Felting is the process by which wool fiber is matted into a fabric. Wool fibers have scales and are also crimped. When these fibers are wetted and softened and then rubbed together they grab each other and are permanently bound together. This happens when you put a wool sweater in a washer and agitate it -- it comes out much smaller and also denser, because the fibers have bound together.
Felting is done by a chemical process in industry. It is also sometimes done with barbed needles, which grab individual fibers and drag them against their neighbors, thereby binding them.
Historically, the felting process used mercury nitrate. Over time, exposure to mercury could lead to dementia. Hatters, who used large amounts of felt, were often exposed to mercury vapours over long periods of time. Hence the expression, "Mad as a hatter".
Felting is an ancient form of wool processing, the earliest examples dating to Neolithic times. It is still practiced by nomadic peoples in Asia, where rugs, tents and clothing are regularly made.
Felting, in the eye of the fiber arts purist, typically involves unspun wool/fleece that is turned into usable fabric by repeated stabbing with something known as a felting needle, which could double as a torture device.
Felting needes are very sharp, come in a variety of thicknesses/gauges, and have many barbs on them [sort of like a fish hook with lots of points ].
The current phase of his felting and experimenting involves taking hot water and agitation to a variety of fibers and blends, including silk and wool and mohair as well as combining non-felting yarns like cottons and man-mades with woolen fibers just for the texture of it all.
Felt is the oldest form of fabric known to man. It predates weaving and knitting, although there is archaelogical evidence from the British museum that the first known thread was made by winding vegetable fibres on the thigh.
Felt is now widely used as a medium for expression in textile art as well as design, where it has significance as an ecological textile.
Felt is made by a process called wet felting, where the natural wool fibre is stimulated by friction and lubricated by moisture (usually water), and the fibres move at a 90 degree angle towards the friction source and then away again, in effect making little "tacking" stitches.
Feeds |
Contact