The microscopic scales that cover individual filaments of animal hair are responsible for the fibers' unique ability to mat or felt together. Felting occurs when the fiber is moist, alkaline, and physically agitated. With warm water and soap these scales swell open, causing the filaments to snag one another when agitated. This knotting causes shrinkage, resulting in dense, strong felted fiber. Matting happens naturally overtime, as evident in the hair of pets or in the hair of humans that has not been brushed. Based on archeological findings from the Central Asian Steppes intentional felting of animal hair by humans has been a means of creating unwoven fabric for clothing, shelter, and artistic expression since at least 600 BC, with further evidence suggesting even earlier knowledge of the process.
Select animals and specific breeds are reputable for the quality of and the speed with which their fiber felts. Additional fibers that alone would not mat such as silk, cellulose fibers and even synthetics can be added in small proportions to these animal fibers to create felt, as the animal fibers will intertwine and mat around them. Primarily using wool from Merino sheep, I begin with either washed locks of fleece that I naturally dye and then card and felt or carded wool that I felt into fabric and then apply the color through a submersion dye bath.
I felt two-dimensionally by first stacking thin sheets of fleece to a desired thickness, then dampening and compressing the wool with soapy water. This wool sheet is then rolled up in a bamboo mat or in a sheet of bubble wrap and rolled so the ridges or bubbles gently agitate the fibers into knotting. When the fibers have felted or intertwined to create a stable piece of fabric, the felt can then be fulled or thickened and strengthened by more roughly agitating the fabric on a coarsely ridged surface such as a washing board or rubber door mat to encourage further tightening of the knotted fibers. To felt three-dimensionally, I either agitate the fleece free form in my hands to create solid wool objects or wrap layers of fleece around flat or form resists, which are then removed after the fleece has been agitated into felt, leaving a felted vessel that can be further sculpted by fulling specific areas. The fulling technique can also be applied to spun yarns consisting of specific animal fibers that have been knitted, crocheted or woven in order to shrink and thicken the original structure.
The intricacy and realism of felted designs as well as the variety of surface textures depends on the innovations of the felt maker. The staple or length of the individual hair filaments can limit the type and size of shapes possible and the nature of the filaments to intertwine with adjacent fibers can blur the shapes edge. By creating sheets of partially felted fleece, one can cut out shapes of specific colors and felt them onto another piece of partially felted fleece to create and maintain sharp designs. In order to achieve this advanced technique the initial felting process must be stopped when the hairs are intertwined enough so that the cut shape will hold together, but while there are still enough loose fibers so that the shape will felt to the loose fibers of the partially felted base piece. Surface textures can be created by fusing woven fabrics into the felt by agitating the hair filaments through the spaces between the warp and the weft allowing the hairs to mat around the fabric’s threads. Due to the differential shrinkage of the fibers, the fleece will continue to knot and shrink, crinkling the fabric. Additionally, appliqué, machine and hand stitching, beading and needle felting can alter the surface texture of the felt.
There are various techniques employed to create felt, some ancient and others that utilize advances in technology. Traditionally, felt is made while wet and with the human hand, though animal power has been utilized to assist in the agitation process. Contemporary felt makers now have access to electric felting machines that agitate fleece between two moving planes to create two-dimensional fabrics as well as felting needles that allow for dry felting of fiber both two and three-dimensionally. Felting needles have barbs cut into the metal allowing the needle to snag and intertwine filaments of fiber when forced through layers of loose fleece. Machines with hundreds of mounted felting needles create sheets of felted synthetic fiber for industrial use as well as the felt squares found in a variety of colors at hobby and craft stores. Many artisans currently use a single needle or a grouping of needles mounted into a wooden knob to felt dry fleece into items such as hats, jewelry, and dolls or solely to embellish the surface of wet felted fabric with an amazing level of detail.
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