I suggest you use merino roving for this project, 18-21 micron count.

• 70 grams (2.5 ounces) charcoal, black or any other very dark colour wool roving

• 1 piece of prefelt: 60cm x 150cm (24 x 59 inches) This can be made up of 2-3 sections, all in the same colour. Look for a prefelt weight of about 170 g/m – 6 oz/yard . This for prefelt that is 150cm/ 59″ wide.   This equals 114 grams/sq.metre or 4.0 ounces/sq.yard. 🙂 Email me if you have any questions!

  • OR-you can make your own- you’ll need to do this in advance. You’ll need 114 grams (4.0 ounces) wool roving to make the right weight of prefelt. More information on doing this is at the bottom of this page.

• Plus! Some scraps of prefelt- any colour, even tiny pieces. You’ll need about 25-35 2.5cm/1-inch pieces., they can also vary in shape- we’ll be making these into small balls for the shibori pebbles. You could also use small scraps of fabric for this.

• 28 grams (1 ounce) wool roving- the same colour as the prefelt

• Fine wool yarn or sewing thread in a colour similar to the prefelt

Tools and Hardware

• Resist material: 46cm x 61cm (18 x 24inches) I use laminate floor underlay for this resist material, but you can also use a piece of bubblewrap or a painters plastic (3.5mil)

  Bubblewrap 2 pieces, both 62cm x 90cm (24” x 36inches)  or grip mat: 1 piece  plus 2 pieces thin painters plastic, all 62cm x 90cm (24” x 36inches) 

• Soap
• Ball brause or tool for wetting out felt
• PVC pipe, wooden dowel or foam pool noodle
• Measuring tape
• Old towel
• Iron
• Small pointed tip pliers like jewelry pliers are helpful for shaping.
• Any style of felting tool will be helpful for working over the surface textures

Here are some suppliers where you can buy the wool and prefelt, to make it easy to get everything all in one place:

US

Living Felt: https://feltingsupplies.livingfelt.com/

Outback Fibers: https://www.outbackfibers.com/

Feltrite Fibers: https://www.etsy.com/shop/FloridaShellGirlShop

Sarafina Fiber Art: https://www.sarafinafiberart.com/

Canada

Chaotic Fibres: https://chaoticfibres.com/

Legacy Studio: https://legacystudio.ca/

The Olive Sparrow: https://www.etsy.com/shop/theolivesparrow

UK:

Wingham Wool: https://www.winghamwoolwork.co.uk/

Europe

Italy: Dyeing House Gallery: https://www.dhgshop.it/

Germany: WoolKnoll: https://www.wollknoll.eu/

Germany: Filzrausch: https://shop.filzrausch.de/

Australia:

KraftKolour: https://www.kraftkolour.net.au/

Silksational: https://www.silksational.com.au/

Fibre Fusion: https://www.fibrefusion.com.au/

Making Your Own Prefelt:

To make the prefelt for this project, create a wool layout that is 67cm x 165cm (26 x 65 inches). 

Layout the wool in two even layers, with one layer perpendicular to the other.

Use the full amount of wool, 114 grams (4.0 ounces), for the layout to get the desired thickness.

Wet this out with your felting solution, and roll from each of the two short ends for 5 minutes each. Continue working the prefelt until you have 10% shrinkage,  which will bring the prefelt down to 60cm x 150cm (24 x 59 inches).  This size and degree of prefelting are ideal for our project.

Note: you can make smaller sections if you don’t have enough space or a big enough piece of bubblewrap or grip mat. There is flexibility in these numbers- this will give you a good amount and weight of prefelt for our project- but if your prefelt is a little smaller or larger- it will be absolutely fine!