“A rolling stone gathers no moss.” Quite true. Also true… stones in the Michigan forests don’t do much rolling 🙂 They also get enough shade and dampness to cover most of the stones with moss. For a long time I’ve been wanting to make some Felted Stones for my house and the gnome’s home. When I finally set to doing it this morning, I made a couple, and they just didn’t look right. “Ah”, I thought. “They need moss!” So the next couple I made I added moss and, “Yep, those look the rocks we find around here!”
To make your own pile of of Felted Stones, collect stones, pull out your roving, and get started. Below are directions for felting stones… with moss, thank you very much!
Materials:
rocks, assorted sizes
roving in natural colors… off white, greys, browns, and moss green.
cheese cloth
dish soap
Thoroughly wash your rock to remove dirt and moss.
Wrap your rock in roving. It is better to wrap in multiple thinner layers than I heavy layer. Also, change directions so fibers criss cross. Add character to rock by placing thin pieces of contrasting roving over the rock. If you are adding moss, add thin pieces at the end.
Carefully wrap the rock in cheese cloth going around and over the ends. Wrap firmly, not tight.
Submerge the rock in hot, soapy water. Squeeze and rub the roving covered rock between your hands, dipping it back in the water frequently.
As soon as you feel the roving beginning to firm up, remove the cheese cloth and finish felting. You can tell it is done when the roving feels firm and smooth.
Run under cool water until all the soap is gone . The change in temperature will help set the recently felted wool. Use a dry towel to soak up the extra water on the stone.
Allow to dry, then use in any way you wish! Perhaps a paperweight? A basket of stones? A tower? Surround your gnome home with a little atmosphere? Who knows? 🙂
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Neat idea! I have a good wet felting tip: wear rubber gloves while felting. The gloves add extra friction for faster felting and help your hands tolerate hotter water!
There are more felting tips in this blog post:
http://www.creatingafamilyhome.com/2010/11/felted-leaves-table-runner-wool-felting.html
Kelly @ Creating a Family Home
Thanks, Kelly. I am allergic to latex. I know they make latex free rubber gloves. I’ll have to pick some up! Love your table runner, btw.
Oh how pretty!
Okay so I have to ask, what is roving? I’d love to try felting but have no idea of how to get started. I’ve been buying up and felting old wool sweaters and jackets for mittens and other crafty projects. Can these be used as roving?
Your felted rocks look amazing! Luckily I live in a state full of rocks so they’re easy to find, or they will be once the snow melts.
After fibers are collected (sheep sheered, cotton picked, etc) they are cleaned, then carded. This process "combs" the fibers aligns the fibers creating a fluffy batting that is now ready to spin into yarns. Instead of spinning the roving into yarn, there are many other crafts that use the roving in this natural state. It is often used for hair and beards on dolls, for fiberscapes and for the rocks in the tutorial above.
We have 2 sponsors that carry wonderful roving.
http://achildsdream.com/felting_crafts/felting_wool.htm – They have a wonderful selection of natural and dyed roving.
and http://www.etsy.com/shop/northstaralpacas. Maple’s alpaca fibers are incredible.
Hope that helps 🙂