Felt Making

The rewarding craft of felting can be explored in this section. Felt making is an ancient process for making a dense, durable and warm fabric which was used for clothing and to insulate homes such as the Mongolian yurt. The process uses wool fibre from sheep which shrinks and mats together when moisture, friction and heat are applied.

The 'scales' which run the length of the fibre are key to what makes the wool turn into felt. While the sheep is still wearing the wool, the fibres grow in the same direction so they do not become tangled together. In felt making, the fibres are positioned in shallow layers, perpendicular to each other. Rubbing these alone will begin the felting process and adding hot water will encourage the scales to open so that the fibres become entangled. When felting by hand, using soap helps to lubricate the surface while working the felt.

Order from this choice of wool fibres, tools and equipment designed for use during the felt making process, or if you are just starting out, the felt making kits include materials and instructions to get you underway. There are felting needles for creating 3d objects or for embellishing fabrics, a felting board to assist with the fulling process, hat shapers for felting the perfect hat and many more useful items. For fibre preparation, the handcrafted hand carders are ideal for blending smaller amounts of fibre, while the drum carders have been designed for larger production.

Buy from an extensive choice of wool for felt making including Merino wool tops which felt readily and are available in a choice of consistent colours and natural undyed, as well as natural wool fibres which include Bluefaced Leicester and English Downland. These wool fibres complement the selection of prefelt fabrics. The non-wool fibres, which will not felt readily by themselves, can be worked into felt or 3d objects with a felting needle.