Can't get Feathering to work

Please help...I've used this technique many times, but for some reason it's just not working right now...

Make a selection, Select>Inverse, then Select>Feather. When I hit my spacebar or left mouse button it should feather out my edges in my foreground color. However, nothing is happening. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks for your help.

you need to further copy then paste that selection to a new layer. to get "live" feathering, make a selection, add a layer mask with the layers palette, then with the mask selected in the palette, add a gaussian blur. the radius of the blur will determine the amt of feather. after that, you can use image> adjustments> levels (still with the mask selected in the layers palette) to tighten or loosen the feather a bit. to apply the mask (make it permanant) use crtl-e while on the mask layer to Merge Down. I prefer to leave it live as long as possible so I can adjust it at will until I'm sure it's exactly right.