Felted Baby Booties

Materials:

snap-and-seal snack baggies
1/4 lb. of Merino wool rovings
bar of Glycerin soap
sushi mat
old bath towel
2 small bowls
scissors
boiling water
sink
tablespoon of white vinegar
1 yard rickrack or trim (optional)

1. Cut a third of the bar of soap and place in the small bowl. Add approximately one cup of warm water.

2. Fold one top corner of the baggie down so that the side and the bottom of the bag are even (figure A). This will give you the basic shape of the shoe. Cut off about a third of the point, rounding slightly as you go (figure B).

3. Place an old towel, folded once, on a counter or work surface. Lay sushi mat in front of you with the ribs of the mat in a horizontal placement to your workspace.

4. Lay the baggie pattern in the center of the mat. Wipe the baggie with the soap from the bowl.

5. Spread the wool roving apart somewhat and hold in one hand. Gently grab all ends of the roving with your other hand and lightly tear off a hank of the wool so that the hank is even across your hand. Place the hank on the baggie pattern so that the hank is running from top to bottom. Pull more hanks and cover the entire surface of the baggie (figure C). If some of the wool hangs off of the pattern, that is fine; in fact, you want that. Try not to get the wool too thick or too thin--just thick enough to evenly cover the pattern completely.

6. Dip hands in the soapy water bowl and dribble water mixture over the wool till completely covered with droplets. Pat water down on wool so that all wool is now stuck to the baggie (figure D). Don’t be stingy with the soapy water.

7. Flip baggie over. Fold the strands of wool that hang off on to the blank side to make a nice clean edge (figure E). Once all the edges are cleaned up, dribble some soapy water on the baggie and cover with wool as before. Wet and pat down.

8. Flip baggie over again. Fold stray wisps over onto the other side and repeat process again, only this time lay the wool from side to side, changing the ply (figure F). Wet and pat down. Flip and repeat all.

9. Flip and fold stray wisps in. Center baggie on mat. Roll the mat up away from you as if you were making sushi, with the wool covered baggie inside (figure G).

10. Using the flat of your hand, roll the sushi mat roll back and forth about 15 to 20 times like you would a rolling pin. Unroll the mat and flip the baggie over, rotating the position as well. Roll wool piece up in mat and roll about 15 to 20 times again.

11. Repeat this about 10 times. You will see the bootie shrink as you "felt" it.

12. When the piece holds together and seems matted, cut the top of the bootie open and pull the plastic baggie out. Open the bootie up and fold flat so that it is in a different position than it was with the baggie (figure H).

13. Repeat the rolling process about four or five times; try to change the fold so as to diffuse the original seam. Use your fingers to open up the bootie and shape.

14. Lay the sushi mat in the sink and place bootie on top. Pour boiling water into shoe. This will shock the wool and it will shrink even more. Let cool until you can touch it; then wring the bootie out in the mat. Rinse the bootie in cool water, making sure there is no more soap in the bootie.

15. Add the vinegar to a bowl of tepid water and soak bootie in it for a few moments. Rinse bootie again and roll in towel until it feels dry (figure I).

16. Turn the bootie inside out to reveal the new right side without any edge seams. Mold bootie to the shape you want and let air dry.

17. Make the other bootie the same way. Optional: Once dry (usually about a day), trim with rickrack or other cute trim.

Tips:

- You will want to put plastic down under the towel if you have a wood surface, as this is a wet project.

- If you don’t cut off the point of the pattern, you can make very cute pixie booties. I wouldn’t bother trying to turn them inside out, however.

- If some of the wool starts to come apart when you are rolling, rub the area with the soap or very soapy hands until it bubbles; that usually glues the area back together.

- If you use one color for the first layer and another color for the other layer, you can roll the top of the booties down to expose the under color.