Wet Felting With Resists

Hi!

Today I’m answering another one of your questions.

Now, I’ve done a couple of videos about resists, but I keep getting questions about them. Because this is such a big and important topic, I keep answering them.

Speaking of which, here’s the question for today:

“What are resists and how do you use them?”

Now, this question is very likely from someone who’s starting with wet felting and wanting to improve the technique. And this is in fact, one of the most important things to understand.

As I’ve mentioned before, I do have a couple of videos about resists, but I don’t think I explain what they are in any of them.

So, that’s what I’m going to do today.

SO, WHAT IS A RESIST?

By definition, a RESIST is anything you use between two pieces of wool to avoid that they felt with each other.

A resist is only used DURING the felting process and it’s removed after the process is complete. Or rather, before you start fulling.

You can have a resist:

• for the whole piece (like for a hat or a bag) or
• for a part of the piece (like for a pocket or a surface design).

So you have to place a piece of a material that doesn’t felt between the wool layers, if you want to create a 3D space.

In other words, any 3D object starts out as a flat piece. And for that you need a resist.

Only after the flat piece is created can you shape it into a 3D object.

So, now you know what a resist is.

Would you like to know what materials we can use for a resist?

If so, stay tuned for part II!

 Talk to you soon!

Here are the links I refer to in the video, as well as links to more information about resists:

• Wet Felting – Making A Sample To Determine The Shrinkage
• 3D Felting – Making A Resist
• Felt Hat Tutorial – Making A Resist For Felting
• How To Design A Resist For A Bag – Q&A Sessions