Sprightly Sewing

A couple tricks for washing locks I have some beautiful Finn sheep locks. They were given to me from a very sweet woman. But they need to be washed. I want to try making a weft from them, so I am hoping to keep them intact. I have been experimenting ways to do that. Here are two things I tried.   Please note hat these were experiments, just things I tired and how they worked for me.  First I have this garden netting stuff. I thought about using chicken wire, but its sharp and I didn't want to cut myself. This also has smaller openings. Another advantage to this is that its firm and works like a cage.  So I cut out a piece long enough that if folded in half it fits in my sink. I pressed down on the fold to make it stay better. Then I placed   my locks on one side. After that I folded it over and clipped the sides together. So that it would hold the locks together.  Then I immersed in my very hot soapy water for about 15-20 min. (I have since found that openin

Washing wool So you have to wash some wool? Yea me too.  I am fairly new at it, Okay really new at it. ;P I have two sheep, They are South down Babydolls. I absolutely love them and their wool. I was blessed to get a breeding pair, one black and one white. I don't know why, but the male, had an abundance of wool. Like it had been growing longer then the females or something. I suppose his size played a role in the actually amount he had too. Hes a big babydoll. Anyway I am washing wool and preparing it for Etsy! Fun times.  You can do fairly large amounts and the washing process is the same, but I like to do mine in very small batches. I pull the "locks" apart into small sections. then I pick through them a little and separate the ends a bit.  After that is done, I fill my sink about half way with very hot water. Then I add dish soap. Most people say to use dawn I think, but we use Amway stuff and it works great for me. I kind of stir it so its spreads t