read about wool prep are aimed as spinners. They tend to put low quality fibers aside and say some people use them for felting...

The embroidery will be a whole second project. I'm looking at some Elsa S Williams crewel designs, but I've no specific plan yet. I'm not an expert embroiderer, so I'll probably pick something simple.


----------



## hercsmama

Those look awesome. I'll be very interested to see how the ones you make turn out.
If I'm understanding you, you are making these for outside wear? Very cool. But, will they hold up to snow, and what have you? I see you are in New York, so assume you get a real winter??


----------



## frazzlehead

I did this at a class at Olds Fibre Week, they came out neat.

We worked with mill processed batts, and you will want the locks well combed before felting so you have nice even thicknesses. You'll use so much soapy water you'll end up scrubbing any lanolin in the raw wool out, so if it's easier to process if you wash it first, go ahead - usually VM doesn't come out very well unless you have gotten the wool at least partially washed, though you certainly don't need to do a full on scour.

Have fun, it's a great process and the boots are fabulous when finished!


----------



## libby

SO cool! I Wanted all winter to make myself a pair like that! You better show us your progress!


----------



## Callieslamb

How are you doing it? I bought foam forms to felt boots on but haven't had the guts to try yet. Are you using a form or a resist or __________????? 

I hope you take lots of pictures of your process for us!


----------



## Marchwind

Callie I think the forms you got are for needle felting. This will be wet felted. Generally for wet felting you use a piece of cloth between layers to make the opening for the foot and leg.

Dlskidmore welcome to the Fold! What a great idea. I have a friend who makes mukluks back in MN but she makes her out of canvas and moose hide and buys a felt liner. I like the looks of your. Are you planning to put something on the bottom of the foot other than the leather? Leather can be really slippery on snow. Do you know what type of fleece you are getting (from what breed of sheep). Not all wool felts and not all wool that felt felts well. I would imagine you would want a wool that felts fairly hard and fast for wear and for water proofing.

Please keep posting about your progress. I can't wait to see how it all turns out.


----------



## dlskidmore

hercsmama said:


> But, will they hold up to snow, and what have you? I see you are in New York, so assume you get a real winter??


Yes, we have real winter up here. Snow is not really a problem. If you have sufficient insulation to keep from melting the snow, the snow stays out and feet stay dry. These felt boots were traditionally worn outdoors in areas with dry snow.

Slush is the real enemy to homemade footwear. I've not made anything waterproof yet, but with enough wool on my feet I stay warm even when wet. I'm hoping the leather bottoms and lanolin layers will keep me dry this time except when I do silly things like stand in puddles.

If the leather and lanolin is not enough, they do make goloshes specifically for going over these kinds of boots. (I'm a bit timid of getting the size right over the internet, and they probably will not fit my funny feet well anyway.)


----------



## dlskidmore

frazzlehead said:


> I did this at a class at Olds Fibre Week, they came out neat.


What process did you use? I've got the basic concepts, but I'm really fuzzy on how to size my initial batts and how to shape the heel and toe when moving from the flat 2-D cutout to the full boot.


----------



## dlskidmore

Callieslamb said:


> How are you doing it? I bought foam forms to felt boots on but haven't had the guts to try yet. Are you using a form or a resist or __________?????


I'm planning to start with an over-sized bat cutout, and felt over a flat resist. (Will look something like a Christmas stocking in the early stages.) Felting will be done entirely by hand, I've never liked the washing machine method. My previous felting experience has been with knitted articles, so I'm new at turning batts into prefelt, but I'm pretty confident about prefelt to felt stage. For that I'd roll up the work in a towel and beat it on the table. (Someday I should get a washboard to speed up the process.)

The pictures of professionals doing this work then show a series of molds and stretching tools used to standardize the piece. I think at this point I'll just use my own foot. Put the boot on, and massage my foot real good with soapy water. This will limit the amount of heat I can use at this stage. I have some basic lasts that I use for sewing my shoes and darning my socks, but they're made of paper and would probably not survive felting liquid.


----------



## dlskidmore

Marchwind said:


> Leather can be really slippery on snow.


I've been wearing leather shoes for two winters and not had any problems. The felt will muffle my ability to feel the ground and grip with my toes like I can do in wool socks and moccasins, which may cause traction issues, but the leather itself has not been a problem. There's a huge difference between flexible leather than can follow the contour of the bumps in the ground and hard leather that skates over the tops of the bumps.



Marchwind said:


> Do you know what type of fleece you are getting (from what breed of sheep). Not all wool felts and not all wool that felt felts well.


Good point. I picked the fleece I did for it's convenience and price. The owner of the sheep usually has a mill turn the fleece into yarn and roving, and she has felted some of the roving. It may not turn out, but I can't know until I try. At least now I know if it's not felting properly it might be the sheep's fault.


----------



## Callieslamb

How do you make the bottom of the boot with a flat resist? That's been my biggest question about that method. You can wet felt over the forms I have, but it's messy. I want to put some of my softer finn fleece on the inside of the boot and jacob on the outside.

How thick are you aiming for? Have you looked at simpleshoemaking.com? They have the real soles you can add, but they are very cost prohibitive. I thought I'd try a few pairs of boots and if I can get them right, got for the soles later. 

Since I had foot surgery, i have one foot way wider than the others. I can't find a shoe to fit that foot. I'm toying with making my own sandal for it.


----------



## dlskidmore

Callieslamb said:


> How do you make the bottom of the boot with a flat resist? That's been my biggest question about that method.


The instep is not hard, you're just taking the cylinder you made and rotating it. The heel and toe are less straightforward, I could end up with odd puckers at the bottom back of the heel and the top/bottom of the toe if I try to do all the felting in the original flat pattern form. I believe though that I can stick a different resist in the middle and fold the boots the other way (folded down at the ankle, heel to on side, cuff & toe at the other) and get some decent shaping before I move to felting directly on my foot.

I don't think I want to glue on a rubber sole, the pressures could delaminate the felt. I've glued flat rubber soles on curved leather soles before, and it resulted in the glue just not holding up to the stress. (This is really tough barge cement, it takes a lot of force to undo it.)

The little leather overshoe in the first picture should protect the felt from wear when in contact with the ground.



Callieslamb said:


> Since I had foot surgery, i have one foot way wider than the others. I can't find a shoe to fit that foot. I'm toying with making my own sandal for it.


Moccasins and sandals are pretty easy to make, you should try it if you have hard to fit feet. There are also a lot of custom shoe makers if you can afford them.

Luna Sandals DIY Kit
Custom-Made Barefoot Running Sandals | Barefoot Shoes | Minimalist Running Shoes
Sportsmen's Footwear Since 1898 - Fine handmade custom fitted moccasin style boots and shoes for hunters and outdoors men and women!
Turtle Island Moccasins - Custom Footwear - Leather Moccasins, Renaissance Footwear


----------



## InHisName

Those felted boots are great! Looking forward to hearing your progress. I've felted several projects, shawls, wall hangings and such, and sometimes have taken the raw fleece right out of the bag, opened fibers and laid them on top of each other, then hot soapy water to make my pre felt. Dirty, soapy, stinky, but hey, skipped a big step! (washing the whole fleece first)


----------



## dlskidmore

Found a video of an artist making a fanciful version: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc-hvivO6ug]Nordmagazin - Wolle und Filzen - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## Maura

Please take photos of the process and post them here!

When I have really dirty wool I comb it first with my Blue indigo combs. Then, I wash it, then comb it again. Otherwise I wait to comb it after the wash. My sheep don't have a lot of lanolin so it is possible to comb prior to washing. Fleece with heavy lanolin really need to be washed first. I used to send my fleece to a mill, but they can't get all of the vegetable matter out, which is depressing when you are trying to spin.


----------



## frazzlehead

There are pictures of the process I did here. 

When you cut out the resist, you cut it quite a bit larger than your foot, and you draw the leg part onto it as well. Then you felt the boot flat, for starters, from a REALLY BIG DEEP PILE OF WOOL, and once it is thoroughly holding shape that way, and starting to shrink, you cut the boots apart and take the resist out.

Then you shape them more - rubbing on a washboard does wonders. 

My biggest recommendation is to work on the floor, not a table! I got down on my knees to do the rolling (in a bamboo blind) and my boots felted faster than anyone elses, I think because I had all my weight behind my shoulders. The counters we were working at were tall lab benches, and I am very short, so rolling on those was really hard for me. The floor was much easier, and I think it worked out better.


----------



## Marchwind

Here's a link that has good pictures of how the process works How to make felt boots Â« Adventures in Wool Addiction The thing is, is that you have to make sure you have the felt started before you begin really working hard with it. Also, after a certain point it is almost impossible to add more layers. So if you want these really thick say 1/4 - 1/2". You will have to have your wool layered ridiculously thick. Also, when you do your layers have the directions of the fibers going in alternate directions, crisscrossing.

As for how you go from the flat resist to the shape of the foot. Once you have it felted firm enough so it won't fall apart with handling you remove the resist and stick your hands inside and work it that way.

Lots of people use bubble wrap and/or roller shades to roll this up in and to provide some texture to roll against. Wash boards are nice, but a broiling pan works just as well.


----------



## Marchwind

Here are some other links so people can have an idea of what we are talking about.

lissamc: How to make felt boots
Recreating 16th and 17th Century Clothing: The Renaissance Tailor
Downsizer: for a sustainable & ethical future - Making felt boots


----------



## Callieslamb

Thanks for the links, Marchie!


----------



## dlskidmore

Marchwind said:


> Here are some other links so people can have an idea of what we are talking about.
> 
> lissamc: How to make felt boots
> Recreating 16th and 17th Century Clothing: The Renaissance Tailor
> Downsizer: for a sustainable & ethical future - Making felt boots


Now I just need my fleece to be ready, and a day to go pick it up.


----------



## hercsmama

Great links! Thank you for posting those.


----------



## dlskidmore

Ug. We had awful deep slush this morning. I normally expect one pair of wool socks to cut it in April, but I ended up going back into the house for my one conventional pair of shoes (muck boots) and dry socks. Looking forward to getting the boots!


----------



## Marchwind

Dlskidmore, I think you will find that if you can make a felt that is dense enough and hard enough that it will remain fairly water tight. Maybe never water proof but water resistant for sure


----------



## Pearl B

I would love to be able to buy a pair of boots like you have in the 1st pic!! Thanks for the links, Im going to look into this.


----------



## Mrs. Homesteader

Wow!! I love these boots. I can't imagine making them. Maybe someday....


----------



## Marchwind

Pearl B here you go Russian valenki felt boots - RusClothing.com


----------



## Mrs. Homesteader

I love those ones with the brown rubber bottoms and the cherries on that last link from Marchwind.


----------



## dlskidmore

Mrs. Homesteader said:


> I love those ones with the brown rubber bottoms and the cherries on that last link from Marchwind.


The rubber bottoms are overshoes, removable for dry snow or indoor use.


----------



## Pearl B

Marchwind said:


> Pearl B here you go Russian valenki felt boots - RusClothing.com


Thank you Marchwind! They have some nice boots and other stuff too.


----------



## MullersLaneFarm

I look forward to seeing these in progress!

The only thing I can add that I haven't seen mentioned before is be aware of which direction you are rolling or felting your wool, that is the direction it will shrink.


----------



## dlskidmore

I played with carding and combing this week. Although I think carding would produce the better result, with the cheap tools I have on hand, combing is much easier.


----------



## MullersLaneFarm

I'm really looking forward to seeing your progress! I've done a little wet felting, needle felting, fulling and nuno felting, but only small items.


----------



## dlskidmore

MullersLaneFarm said:


> I'm really looking forward to seeing your progress! I've done a little wet felting, needle felting, fulling and nuno felting, but only small items.


Yeah, I think I want to try a pair of mittens with this wool before I tackle the boots.

Still waiting on the fleece, getting impatient. My own fault, the first time I contacted them I wasn't in a hurry to pick it up.


----------



## dlskidmore

I did get some Elsa S Williams books, but they turned out to be about original design, and not have many designs in them. Perhaps I should take my camera down to the garden store and photograph some flowers and play with outlines.


----------



## Marchwind

Two books I have that you might find helpful are; Felt-Making Techniques and Projects, by Inge Evers, and Felting by Hand, by Anne Einset Vickrey Both are older books but you might be able to find them at the library.


----------



## dlskidmore

I have Feltmaking and Wool Magic by Jorie Johnson, which is pretty good. I do wish I had bought the paper copy instead of the Kindle one though. (Anything heavy on charts and pictures is better in paper.) My other felting book is about needle felting, and isn't very good. (All projects, no technique, but then again I complain that the Elsa Williams book is all technique with no projects.)


----------



## dlskidmore

Got my fleece today!

Two dark shades as requested:









Unfortunately it is full of VM. Well skirted for mud/crud, but just way too much hay (including seeds).









Started trying to prep the fleece the mongol way by beating it with sticks, but the fleece stuck to my sticks and I quit that quickly. I did beat a little VM out.

Attempt at combing with cheap combs did not go well.









But carding with dog brushes went better.









Now just have to do this a few hundred times...









I'll also try washing some and see if I can card it less if washed first.

Larger images


----------



## dlskidmore

Ug. The pillowcases I stored the wool in are light blue, there is now small amounts of blue lint in my wool. Hopefully much of it will come out in carding.


----------



## Callieslamb

Oh! Don't you want blue dots in your boots? Carding is something you have to make yourself enjoy. Sit down by a rose bush and card away.


----------



## dlskidmore

Actually started near the rose bush (not yet in season) but got enough sun to want to come inside. First warm day this spring I've been able to spend much of outside.

Watched TV shows with hubby on the couch and got a bunch more done. My house is messy anyway, what's a little VM on the floor I can sweep up later?


----------



## dlskidmore

Washing didn't help much. VM still well entangled in the fibers.

Flicking seems much more productive than carding this dirty wool. But being stingy I take what is left in the brush, save it up, card it, and then pull off parts of the (still dirty) batt to flick again.

After the second pass I have a mass of dirty short wool left. I think I'll have to give up on that part of the fiber. When I watch carding videos, they put the short wool aside for felting, but this stuff is too dirty... Would washing again help any? On first wash I got out much of the lanolin, which made the VM less sticky, but it was still entangled and had to be brushed out. Maybe with shorter fibers it will be better able to escape?


----------



## dlskidmore

Wind in Her Hair said:


> VM will ONLY fall out of CLEAN wool and combing with wool combs will open the fibers better than flick carding
> 
> handcarding will NOT clean the fibers of VM -unless you use a pair of tweezers while you are handcarding
> 
> a wool picker WILL open clean fleece and allow the VM an opportunity to fall away


The VM still seems stuck after the lanolin is out. I'm only finding lanolin in the center of some dense locks. There is a TON of VM in this wool, and the fibers are not very long, making it harder to comb them out.

I may card after flicking, but flicking seems to be the only way to get it clean with the available tools.


----------



## dlskidmore

So, how do you store your fiber? I'm afraid if I throw it in a bag that all my nicely aligned fiber will just end up as a big pile of randomness. This box though is going to overflow well before I'm done, and I'd rather give it more air than a plastic box provides.

I do like the gradient of colors I'm getting. The grey fiber was much easier to work with than the black fleece, slightly longer, no second cuts, didn't mat as much (locks more visible and washed clean to the centers), and less vegetative matter.









If I work up all of the second fleece and still despise the black, I may just eat the cost, toss it, and buy a higher quality one.


----------



## gone-a-milkin

Another thing to consider with using 2 very different fleeces:

They might not both felt in the same way, or to the same degree. 
If you used one for the foot and another for the chimney, you may end up with more shrinkage on one part than the other.

It makes me grouchy that you got stuck w/ wool with so much vm in it for your first try at this. 
There are so many nice fleeces out there. 

What breed of sheep do these come from, do you know?

I keep all my prepped wool in rigid sided containers like boxes and baskets until I am ready to work with them.
You are right that the wool will somewhat compress if it is weighted down. It might not be too bad for felting though.
The fibers need to be pretty crissy-crossy to knit together in a good hard felt.

Best of luck!


----------



## Marchwind

Dlskidmore, you want your fibers to be all crisscross to get a good felt. Typically you want the fibers of each layer perpendicular to the next one.


----------



## dlskidmore

Marchwind said:


> Dlskidmore, you want your fibers to be all crisscross to get a good felt. Typically you want the fibers of each layer perpendicular to the next one.


Right, but if they start out cris-crossy in the box, then I can't make right angles when I lay it out. 

I'm concerned that with as short as these fibers are, that my seams will be difficult. The "good" fibers in the black fleece are 3", the grey can be up to 4".

Uneven shrinkage is a minor concern, I'll be having to keep an eye on that anyway to get the 3D shaping right. We'll see how bad it is when I do the test mittens.


----------



## dlskidmore

A piece of me says it's just boots, the Japanese make entire sandals out of grass just stop being fussy and felt the hay right in. But the boots will get wet frequently, and I'm afraid of that grass rotting and ruining everything.


----------



## dlskidmore

gone-a-milkin said:


> What breed of sheep do these come from, do you know?


Don't know. It's a small herd, so the two sheep are likely related.


----------



## Maura

Too much VM is why I bought combs. I comb before washing. Oh, it's incredible the amount of dirt that comes out of a fleece along with the VM. And as an added bonus, the tips are opened up and clean better. When I then soak, I can use less detergent. I'll card again after washing. It's a lot of work, but if I sent the fleece to the mill I'd be spending my time picking little pieces of hay and seeds out of the roving.


----------



## dlskidmore

Maura said:


> Too much VM is why I bought combs.


If I do this again maybe I'll buy real combs. The makeshift ones didn't get much vm out.


----------



## dlskidmore

One salad spinner's worth of flicked locks:









The darker fiber I did earlier:









It's gonna be awhile!


----------



## Marchwind

I think you would be best off to do lots of thin layers rather than a few thicker ones.


----------



## dlskidmore

Marchwind said:


> I think you would be best off to do lots of thin layers rather than a few thicker ones.


Of course. The layers in the box have no relationship to the layers that will end up in the boot.


----------



## dlskidmore

Still at it. (This is gonna be an all summer project I think.)

Washed:









Flicked:









New lasts. Don't really need them for the felted boots, but I needed them for another pair of shoes, so I decided to make them boot-high just in case I found that useful later.


----------



## dlskidmore

There is a bit of a nip in the air at night, and I finished the wedding present I've been working on the last few months, and Dad should be done moving in the next month, so it's time to return my attention to the wool boots.

The left last showed a flaw when I started making the dress shoes they were for, so I'll need to re-make that if I decide to apply to the boots. (Really the flaw is in my foot, but shoes shaped more like how my foot should be shaped might help.)

I've gotten a lot of fleece washed and carded, but it takes a ton to make boots, so I'm thinking of giving in and buying some carded roving.


----------



## mamajohnson

I can't wait to see how they turn out!


----------



## dlskidmore

I have not given up yet! At least on the boots. I've kind of given up on this stupid dirty fiber! I bought some nice clean batts at the Dutchess County Sheep and Wool Festival  when my cousin invited me out. (Oh, right, side note, Dad got married and one of my new cousins is also a fiber artist. I taught her tatting at the wedding and she taught me spinning when I went to visit her for the wool festival...)

Now I just need to get my kitchen table clean. :ashamed:

I have a less challenging felting project in progress. I need a quick pair of black dress shoes. I think the beaded ones I wore to Dad's wedding are a bit too much for business... So I'm going to felt some wool fabric and then sew it up like moccasins, with a leather sole stitched on.


----------



## MullersLaneFarm

Nice woodlands beadwork!


----------



## Marchwind

Congratulations on the new fiber cousin, lucky you. I like your shoes. Remember to take pictures of your boot making.


----------



## dlskidmore

Notes on side project: 

Wool suiting does not felt well. Washing machine made it very fuzzy and released large amounts of lint, but no discernible shrinkage or thickening. Needle felting two layers of wool suiting together with roving between them produces a nice thick and stiff fabric (make sure colors match). I thought it would be faster and easier to wet felt the larger pieces. Nope. With wet felting the suiting acts more like a mother felt, the roving started to felt between the layers but not adhere much to the suiting. Have to needle felt the whole shoe if I'm doing multiple layers.

Since I need the shoes by tomorrow, I went ahead and cut a single layer pair and glued on the rubber bottoms last night. I'll pin them wrong side out on my lasts and then sew them on the sewing machine tonight.


----------



## dlskidmore

Never give up!

Well since our last installment of Denise never getting around to making shoes, I bought a farm, and I have a barn tennant (hopefully temporary) who raises alpaca. Well shearing was last week, and I was offered the waste skirted fiber. I figured if nothing else it would make good garden mulch, so I accepted it. I ended up with two garbage cans full, in three colors. I'm NOT going to try to wash and comb all this, I've learned my lesson with that sheep fiber that my current tools are insufficient for the job. However, I'm not hugely concerned about getting dirt worked into shoes, and the felting process should wash off a good amount of the oils, so I'm just going to work with it raw, and hand-pick out the worst bits. 

My first test piece was worked too long in one direction, I've got to play with more little squares before I attempt the shoes.


----------



## dlskidmore

I am a chicken. I keep thinkng about this process, and all the fiber I'll ruin if I mess it up. But I really need these boots. I saw someone in a video using craft foam for their template, I bought some on Monday and I've got templates cut out.


----------



## dlskidmore

You can see all the different scratch lines I went through before picking the pattern.


----------



## dlskidmore

Decoration inspirations:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCo5x1gNJic[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr_n_PCBMNg[/ame]

And this woman has some interesting tools that I'd want if making a lot of Valenki:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QizV28wbP7s[/ame]


----------



## dlskidmore

More decoration inspiration:
http://www.pinterest.com/svetlanaantonov/valenki-a-russian-winter-footwear/
http://inrussianstyle.blogspot.com/2011/12/valenki.html
http://s05.radikal.ru/i178/1005/79/2040e59f9cd8.jpg
http://www.inyourpocket.com/russia/...ouvenirs/Gorizont-Valenki-Factory-Shop_60254v
http://www.millionlooks.com/fashion-shoes/ugg-type-russian-felt-boots-–-valenki/


----------



## Marchwind

I'm still watching this thread. I can't wait to see what you end up with.


----------



## Two Tracks

I just turned onto this today, was gone for a few.... 

d/skidmore, Your going to post photo's right? 

I'm a bit confused as this thread seems to jump around in dates and times for flow...is it me?


----------



## dlskidmore

The dates are right I keep abandoning the project and coming back to it.


----------



## Two Tracks

dlskidmore said:


> The dates are right I keep abandoning the project and coming back to it.


Oh, Ok Thanks for the update, I'll check out the you tubes too.....


----------



## Callieslamb

I'd love to learn to make boots---still. I have trouble understanding the soles.


----------



## dlskidmore

Callieslamb said:


> I have trouble understanding the soles.


Soles are easy. Glue on rubber or sew on leather.


----------



## Marchwind

My first wet felt project ever was a pair of slipper booties, 25 yrs ago now. It's not difficult but it is time consuming and if you gave hands like mine it is very hard on your hands. I wasn't to attempt wet felting now that I have ready access to thin rubber gloves.


----------



## dlskidmore

Built first layer tonight. Working from raw dirty wool it took two hours to fluff and lay one layer. I'm glad I tested the colorfastness of the Sharpie before I started, the ink came off with soap and water and would have stained the shoes.


----------



## dlskidmore

Switched to cards instead of hand teasing for the third layer. Don't think I saved any time, but the result is much thicker and more even

Side A layer 1, used 2.2 oz (dirty) fiber
Side B Layer 1, used 3.1 oz (dirty) fiber
Side A layer 2, used 3.5 oz (dirty) fiber.

When I get to the last layer I'll have to add things up and see if I need a little more on one side.


----------



## Marchwind

What is your last made of? We used a piece of fabric.


----------



## dlskidmore

My lasts are not going to work for wet felting, but they are made of shopping bags and masking tape. For my wet felting resist I'm using craft foam. For final shaping I will use my own feet.


----------



## dlskidmore

I give up on weighing the fiber. Perhaps with the lanolin in it and a mix of a couple different sheep in there the density varies. Side B second layer took only 2.4 oz of fiber. Good thing I'm calling these a practice pair.


----------



## dlskidmore

I gave up on the unprocessed fiber and went to the wool bats. This will be a mistake if one felts considerably more than the other, but it is way way way faster. 

Pre felting almost done. Need to move from rubbing to rolling. Ran out of towels though, getting water everywhere.


----------



## dlskidmore

I thought they were far enough along to throw in the washer for five minutes. I was wrong. I think this is recoverable, but I will have to lose a layer of wool.


----------



## dlskidmore

I'm going to leave this for tonight. Usually when you're tired and disappointed is the worst time to try to fix a mistake. There is still a sold base of felt in the middle, it's just becoming a fur pile inside and out. I think I need to go back to the prefelt stage and see if I can work those fibers back in, or if I'll have to trim them off.


----------



## dlskidmore

Needle felting seems to be shaping things back up. Most of the brown raw fiber did not felt properly, but there was enough of the gray batts to leave a boot behind.


----------



## Two Tracks

Tenacity!!! That's what I like in You d/skidmore!


----------



## dlskidmore

I didn't give up. I procrastinate a lot, but I do come back to it.


----------



## dlskidmore

I'm not sure if I shortchanged pre felting on the inside of the boot or if it was just a poor fiber for the job, or if trying to work it raw like a Mongol was a mistake.


----------



## dlskidmore

A wearable first attempt. The left is a bit snug, going to try to get some sort of last next time to control final shaping. I'll try wearing them to the barn in the morning.


----------



## Marchwind

What's next after this? Next step?


----------



## dlskidmore

I'm not sure if I want a leather or rubber sole, or maybe a layer of each. I'm afraid gluing on rubber will cause the felt to delaminate, but leather is not all that durable. I may also needle felt a little decoration. 

Then it is on to improving the pattern with the next pair.


----------



## dlskidmore

Outdoor wear test: in dry snow they are warm and dry. Minor dampness handled well. However on wet pavement the water did soak through. I was warm, just damp. I should try lanolizing.

They also picked up pine needles in droves. I think I need to shave off the fibers that did not felt in.


----------



## Marchwind

What is the thickness of the sides and bottom?


----------



## dlskidmore

Given the newbie job the thickness varies, it is almost a half inch in places. I think if I cut the template larger I can felt it more firmly and make it more water resistant. I think this pair will be too small if I work them more.


----------



## Kasota

I have enjoyed following this thread to see how your boots are coming along!


----------



## dlskidmore

Working on version two pattern while it is fresh in my mind, but I may not get time to do this before Christmas.


----------



## dlskidmore

Having a little fun with embellishment even though it is just a practice pair.


----------



## Callieslamb

They look great. Might not be perfect to you, but I'm totally impressed.


----------



## dlskidmore

Thanks! The problems with them are not visual, they are great as slippers as they are. The felting needs to be much tighter if they are to keep water out, and they need to be taller to walk in our deep snow.


----------



## dlskidmore

Oh and I've already got a cousin wanting a pair. Lets see, she is my first cousin twice removed and she wants a pair exactly like this.


----------



## dlskidmore

... I'm not old enough to be a grandma, my mother is 14 years younger than her brother and three generations on that side had kids early while Mom took her time.


----------



## dlskidmore

... and I don't know why I found it necessary to explain that.


----------



## Callieslamb

Why not? Families are pretty interesting, even if they don't want boots. So how to you get it to felt tighter? Wash it more? More friction? Less fleece at a time?


----------



## gone-a-milkin

Different breeds of sheep have very different kinds of wool. 
This is why it is so difficult to felt/full things according to a set pattern.
Each animals hair is a bit different.


----------



## dlskidmore

Callieslamb said:


> Why not? Families are pretty interesting, even if they don't want boots. So how to you get it to felt tighter? Wash it more? More friction? Less fleece at a time?


The Russian way seems to be a thinner layer of wool that starts out on a much larger template so it has to be worked a lot more to come down to the correct size. You can see the templates they use in some of the Valenki factory videos.


----------



## dlskidmore

gone-a-milkin said:


> Different breeds of sheep have very different kinds of wool.
> This is why it is so difficult to felt/full things according to a set pattern.
> Each animals hair is a bit different.


This is why I want better lasts. Then I can just felt down until it is tight on the last. May take more or less work with different wools. I don't want to just buy standard lasts though, I'm into shoe making because my feet are oddly shaped and shoes made on a normal last cripple me. (Too bad the doctors didn't figure that out 15 years ago...)

Some day I'll have my own fleeces processed into bats at a mill, and I'll have a consistent product to work with. (I've put a deposit down on two exposed Cotswold ewes, I expect to pick them up early next month.)


----------



## dlskidmore

It is -14F at the nearest weather station, and my boots are warm and toasty. I did get a boot dryer to take care of the melting snow problem. Snow sticks to the outside, then melts when I come in, then the absorbent wool picks it up and holds onto it. With the boot dryers they are warm and dry when I want to head out again.

Still no good solution for parking lot slush. I made some leather overshoes, but have not tried using them again since the boot dryer. Pre-boot dryer they just helped hold in the moisture that got in.


----------



## MullersLaneFarm

I've loved following this thread!


----------



## Marchwind

Well done Diskidmore! I bet if you got some Snowseal or silicone spray that would help with the sticking snow. My mukluks have canvas on the tops, moose hide on the foot and the wool liners inside.


----------



## dlskidmore

I think the surface is too porous for a spray, and that would rob them of the breath-ability that makes them warm in very cold temps. I'm going to attempt lanolization one of these days...


----------



## Marchwind

I don't think so. It is just a light coating of silicone and allows the snow to slide off, it doesn't water proof them. My muks breath just fine and I apply a fairly heavy coat of spray on them. I'd try it, it will wear off. I think you have more to gain than to loose.


----------



## dlskidmore

I bought two more pounds of fleece today. Hoping to get version 2 done before we have deep snow again. I want the next pair to be calf height. (Although I might make a pair of slippers first.)


----------



## dlskidmore

Put a couple hours into version two today. This felt is much more cohesive than the last, but I still have a lot of shrinking to do.


----------



## Callieslamb

Have you checked with shoe repair shops to see if they can put soles on them? That's what I want to do.


----------



## dlskidmore

There are three types of sole I can apply. I can glue on a cut rubber sole, I can sew on a leather sole, and I can paint on a liquid rubber sole. The cobbler would put on standard soles that completely ruin the point of custom shoes for me.


----------



## dlskidmore

Soles in general reduce ground feel. The feedback I get from being able to feel the ground is correcting my poor gait that caused me leg and hip pain for years. I'm hesitant to put much sole on if I don't have to.


----------



## Marchwind

Leather will be slick at goose poop in the snow. I should suggest the painted on subbed soles. My mukluks have a rubber sole that seems to be dipped in rubber with a thicker bit on the very bottom.


----------



## dlskidmore

Marchwind said:


> Leather will be slick at goose poop in the snow. I should suggest the painted on subbed soles. My mukluks have a rubber sole that seems to be dipped in rubber with a thicker bit on the very bottom.


I have some leather soled shoes. The type of leather and the treatments you apply matter a lot. Traditional fine shoes with leather soles use a very thick dense leather that is very slick. If you use a thinner minimally treated leather, and put on a drying oil that gets a bit sticky as it dries on, you can have quite good grip with it. My first winter in minimalist shoes I wore deer skin moccasins over heavy socks, and it was the first winter in a long time that I didn't slip all over. I had to reapply the oil every couple weeks.

The main reason not to use leather is that it is not very durable. Leather moccasins must be replaced or resoled frequently. My favorite sole right now is climbing rubber, it's very thin but durable. I've not worn through a pair with it yet.


----------



## 7thswan

This site has information on a sole product.
http://www.sodhoppers.com/html/goop.html


----------



## dlskidmore

7thswan said:


> This site has information on a sole product.
> http://www.sodhoppers.com/html/goop.html


Yeah, minor variant on the liquid rubber sole, it is rubber particles cemented together with a flexible glue. The glue is very toxic, I only play with it during months that I can work outside, and air the shoes a couple days before wearing. You can use standard shoe glue (barge cement) and ground up tires. Recycling tires is a lot of work and will ruin the food processor you use. You can also buy a truck bed liner kit and use that particulate. The upsides are that it is more durable than the liquid rubber, and contours better than leather or flat rubber.


----------



## 7thswan

dlskidmore said:


> Yeah, minor variant on the liquid rubber sole, it is rubber particles cemented together with a flexible glue. The glue is very toxic, I only play with it during months that I can work outside, and air the shoes a couple days before wearing. You can use standard shoe glue (barge cement) and ground up tires. Recycling tires is a lot of work and will ruin the food processor you use. You can also buy a truck bed liner kit and use that particulate. The upsides are that it is more durable than the liquid rubber, and contours better than leather or flat rubber.


Oh, you just gave me an Idea, what about that spray stuff that is sold on TV. Seals even window screen in the bottom of a boat.
I thought the $ was pretty steep on the linked product.


----------



## dlskidmore

Yeah, there is also a rubber dip for tool handles you can find in the paint isle. Reportedly not durable, but I'm going to give it a try some time anyway.


----------



## dlskidmore

The glue itself is expensive, so even diy is not real cheap. I'd buy shoes from Wal-Mart if the point was saving money.


----------



## dlskidmore

I've been sitting on this project too long. Snow is coming soon!

It looks like my old attachments went away, I still have pictures on my blog:
http://my-health-experiment.blogspot.com/2014/03/felt-boots-version-2-session-1.html
http://my-health-experiment.blogspot.com/2014/03/felt-boots-version-2-session-2.html

Also of interest to this thread is my bad experience with truck bed liner as a waterpoofer: http://my-health-experiment.blogspot.com/2014/08/barn-boot-fail.html Next I'll try a different rubberizing agent that doesn't have chunks in it. The fleece was nice and easy to sew so it's not a huge loss of effort if the experiments with it don't work out.

Anyway... Part of my hesitation at the current phase of the project is that felting gets increasingly tougher on the body as the felt firms up, and I've been considering using the washing machine to accelerate at this point, but I'm not confident enough that they're strong enough to take it yet. Well in Forcast's felting thread we ended up discussing rough felting, including Iranian and Mongolian methods. :clap: Oh right! There's a happy medium between careful hand felting and just throwing the boots in the washer! I'm thinking now I need to try some sort of "mother" wrapping and bundle those boots up tight before putting them in the washer. I don't think I want to just use a pair of jeans, when I used stockings before a lot of fiber was left in the stocking when I removed it. I'll have to rummage in my fabric bin and see if I have something suitable, or if I want to look at picking up a canvas painting tarp or a yard of cotton duck.


----------



## Marchwind

Are you looking for a resist? My friend who makes wet felt for a living uses that plastic foam wrap stuff. It's thin and very pliable, she gets it by the roll. I don't know what it's reallly called. Let me see if I can find a picture of it. Mean while when I was doing wet felt and made slippers I used a cotton fabric that was fairly tightly woven.


----------



## dlskidmore

I use bubble wrap to protect the fleece in the early stages, and craft foam for more sturdy resists. A "Mother" is something you roll the felt in. Works kind of like the bubble wrap, but is much more sturdy and you can drag it around on the ground or throw it in some automated agitator like the washing machine.


----------



## Marchwind

Ahhhh, okay! I know she uses towels for that purpose.


----------



## dlskidmore

Yeah, for smaller projects I use the "flour sack" type towels.


----------



## Osiris

This is way cool! I never realized how well wool can felt up until watching these videos.
I had felt liners in one of my pairs of boots. They were really warm until they fell apart. But after watching all this I have a new respect for wool.


----------



## dlskidmore

I decided to go cheap on those "mother" cloths. There's a couple new feed sacks sitting in the wash pile...


----------



## Marchwind

Orisis chances are if your felt liners were commercial felt liners then they most likely were not wool at least not 100% wool. Also know that wet felting is a whole different beast than needle felting. Wet felting depending on the wool used is extremely durable, water proof and wind proof. Our precious sheep have so many uses and really are a very multipurpose, sustainable animal.


----------



## dlskidmore

Feed sacks a bust, they shredded in the washing machine. Might fare better tightly bundled, but I don't want to risk my boots on that.


----------



## Forcast

try panty hose.


----------



## dlskidmore

Long time, no work... The washing machine method was a bust. The shoes felted unevenly, and one shrank in the wrong direction and was starting to feel a bit too snug around the calf. I set them aside in decision paralysis, afraid to completely ruin the smaller one if I worked it any more.

But last night I had an idea to keep it from shrinking any more in that direction, so I can work it in the other direction:










Now I just need to get my kitchen table cleared off (a bit of an adventure)

And I have a new toy on my wishlist, maybe after Christmas: https://youtu.be/S76EX27Y-Pk?t=2m54s


----------

