What is Felting

A Brief History of Felting

Felting is one of the oldest textile forms, dating back well over 5000 years. It can still be found in use in Mongolia where nomads live in yurts or gers that are insulated with one-inch thick felted walls. In Turkey, felt is used for rugs and hats and in Scandinavia and Russia felt boots, mitts, hats and coats are produced and widely used.

More recently, there has been a renewed interest in the making of felt in Europe and North America and more specifically an interest in exploring felt as an artistic medium.

Felt is produced through the use of hot water, soap and agitation; locking fibres together, changing loose fluffy wool into a strong non-woven fabric. It is extremely versatile; from thin flowing textiles to rugs and tent walls, from wearables (hats, mitts, boots) to fine visual art. It is this versatility that draws me to this medium. The process and the possibilities of felt are continually intriguing me.

How it’s done…

There are two types of felting that I make use of in my work; wet felting and needle or dry felting.

Wet felting is the process of wetting loose (often carded) wool with hot soapy water, adding pressure (usually by hand) and agitating until the wool holds together and begins to shrink. You can stop here or continue until you cannot shrink the wool any further. This depends of the use of the final piece.

Needle felting is a dry process where a special needle with barbs on the bottom half help push and pull loose fibres through a felt base. You can use any felted wool for a base (i.e. shrunken wool sweaters, hand-made felt, or commercially made felt). Layer colour upon colour to create complex, textured images with depth.