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 The Process of Making Felt









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wool tops
Felt is the oldest textile and dates back to the Bronze Age. It is still made by traditional methods in many places and used in the day to day lives of people from many countries, from boots and hats to the thick walls of yurt tents.

 I use a traditional wet-felting technique to make my felt. The process starts with merino wool that has been washed, dyed and carded (a bit like brushing hair) to align the fibres.

Getting out all the colours and choosing which ones to combine and use is my favourite part of designing a product.



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flower bag layout
sea vessel layout
I begin by laying out fine tufts on a mat or wrapping them around a template, making several layers and adding decoration in the final one.

There are so many possibilities for decoration. For the flower bag shown I made sheets of yellow, gold and cream felt and cut the flowers and centres out while the fabric was only partly felted so they merged into the bag surface during the rest of the felting process.

Other fibres can be incorporated too and I lay these directly on the surface - I often use hand-dyed or sari silk yarn, textured curly wool like Wensleydale and lustrous silk fibres.














polka dot felt layout
 flower bag decoration














growth netted
 blossom vessel layout
The design is covered with netting to keep the layers in place then hot water and soap are added. This helps the tiny scales on each wool fibre to open up.
Rubbing the surface then encourages the fibres to entwine and gradually they interlock and curl around each other, this stage has to be done carefully and slowly so that the fibres don't move out of position.

When the fibres have attached together securely I roll the piece inside a bamboo blind to complete the process, changing direction often as the felt shrinks in the direction it is being rolled. Feltmakers use a variety of different materials and techniques for this stage, some throw the felt or rub it against a ridged board.
It can take up to 1,000 rolls and sometimes more to finish and during this stage the space between the fibres disappears as they mesh together leaving a strong fabric that can have shrunk up to 40% of its original size.
This stage is really hard work and takes a very long time, usually requiring several cups of tea and possibly some cake!

 When the felt has hardened sufficiently, the piece is rinsed and carefully shaped before being left to dry.

In the case of the vessels, bowls and pod bags the shaping is crucial as they begin their life completely flat around a template and have to be thoroughly coaxed into their final rounded form.














rolling blue polka bag
 flower bag rolling














sea vessel finished
 growth detail














spring flower bag
 finished lavender bag






















sleeping archie
It goes without saying that the whole process is extremely tiring to watch.
 
I have some posts on my blog about making various felt items, trying new ideas and designs out and my experiences at craft fairs - if you're interested you can visit the blog HERE, go down to near the bottom of the first blog page on the right-hand side and click on the 'felt' labels for the relevant posts.

Any cat-lovers among you can also read about our kitten Archie and my write-up HERE of my morning spent trying to make a tea cosy with him helping me - not to be recommended!