I’m always buying second hand fabric to use in felt-making. Mostly scarves but occasionally garments or just pieces of fabric, almost always from charity shops. Much of the time, I have a good idea of how the fabric will felt. But sometimes I really don’t know, either because it’s unusual in some way or because I’m not sure what it’s made of.

This week I tried out (or ‘auditioned’) four such fabrics, so here’s what I found.

Firstly, this soft rather loose-weave fabric I found in the British Red Cross shop in Canterbury.

The ‘prickle test’: I touched it lightly to my neck and it prickled so I concluded it contained at least some wool. I have an annoyingly sensitive skin that can’t wear even the softest wool so this prickle is a good sign. It’s a big scarf and I really like the pattern so I bought it, even though it was a bit more than I’d normally pay. I could imagine using it in a tree picture like this one I talked out in a previous blog.

I cut off a very miserly small strip then decided to make it even smaller – a 5 x 5 cm square (2 x 2 inches) – I just wanted to see if it felted without wasting any. I had a tiny amount of miscellaneous white carded batt loitering on the side of my felting table so I used that to felt it.

As you see, it felted really well so I set up a bigger strip to make some cards. 

Then I decided not to get ahead of myself so put that on one side to pick up later and got on to fabric number two.

This flowery mesh fabric was from a scarf I bought a while ago. I think I bought it in Faversham Hospices of Hope.

I’ve used fabric similar to this to make barnacles on felt shells before, though it had a smaller woven pattern. I’ve no idea what either fabric is made from.

This time I decided to make a slightly larger sample I could use to make cards, assuming it felted OK. Sometimes I just throw caution to the wind!

I laid it on a piece of the merino & silk prefelt I use for my printed felt cards and felted it.

It felted nicely. The mesh didn’t bed into the wool as much as I’d expected, so it’s more textured between the flowers, which was interesting.  I will cut this into four strips and print something on the plain half to make cards like the ones I’ve shown in the next section.

I decided I liked the idea of a larger sample for cards rather than the tiny sample I can’t use. 

So, here is fabric three.

I bought this a couple of weeks ago in Yorkshire Cancer Research in Ilkley. It feels like it might be a very sheer silk but there’s no label and I’m not sure. Hand rolled hems are often an indication of silk but this has machined hems.  I love the pattern and it didn’t cost too much so I decided to take a chance.

Irritatingly, I cut the silk a bit too small for the prefelt rectangle offcut I was using so I popped a second small strip on the end hoping it would make that end useable.

It felted really easily and well, so I’m pretty sure it is indeed a sheer silk.  I can see lots of uses for this as it has such a ‘coastal’ pattern. Also, I think the join worked OK.

It’s similar to another scarf I’ve used recently for pictures and cards, so I’m very happy.  One of the drawbacks of using second hand scarves is that you can’t go and buy more of the same if you decide you really like it.

And finally, a large, fairly open weave, 100% wool scarf I bought in a Pilgrim’s Hospice shop in Whitstable. No need for the prickle test (though it would undoubtedly have passed) as it still has its label.

I dithered over this one even though it wasn’t expensive. I just wasn’t sure I’d use that much brown. It’s also quite bulky and I’m short of storage space. However, I decided I could use the brown for beach pebbles on pictures and the animal print sections won me over. I love a bit of animal print.

Actually, I really like the result, more than I expected for some reason. I find that wool fabric felts really evenly – not surprisingly, I suppose. The fabric shrinks with the prefelt rather than rouching like silk does. I will use this sample piece for cards but I’m not sure what I’ll use the rest of the scarf for.  It definitely reminds me of an animal’s fur but I’m not sure quite what animal. 

Well, all four fabrics passed the auditions with flying colours. They all felted well. I can immediately see how I’ll use the first (wool mix?) one and the sheer silk.  I’ll mentally ‘file’ the other two for use at some point in the future.

I love looking out for second-hand fabrics. You never know what you’ll find and what you might be able to do with them. A delicious pre-loved scarf always feels to me like some kind of exciting unearthed treasure.