Welcome to the first episode of my new Q&A series.
If you still have trouble finding the right way to make a resist for a 3D wet felted object, this episode is for you.
Today’s question is from Kathryn, from Walla Walla, in Washington state.
And Kathryn writes:
“I am trying to make a wet felted case for my son’s new MacBook Pro computer. I viewed your template making video for the clutch bag – thinking I could use that for my effort.
I made the template and started to lay out the wool and realized that I didn’t know why I needed the top resist.
You have a resist that has a top and bottom, when I thought I only needed the bottom to cover with wool, so that I could make the pocket.
If I don’t intend the top to have a pocket, why do I need the top part of the template?
I ended up cutting the template in half and placing the top part under the bubble wrap to serve as a guide, as I wanted the top to cover the bottom of the bag as I see on your photo.
Can you help me understand
Thank you so very much.”
Thank you for your question Kathryn. This is very relevant, because I know so many of you aren’t sure how to design a resist for the item you’d like to make.
A resist is basically used to keep two pieces of wool from felting to each other. But it can also serve as a guide for when you’re laying the wool.
Let me explain this better by showing you exactly how I use it for this particular project.
If you’re not familiar with the project Kathryn mentions, and you want to better understand how a resist is made, I recommend you take a look at the video.
In that video I show you how to calculate the size of your resist, according to the tablet or laptop you’re felting a cover for. Click here for the link.
So, the pattern is divided into two areas: the pocket and the cover area. In the video I mention that I cut about 2mm off the top part of the resist.
The fact that the flap is a bit smaller than the bag area ensures that the flap will exactly cover the bag part. The bag needs to be a bit bigger than the flap because the tablet has a thickness of about 1 cm.
So, why not just make a resist for the bag area and lay the wool freely for the cover? Well, because if you have a pattern you can use to guide you when laying the wool, that’ll make your life a lot easier.
So, here is how I lay the wool. You can see that the wool for the flap area has already been placed, but it’s only on one side of the resist.
Then, I just concentrate on the pocket area.
When I turn the bag over, you can clearly see what the flap looks like.
So, I find that having the top part of the resist can be a huge help to guide you in laying the wool in a precise way.
To answer the question about additional videos, there is a 9-part video course on how to make this piece, with a lot of detail. You can find it at my Etsy shop. Here’s the link if you want to check it out.
And this is my answer to your question Kathrin. I hope this helps.
Talk to you soon!
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