Wet Felting Project – Felted Cushion Cover

This is a project to felt and sew a hand felted cushion cover.

Materials used:

Wool roving for making felt
approx 1 yard of cotton fabric
16 inch zipper
19 inch pillow form

Hand made Felt

To make the felt top for this pillow, I made a large piece of felt approx 24 inches square. During the felting process the felt will shrink about 15%-30%.
I don’t like to waste wool, so I use the leftover thrums from carding for making felt. This comes from the fleece that is left on the drum carder and isn’t a good enough quality for hand spinning.
I placed a thin layer of the leftover wool onto the felting mat. I then added a second layer of gray wool roving over the wool thrums, laying the fiber in the opposite direction. I added a third thin layer of gray roving over the previous layer, again in the opposite direction.
I wet the wool with warm water and soap and rolled it up in a felting mat.
For more detailed instructions of how to make a piece of felt please see below.

Wet Felting Thrums

After the wool was felted, the completed felt piece measured approx 19-20 inches square.
I cut 2 pieces of cotton fabric approx 2 inches larger than the felted piece.

I stitched the felt piece to one of the cotton fabric pieces close to the edge of the felt. I want to leave the outer edges of the handmade felt as a border on the pillow.
I sewed a second row of stitching about 1 inch inside of the outer edge, to create a border to the pillow.

Wet Felted Pillow Cover

I folded and pinned the outer edges of the felt to the inside, to prevent them from being sewn as I sewed the backing onto the pillow.

Felted Pillow Cover

Right sides together I pinned the fabric for the pillow back to the pillow front.
I sewed one of the seams together and added a zipper.

After adding the zipper, I sewed the remaining 3 sides of the pillow together.
Turn the cushion cover right side out, remove all the pins and insert the pillow.
Time to put your feet up and enjoy!

Felted Pillow Cover

Felted Cushion cover

Feltmaking Books

Feltmaking (The Art of Crafts )
Feltmaking and Wool Magic: Contemporary Techniques and Beautiful Projects
Scandinavian-Style Feltmaking: A Three-Dimensional Approach to Hats, Boots, Mittens, and Other Useful Objects
First Time Felting: The Absolute Beginner’s Guide – Learn By Doing * Step-by-Step Basics + Projects