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I need to learn to felt...


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I want to make this cover for my friend for Christmas.

 

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/03/13/roomba-cover-resembl.html

 

 

 

I'm going to get the measurements of her roomba, then make a shell of T-shirt material to sew the felt to.

 

I'm hoping I can buy some wool from Margaret or someone else here who raises sheep.

 

Does anyone have advice about how to go about making this crazy thing?

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My dad bought the roomba for his girlfriend last Christmas.

 

She sent him the link saying that she expects this cover for a present this year.

 

He wants to shock her, by actually getting one for her, so I offered to make it.

 

It should be a pretty funny present!

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I make felt. There are several ways you could go about it. Are you familiar with either the wet felting method or the dry felting method? Wet felting is messier but quicker, dry felting involves very little mess, but can take a good while to complete a large project.

 

I would probably dry felt it myself. First, I would start with a foam pillow form about the size of the Roomba and apply a nice base layer of the background color to that (remembering to occasionally lift it from the foam so you don't felt it to your form). How is the one in the photo actually attached to the Roomba? If you will be making a t-shirt cover upon which to attach the felted creation, then cover the pillow form with it and felt it directly onto the fabric. Then I would form the head, tail, legs, "fringe", etc. as separate pieces each having a fuzzy tail or attachment site which I would felt onto the base. Finally I would apply the detail coloring. The one in the photo looks like it has glass or plastic eyes, which you can buy at most craft stores. After you set the eyes in, you can add tiny rolls of fiber to the top and bottom to form eyelids, which partially obscures the eye and makes it seem very real.

 

Regarding fiber, you might contact your local extension service agent and ask them if anyone in your area has a fiber flock. Then you could go and hand pick the colors you want for your creation. I would suggest you consider looking for some Icelandic wool. It felts well and I think I have seen some Icelandic sheep with nearly that exact coloration, so all you would have to add is the darker detail.

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