MSM: Wooly Wonders

I am totally enamored with wool right now. I've actually been into wool for a while but haven't been able to do much with felting without a washer. Now that I've got one and I'm up and going, I'm having a blast.

My first felting project was a wool puddle pad. Wool puddle pads are supposed to be great as mattress covers because wool is water resistant, especially once lanolized, but unlike most waterproof mattress covers they don't smell like plastic and aren't hot, sticky, and crunchy. I'd found some awesome ones online but they are pricey. The cheapest I’ve found online was ~$45 and I knew I needed more than one so I thought I would try and make my own.

I got a extra large wool sweater from a thrift store and felted it. Then I cut out the biggest pieces I could.

I was a little worried about piecing it since I didn't want a bumpy seam that would be irritating to lay on but I butted the pieces together and used the widest zig-zag stitch my machine has, then flipped it over and sewed on the other side as well. It worked pretty well and you can't really feel the seams at all under the sheet. It took a bit of piecing to get the right size but I tried to keep most of the seams towards the edges since those will be the most likely leak places. I also used a polyester thread since cotton would allow more wicking.

Here it is on the co-sleeper. It’s a few inches smaller but that is for two reasons. The first is that I ran out of sweater. The second is that I’ve heard once you wash the sheets they are very tight and it is hard to get them over a pad. I thought a few less inches would help me ease it on and shouldn’t be a problem unless the baby scoots over to the edge and pees directly in the corner.

Some of the reviews for the co-sleeper complained that the mattress wasn’t very soft but it is supposed to be hard for safety reasons. This pad is comfortable and thick but not too soft that I would be worried. And while it isn’t the prettiest thing, it’s covered by the sheet and cost about $42 less.

I still want one of these nice ones for our bed for the inevitable leaks that both baby and I will have their since it will be bigger and thinner. I plan to keep it on top of our sheets at night, covered with a receiving blanket. I can also use it during the day for on the floor use so I think it will be worth the extra money but I’m glad I only need one now.

Another felting project was a wrap up of one of the first things I ever knitted - a baby ball. The knitting was pretty simply, even for me. Fallon has even typed up the pattern here. Then I felted it. I was worried about over felting and the pattern said to felt just until you could no longer see through the stitches when you held it up to the light which is what I did but I wish I had felted it a bit more. There is still quite a bit of stitch integrity. I stuffed it using the leftover bits of the wool sweater from above

and a bell cage type cat toy

before stitching the last end closed. Ironically, Zeeba does not like that type of cat toy, but she really loves this ball. I hope Nigel does too.

Be sure to visit the original Make Something Monday at Putting Down Roots. She has an another recycling project and it looks like a lot of fun. I've been thinking we need a new remote basket, this might be just the thing!