DIY: Make Your Own Felted Votive Candle Cozy

Wet Felted Votive Candle Cozy – Materials, 1. Pulling Pieces of Batting Apart, 2. Adding (Almost) Boiling Hot Water to Glass, 3. Adding Soap to Glass, 4. Rubbing Wool Vigorously With Soapy Water (inside Glass), 5. Rubbing Wool Vigorously With Soapy Water (Outside Glass), 6. Rubbing Wool Vigorously With Soapy Water (Outside Glass), 7. Washed Out and Letting Dry, 8. Adding the Wool Lettering, 9a. Lit and Flickering

A felt cozy is a great thing to whip up, especially for the holiday season. It will definitely add a touch of home and nostalgia on your table, fireplace, etc.

Above is a photo of the prototype. I spotted them on sale at one of the large book chains here in Canada. I immediately thought, hey, I have some wet felting materials around. Why not try it out?

These cozies were also inspired by our event at the National Gallery of Canada in September, where Spins & Needles presented wet-felting projects for the first time. Check out the pics www.flickr.com/photos/spinsandneedles/sets/72157622305198″>here.

By the way, we’ve got some cozy-related surprises coming up in the next few months, so stay tuned!

Materials
-Hot water (boiled and cooled down a bit in kettle shown)
-Little bowl
-Dishwashing Soap
-Felt batting (very important! not acrylic or any other blend – just wool)
-Yarn (I chose blue)
-Scissors
-Glue gun
-Small tub to do washout in
-Votive candle holder (instead I reused an old cup bought from a thrift store)
-Candle

1. Tear your wool batting into pieces. (Don’t cut – if the ends are too blunt they won’t felt. Plus thin layers felt better than thick layers). Inside your glass, add batting pieces horizontally around the bottom, and then vertically.  Continue to add pieces this way. Build up the batting so it reaches almost the top of your glass.

2. Boil some water and let it cool down a bit. Add the almost boiling water to the inside of your glass.

3. Add liquid detergent (one squirt should do).

4. Use your hands to rub the batting together and create soap suds. If the water is too hot, use rubber gloves. Use quick motions for more friction. Each individual piece of batting should begin to lock to other pieces to create a thick layer of felt.

5. When the batting pieces start locking together, gently remove the wet felt piece and place it around the bottom and outside of the glass. This is so you can shape the batting to the cozy shape.

6. Again, rub at the felt quickly to create a lot of soap suds.

If you find you are having trouble getting the pieces of batting to stick together, take a nylon stocking, pull it gently over your batting and glass, and rub on top of the stocking to create friction. The batting will felt together because it is restricted from moving around when you rub it. (You’ll know this is happening when little pieces of felt start to peep out of the stocking or the stocking starts to lint).

7. Once you are done (when the pieces of batting can no longer be picked off), dunk the felt cozy in cold water to shock the fibres together even more. Rinse suds out thoroughly and let dry.

8. Once it is dry, add lettering to your cozy. Using wool yarn, spell out one a word (e.g. joy, hope, noel). I used cozy (just to be literal and also inspired by one of our upcoming projects!). Glue gun the yarn to the cozy.

9. Place the cozy over the bottom of your glass, then place a candle inside and light it up. Your wet felted votive candle cozy is done. Great for the fireplace mantle, side table or dinner table. THE END!