I have knit all the pieces for a diaper bag. It has three pockets. I am to sew them onto the sides and one on the front. Then I am to felt it in the hot washer. What keeps the pockets from adhering to the sides? Will I be able to pull them away from the sides after they are felted? Or must I do something to prevent them from sticking together?/fusing? If so what?
Thanks for your help as this is my first felting project of this sort. Lynn
Felting...what happens when
Good question. Since the pockets are flat on the bag, they shouldn’t rub together enough to felt. If, however, they do adhere, they’ll only be connected by fibers so you should be able to slice through without disturbing the main fabric.
You can pull them apart, or you can cut a couple of layers of something like plastic grocery bags or a bit of plastic wrap just a bit smaller than the pocket and put it in before you felt it. Make sure it’s soft so it’ll crumple when the piece shrinks. (You can hold it in place with a stitch of dental floss, but it usually isn’t necessary.)
Same thing works when you want to make sure you can find eyelets in something with a drawstring–cut a strand of plastic and thread it through. It’s slippery, so it won’t get in the way of proper shrinkage, but it’ll keep the holes open.
Thank you Ingrid and Becky, I think I will try the plastic. I don’t like the idea of MY having to cut through the felted knitting. Sounds dangerous in MY hands! 
Wish me luck with this in the morning!!!
I so appreciate all the help I have received here over the past five years!
Let us know how it worked out.