Monday, October 11, 2010

Alpaca fiber- does it wet felt?

I was wondering if anyone has any experience wet felting alpaca fiber.  I have some that is mixed with wool and it felted fine, but how does just alpaca felt?  If you know, I would love for you to share your experiences!
Kelly

5 comments:

  1. I just wet felted a resist hat with merino and alpaca. It felted brilliantly, but the hairs are much longer than sheep and so you can see them more. I used them on the inside layer of the hat as they are so silky soft, but they did tend to migrate a lot when felting, so take care on your design if the color doesn't suit! I had to overdye my hat as the alapaca was dark gray and it looked dirty after fulling! Maybe predye it so it blends more???

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  2. I did see your hat! It was very pretty. I ordered a pound of white alpaca today. I am going to dye it outside- the weather is glorious here lately. I guess I will make sure to dye enough in one color for a full project. I am having so much fun trying all of these fun things!

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  3. Oh, Kelly...I wish you luck. I bought some amazing alpaca in two different colors a year ago and couldn't get either to really felt well. It seems 'slippery' to me (and hairy, like Sharon says). My advice to you would be to card it with some wool for insurance!
    Hugs--

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  4. Well if I cannot use it, my daughter can for needle felting! Or I can spin it up and make a crochet hat. So really no loss. I think I really just like experimenting and coming up with my own crazy way to do things! :)

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  5. Yes, the carding would do the trick. I mixed it with merino and it still felted without carding. I was reading Felting Fashion and she says to massage with cool water first to get the fibres to bond and then use hotter water for fulling. Since I read that I am finding I felt much better.

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