It was a friend’s 60th birthday in February, but she was away on holiday when it was her actual birthday. The party that her daughter had organised was five or six weeks later. It was touch and go whether it could happen as the Corona virus was spreading rapidly at this time. Luckily it was the weekend before lockdown, but even so the numbers were well down.
I decided that I would make her some felted slippers, something we had both looked at on many occasions at the Knitting and Stitching Shows. I had even got as far as buying polystyrene lasts some years ago. We just happen to be the same shoe size, so it had always been on the cards to do some for Sue too. (However, I still haven’t made any for myself.)
I had plenty of fleece, but not enough of any one colour, so decided that I would use a range of blues, turquoise, mauve and purples. All are colours Sue loves, but are slightly out of my comfort zone, which had the advantage of not wanting to keep them for myself.
Once I’d sorted out the colours, I divided each length of tops into two, as equally as possible, so that I could make the two slippers as much of a pair as possible.
I cut two big ovals from two large polystyrene pizza trays, and started layering the tops across them, working on them alternately to try and keep them symmetrical, overhanging the fleece on the edges. A horizontal layer, turn them over, flip the excess from the edges into the middle, a horizontal layer on that side, flip them over, turn in the edges, and repeat with vertical layers. I changed colours with each layer, and made what would become the soles darker. Each side had about seven or eight thin layers which ended up looking like a parcel.
I work on the kitchen table, with an old plastic table cloth on the bottom, then an old towelling curtain (it’s a good size and not as thick as a bath sheet, so dries more quickly, but enough to soak up the excess water) that was in my Nanna and Grandad’s bathroom, then bubble-wrap. I then started to add hot water and soap to the parcel and started gently massaging / kneading it. You have to start slowly and gently or it just ends up as a matted mess, rather than a matted piece of felt. As it starts to felt and hold together you need to get rougher with it, in the end bashing and pummelling it hard.
At this stage I worked on one slipper at a time, the difference between the fleece and the felt is significant, in size and texture.
I then matched up the fleece parcel, by felting that. It gets to the stage where the felt is smaller than the polystyrene inside and it begins to break into pieces. This is the time to cut the top of the slipper making a slit where you will eventually put your foot in.
The slit needed to be big enough to be able to slide the lasts into the slippers, and then you start rubbing and giving the ‘foot’ a very rough massage, until the felt shrinks more around the last.
I haven’t got photos of these stages, as you are working quickly with wet, soapy hands and trying to keep it as hot as possible. It is a combination of hot water, soap and friction that makes the fibres felt (the reason wool jumpers can shrink in the washing machine if you put them on too harsh a cycle).
Once the slipper fits the last, you take it off and smooth and rub around the area where the top meets the sole, keeping the sole flat and rounding the top. When it gets to the right size you rinse all the soap out, adding a little vinegar to the final rinse to neutralise the affect of the soap. Then leave them to dry, stuffed with plastic bags to help keep the shape.
When I tried them on they were a little big for me. You can always felt more, but can’t make them bigger again. Sue opened them at the party and tried them on: as I thought, too big, especially on the width – they were like boats. I gave her the option of her finishing them herself or that I would take them home and shrink them more, which is what she chose.
The following week I broke my arm, so no way could I do anything with them then, lockdown happened, the weather was getting increasingly warmer, so no rush.
I came across them a couple of weeks ago, and thought it would be a good idea to finish them. The weather was getting colder, my arm was up to it, and a further lockdown was looking increasingly likely. So I had another pummelling session to make them smaller, now slightly too short for me, perfect for Sue, and not boat-like anymore.
I took them with me when we met up to make autumn wreaths, just in time before the new lockdown. And a message came this week, that they have barely been off her feet. They are really warm and cosy so I’m calling them “cozitoze”! I just need to make some for myself now.
debbidipity 