When I have the time (or when the number of paper bags full of wool scraps gets to be too much), I'll got through one of these bags and set aside the pieces that I think I might be able to use again. The rest get chopped up into small bits to use as stuffing material. I like the weight and firmness that wool bits give my ornaments; polyester fiberfill just doesn't feel right to me. Also, the wool scraps certainly don't cost anything and it's just another form of recycling.
Chopping wool is time consuming and messy. Wool felt may not fray, but it does shed many, many tiny fibers. I prefer to cut my wool felt outside on the deck, where the wind can blow away the lint and tiny scraps, but the weather doesn't always cooperate for this in the winter. If I chop wool inside I try to do it in a container that will catch most of the lint, but there's always some that escapes to form multicolored dust bunnies under the furniture in the living room.
We had a nice day early last week and I was able to process one of my bags of wool scraps out on the back deck. I'm glad I took the time to chop all that wool, too, as my customer in Texas asked me on Friday if I could make another 25 heart ornaments in time for her wedding!
Yes - it does make a lot of dust. I do this with leftover fleece and end up sneezing like a maniac!
ReplyDeleteDo you use a rotary cutter, a pair of scissors, or something else? I like my Fiskars spring action rag quilter snips for doing this, but one of these days I'm going to catch my fingers in that thing.
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