Processing your wool
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After a season of growing fibers, your animal friends are ready to be sheared and you are ready to have this luxurious, home-grown fiber turned into your next, fun project! Whether roving, yarn or felt, we can help. Print the form at the bottom of the page and send one with each individual order. Here's some helpful tips and information: Please send fiber that is free of burrs, dung tags, and large vegetable matter. You are paying shipping on that unwanted weight as well as having the final price based off incoming weight. The more you skirt, the less you pay in the end. All prices below are based on incoming weight. Extra fees: if a fleece needs additional skirting: $30/hour with a minimum of $30 if a fleece requires more than the usual 2 washes/1 rinse : $1/pound if a fleece needs tumbling (often alpaca/llama): $2/pound if roving needs additional pin drafting to get it to go through the spinner: $2.50/pound per extra time through Pricing: (incoming weight) Roving and non-felted batts: Wool and wool blends: $14/pound Pin drafted roving: $20/pound includes washing, picking and carding. Roving will be returned in large compressed bags that easily fluff back up. Batts will be folded and/or rolled for shipping. Yarns: Wool and wool blends: $27/pound Exotic and fine wool blends: $30/pound Our machines spin fibers best that are 3"-6" staple length. Shorter fibers are unlikely to produce a good quality yarn but may be used for roving or felting. All yarn production includes washing, picking, carding, pin drafting two times, spinning and plying. Unless noted otherwise, I will skein your yarn into 200 yard skeins and make into sport-weight yarn. Skeining is included; Coning is $1.50/pound (includes the cone). Final wash after processing is $4/finished pound. Needle Felting: $14/pound incoming weight plus the following processing fees: The number of times the fiber goes through the felting machine per finished product: (for instance, if you want a 1/4" sheet for insoles OR if you want a 1/2" sheet for press mat) __2-3 times- $10.00, __4-5 times- $16.00, __6-8 times- $22.00, __9-12 times- $30.00, __over 12 times- $34.00 * The more times through the felting machine, the denser (and usually thinner) the felt becomes. For instance, shoe insoles often need 6-8 times through. *Typically it takes 1 pound of clean wool for a 1/8” sheet, 2 pounds for a ¼” sheet, and 4 pounds for a ½” sheet but this can vary depending on the type of wool and staple length. For planning purposes, double the above amounts to give the incoming weight needed. Please describe what felt you’d like and what you will use it for on the order form. This will determine number of times through the felt machine. My needle felting machine can do up to 6' wide and as long as you'd like. Felted mats can be up to 1/2" thick. Thinner batts, 1/8", are ideal for quilt batting. To prepare your wool for felting, it will be washed, picked, and carded onto a drum roller before moving to the felting machine. Approx. 1/8" thick sheets are run through on both sides (2 times through). This thickness is ideal for long-arm quilting and crafts. These batts can be run through an additional time on each side to create a denser batting. Approx. 1/4" thick sheets are run through as 2 - 1/8" sheets then felted together into a 1/4" sheet (usually 6 times through the carder). This thickness is ideal for shoe inserts and crafts. Approx. 1/2" thick sheets go through the machine 12 times or more, making a very dense mat. This thickness is ideal for blocking and press mats, hot pads/trivets, crafting, stadium seats, or thin saddle pads. Do you want shoe inserts? I have an AccuCut machine with a insole die that cuts 4 sizes of shoe inserts. They are a warm and cushy addition to any shoes! For those with painful feet, wool and/or alpaca insoles can help relieve pain. Ask about cutting insoles. I charge $3.00 per pair for cutting your felt mats into insoles. I will contact you when I am ready to start working on your wool and invoice you via email for half of the total cost of the project. Because everything is based on incoming weight, the price of the project (except the felting), not including shipping, will be set before starting. The final payment will include any additional fees: felting, shipping, handling and tax. Final payment will be made before shipping or pick-up. An order form is required for each project and must be initialed at the bottom before I start on your work. Orders not paid for after 60 days of finishing/invoicing become the property of Foster Creek Fiber Mill. Orders held for more than 30 days after invoicing due to a customer wanting to come pick it up rather than having it shipped will incur a holding fee of $1.00/day. |