Wet Felting Wool Prefelt & Prefelt Rope

Prefelt is partly made felt. Why is this even a thing? Prefelt has uses that cannot be realised using completed felt.
Prefelt is felt that is usually one layer of fibre , in this case, or, it seems , more commonly two layers of wool fibre. my preference is one layer as I am not usually trying to make felt that is thick. I live in a very warm climate with a short slightly cool winter so we dont have a great need for very thick wool. Consequently I favour the single layer prefelt.
Prefelt has multiple purposes: It can be made to speed up the felting process when a project is assembled, it can enable a clean edge to pattern and it can offer a clear opaque colour with just a hint of the underlying wool colour through it. Prefelt is really useful if you want to make a multicolored mosaic type patter. Just cut out the shapes in prefelt and connect them with whisps of un felted fleece.
If you try to connect two pieces of 'fulled' felt, it is difficult to get the wool to go through or connect with each other. prefelt however is not finished felt so there are enough loose fibres for two pieces of prefelt to attach to each other or for a piece of prefelt to connect with cloth in the case of nuno felt or onto a wool base.
In this video you will see me claim to dry felt the wool. This is my term for a process where you just lay down the wool and then pat and prod the work gently until the whole piece stays together when you pick it up. Mostly this describes making a wool bat. Wool bats can be made by hand or on a special medieval looking spikey roller machine used by feltmakers. and also for carding wool for spinning. You can see from this video that all the fibres in our sample are lined up in the same direction. When trying to create felt from start to finish, it is usual to lay down two or more layers ( depending on required thickness) and to lie the wool down so that each layer 's fibre is running in a different direction. Felted fibre is always very very strong when the felting process is completed but pretty strong as a piece of prefelt too.
Most importantly , I strongly suggest only using cold water or room temperature water NOT HOT Water!. Yes you can use a sander machine to make prefelt. But just dont use hot water or any other form of heating when you only want to make prefelt. As everyone who has 'killed' their best jumper (Australian) , sweater or jersey... knows. Hot water and agitation will create a piece of rock hard felt every time. I hope you enjoy this little video and use the handy hints and tips suggested.

[@erikasturquoisefeather4721]

Thank you this is very helpful.

[@TheWeekendArtist]

You're very welcome!

[@erikasturquoisefeather4721]

Bubbles touching the wool?

[@TheWeekendArtist]

Hi Thank you for the question. Good question. When you are starting the project it isnt a bad idea to have the smooth side of the bubble wrap against the wool. When you notice the wool is beginning to attach itself to itself...change to having the bubbles against the wool. The bubble wrap definitely speeds up the process. It is pretty much a 'try it and see' in terms of what to do. It also depends on the lightness and flexibility of the plastic bubble wrap. The really lightweight bubble wrap is possibly best but if you have a multilayered piece of strong felt already then the heavier bubble wrap could probably work really well.

[@erikasturquoisefeather4721]

Perfect, thanks.