How to Make a Wet-Felted Pixie Hat

Take time to prepare each element of this hippy festival pixie hat. Put aside a day where you will not have too many interruptions!

Expect the process to take you some time but keep in mind that there is no hurry. This wet-felting tutorial can be broken up into manageable chunks. It can even be spread out over a few days if necessary!

If you need to leave the project for any length of time, simply cover it with bubble wrap to prevent any loose fibers from being displaced or if it is wet but has dried out a little, simply wet it again with warm soapy water and continue from where you left off.

The decorative fold which can be seen in the image can be created by putting down the Teeswater curls before the 3 layers of Merino wool roving are added.

This is because it is necessary to work in reverse order to have the curls lay on top of the wool when you make the folds on the back and neck of the hat.

The Teeswater curls can be substituted with silk fibers or even pieces of silk which can be cut from pure silk scarves.

I suggest that you use cool or lukewarm soapy water for this project especially if you are using silk scarves for embellishment as the fibers will not migrate into the silk if the water is too hot.

• 250 grams Merino wool roving: In colors of your own choice
• Dyed Teeswater curls which will add texture to the hat.
• Used silk scarves or pure silk fiber
• A heavy-duty bamboo blind
• Warm soapy water
• Bubble wrap
• A sheet of foam underfloor layment from which the template can be created. Underfloor layment is the perfect choice for this template because it can be re-used many times over.
• Scissors: Make sure you have a sharp pair!
• Felt-tip pen: This is for drawing the template. Once the template has been drawn and cut out you should use a damp cloth to remove any traces of ink which were left behind so that they do not bleed into the wool.

• Download the PDF pattern or create one of your own.
• Print the pattern (borderless printing) so that the template prints at the correct size.
• A 1-inch square is marked on each pattern piece.
• When you print out your pattern pieces ensure that it does measure 1 inch or reprint to scale as perfect results cannot be guaranteed if the pattern is not the correct size.
• Cut out the 7 pattern pieces
• Assemble the pieces in their correct order as shown above and sellotape them together.
• Place the paper template onto a piece of underfloor Layment foam and draw around the outer edge of the template with a felt tip pen.
• Carefully cut out the template using a sharp pair of scissors.
• Use a damp cloth to remove any traces of felt tip pen markings to avoid having them bleed into the wool.

• Place an old towel down onto a waterproof surface.
• Put a large heavy duty bamboo blind down onto the towel.
• Put the prepared template down onto the heavy duty bamboo blind

• Begin by adding dyed Teeswater curls to the template as shown below.
• Only a thin layer of evenly spaced curls are required.

• Cover the template and the Teeswater curls with an even layer of Merino Wool roving.

• Sprinkle warm soapy water over the Project.

• Cover the project with a sheet of bubble wrap, bubble side facing down.
• Wet the surface of the bubble wrap with warm soapy water.

• Press down on the surface of the bubble wrap to force the water downwards and out towards the edges of the template.
• Add a little soapy water to the surface of the bubble wrap.
• Rub until the wool below becomes wet and flat.

• Gently lift the bubble wrap from the project taking care not to displace the fibers.

• Don't turn in the loose wool around the edges yet!

• Make a mirror image of the previous side before turning in the wool on the edges.

• Fold in the loose fibers left over from the previous side before smoothing them down with a little warm soapy water as shown below.

• Complete the 2nd side by covering the curls and the template with Merino Wool Roving.

• Sprinkle the layer with warm soapy water.

• Cover with the sheet of bubble wrap and sprinkle the surface with warm soapy water to facilitate easy movement of the fingers as you rub the surface.
• Rub gently to flatten the fibers below.

• Gently lift off bubble wrap after rubbing and smoothing the layers below.

• Neaten the edges of the template by turning the wet fibers over the edge of the template.
• Use a little warm soapy water and your fingers where necessary.

• Complete sides 1 and 2 by neatening the edges as shown.

• Cover the 1st Layer with another layer of Merino Wool Roving.

• Wet with warm soapy water as before.

• Add a little soapy water to the surface of the bubble wrap and rub flat.

• Gently lift off the bubble wrap so as not to displace the wool below.

• Use a little warm soapy water on your fingers to help smooth out the edges but avoid the ear and Pixie tail areas at this stage.

• Neaten the whole of the hat but avoid the area of the hat where the pixie tail and hat ties will be added. Please see pictures.

• The second layer is now complete except for the tail and tie which were left with loose fibers to all for easy joining of these sections once the final layer of fiber and embellishment have been added to the hat.

• For the final layer add a layer of Merino Wool and decorative curls or embellishment according to your own preferences.
• You may prefer to use just an even layer of Merino Wool Fibers with no curls!
• Or you could include a layer of curls and include silk fibers or pieces of silk scarves.

• Wet the surface of Layer 3 as with all previous layers.

• Wet the surface with warm soapy water and rub well.

• Gently lift off the bubble wrap.

• Fold over the edges but keep the loose fibers of the tie and the pixie tail loose as shown.

• Add Merino wool fibers and a decorative layer to match the previous layer.

• Wet the Surface with soapy water.
• Rub flat but avoid the pixie tail and tie areas.

• Lift off the bubble wrap and prepare to neaten the edges.

• Avoid the tie and tail area and fold them over using a little soapy water.

• Wet and neaten off the edges avoiding the loose fiber on the tail and ties.

• Split a length of wool roving to make 2 ties and use a thicker piece to create a curly tail.
• I suggest a finished length of approximately12 inches (30cm) for the ties and 12 inches or (30cm) for the tail once shrinkage has taken place.
• Shrinkage is calculated to be in the region of 40% so add it to your prepared lengths.

• Roll on the bamboo blind but leave the fibers on one end dry so that they can be easily attached to the hat.

• Attach the rolled tail to the top of the hat as shown by rubbing and rolling with the blind and also between your fingers.

• Use the bubble wrap to assist with the felting process.
• Rub from the top but keep rubbing and shaping the sides until the fibers no longer move.
• Remove the bubble wrap and then shape and roll the tail by running your fingers up and down the tail.

• Use the split wool roving to create 2 ties.
• Add a little embellishment if desired.
• Wet with warm soapy water but leave 2 ends dry.

• Roll the ties but keep one end dry.

• Cut the bottom edge of the hat where indicated in the image below.
• Don't remove the template yet, it will help keep the two not fully felted pieces of the hat separate.

• Align the ties one by one onto the areas as shown below.
• Don't remove the template yet, it will help to keep the pieces from fusing with one another.
• Do keep the ties separate from one another by inserting a piece of bubble wrap between them to keep them apart and stop them felting to one another.

• Attach one tie at a time, rub, roll and shape using fingers, bamboo mat or bubble wrap.
• When the is properly fused, roll between your fingers to achieve the desired roundness needed.

• Attach the 2nd tie.
• Keep the 2 ties separate from one another to prevent them from felting to one another.

• Lots of rubbing and rolling will be required to firmly attach both ties whilst maintaining their separateness.
• Put a sheet of bubble wrap between them and once they are firmly attached to the hat your fingers and/or a piece of folded bubblewrap to help with the shaping of the ties.

• Roll those parts of the hat which can be easily rolled inside the heavy duty blind or rub covered with bubble wrap.
• When all the parts of the hat have fused together but are not fully shrunk, put them loosely into a supermarket bag.
• Tie the ends of the bag and pop the project into a tumble dryer for a few minutes.
• Keep on checking the contents of the bag and put it back into the tumble dryer until it can be seen that some shrinkage has taken place.
• Remove the template from the middle and put the project onto a hat block to shape.
• This can be done using a polystyrene head, a glass head or a wooden hat block or at worst, even your own head!
• If you don't have a tumble dryer put the hat onto a hat block covered with cling wrap to protect the wooden surface.
• I like to use the glass dummy shown below. This can be put under hot and cold running water, shaped and shrunk with no harm coming to it.

• Give the hat a final rinse in water with a little vinegar added.

• Fold the bottom and top sections of the hat as shown below.

• Roll the tail up and peg the end.
• Shrink and rub any areas which need any further shaping using a piece of folded bubble wrap - bubble side down as shown below.

This work is copyright, Sally Gulbrandsen. Please do not sell or share the template without my express permission.